Sourcing Candidates for Your Role

How to Source on-Target Candidates

Sourcing candidates isn’t just about filling a position, but it’s about finding professionals who align with your company’s vision and mission. There are great candidates out there who have the work experience and skill sets required to get the job done. However, how do you maximize your chances of finding the best candidate for your open role?

Overall, you should look for qualities like keen communication skills, leadership, teamwork, confidence, willingness to learn, agility, reliability, problem-solving, critical thinking, and other attributes that benefit collaborative teams. In today’s article, we will share some essential steps to help you identify and attract the ideal candidate.

Where do you find the most on-target candidates?

While in a perfect world the right job candidates should come forward and apply to your opening, a lot of qualified professionals are flying under the radar as passive candidates. You may also find perfectly fine active candidates after posting your job opening as they apply. It’s up to you to decide how to source candidates.

If you would like to explore opening a talent pipeline of passive candidates, we can help you with the entire process. This requires ongoing Recruiting research and Candidate Development, both which are specialities at Corporate Navigators.

Sourcing Candidates for a Job Opening

When you have a job opening, sourcing candidates from the correct channels while discerning who is a good fit are both critical for hiring success. Here are some tips and tricks to find the most on-target candidates.

1. Make the Job Requirements Clear in Your Posting

Active candidates will be your quickest and cost-free source of prospective hires. Though not all will be on-target, it’s never a bad thing to have more choices. You can potentially make these active candidates more on-target by making your expectations clear in the job description. Before you post the job, have a clear understanding of the skills, experience, and qualifications necessary for the new role.

Create a detailed job description that outlines specific responsibilities and expectations to increase the chances of qualified candidates applying. Leave nothing to mystery or interpretation so off-target people won’t think this job posting is for them. Review any submitted resumes and applications carefully to identify candidates whose skills and experience closely match your requirements. Look for relevant achievements, qualifications, and career progression that indicate a potential fit for the role.

2. Use Recruitment Research to Find On-Target Passive Candidates

Recruitment research plays a pivotal role in identifying passive candidates who often prove to be valuable assets to organizations. Unlike active candidates, passive candidates are actively employed in a specific role. By identifying who’s who in these roles AND who are open to new opportunities, you can find candidates who already have the necessary skills to assume the role.

By leveraging this targeted strategy, recruitment researchers can uncover individuals who have the experience that aligns perfectly with the company’s needs. This proactive approach helps you tap into a talent pool that might otherwise be overlooked.

It’s also an ideal sourcing method for filling executive C-Suite roles. Ready to enrich your talent acquisition efforts? Then sourcing passive candidates may be just what you need to identify top talent during your candidate selection process.

3. Tap into Multiple Sourcing Channels

Aside from waiting for active candidates and sourcing passive candidates, you can also leverage other sourcing channels such as job boards, social media platforms like LinkedIn, any relevant professional associations, industry-specific forums, and recruitment agencies. Each channel attracts a different pool of candidates, with some being more on-target than others, which can increase your chances of finding the right fit.

4. Conduct Interviews with Purpose

Once you have your list of verified candidates, the job interview process begins. Virtual or In-person job Interviews are crucial for assessing a candidate’s fit beyond their basic profile. Prepare a list of effective questions that address both technical skills and behavioral traits relevant to the role. Consider using a mix of screening calls, panel interviews, one-on-one sessions, and video interviews to gather comprehensive insights. As you meet these job seekers, ensure you verify a few factors:

• Assess the candidate’s skills, competency, and background. Depending on the nature of the role, you may need to conduct skill assessments, technical tests, or assignments to evaluate a candidate’s proficiency and problem-solving abilities. If it’s a passive candidate actively in the role you are hiring for, then verifying their skills will be a much faster process since many of these attributes are already visible.

• Assess their cultural fit. Do they align with your company’s values, culture, and work environment?Consider how well they would integrate with your team and contribute positively to your organization’s dynamics.

• Ascertain their goals and vision. To maximize the chances of a long-term good fit, ask them about their career goals and aspirations. Making sure that the new hire’s expectations will be met at your company can spare a lot of disappointment later.

5. Do Thorough Reference Checks

If the candidate has reference, contact them to verify their qualifications, performance, and other important details. Ask specific questions about their strengths, areas for improvement, and overall suitability for the role.

Sourcing Candidates during the Recruitment Process

Sourcing candidates for a job is an involved endeavor, but getting the most choices helps you make the best hiring decisions. This process often requires a strategic approach that goes beyond matching skills to job requirements, too. Also, sourcing candidates only gets more complicated the higher the position you need to fill.

By defining clear job criteria, using outside research, utilizing diverse sourcing channels, and assessing the candidate’s fit though diverse methods, you can streamline the hiring process. It takes time and effort to find the best choices can help you reach your business goals. Make that journey easier by partnering with Corporate Navigators!

TL;DR

Identifying the right candidates is key to making better hiring decisions. This process requires a strategic approach that goes beyond matching skills to job requirements. By defining clear job criteria, utilizing diverse sourcing channels, sourcing passive candidates, and assessing cultural fit, you can streamline the hiring process. Investing time and effort in finding the best choices can help you reach your business goals.