Sometimes we take on projects and overestimate the work. Maybe it feels too easy or not be worth our time, but whatever the case it needs to get done correctly, completely, and accurately.
In recruitment, too many of these projects are done with the proverbial “low hanging fruit” approach (the fastest and easiest way possible). Often this is accomplished by checking the ATS to see who applied to the role and doing a quick LinkedIn search to see who shows up.
The art of a sourcing strategy feels like it is something that isn’t (1) created nor (2) followed in a recruiter’s toolkit. Having a means to track what you have tried and a roadmap as to how to approach a search next are critical to progress being made on each search. Otherwise, we experience Groundhogs Day over and over and nobody wants that to happen.
What are strategies you should consider in a sourcing plan? First off, don’t confuse a strategy with a tactic, my former manager reinforced this thought with our team! Think of a strategy as a “job family” versus a tactic “as a specific job”, this really helps to make it easier to think about when you are creating a plan.
Here is the difference:
- Strategy = posting to a job board
- Tactic = posting to Indeed, Monster, Careerbuilder, etc.
To create a sourcing strategy, think of the big areas you want to hit first. Then you go back and put in the specifics into each major category. This gets you to think on a macro level rather than always in the weeds on a micro level.
Taking a step back often helps to start in the right direction or to help refocus if our search begins to bring in wrong results.
Happy hunting!