Active Sourcing: Enhancing Recruitment Through Direct Engagement

Active Sourcing offers companies new and promising ways to enhance their recruitment and engage with top candidates. It involves diverse methods, allowing any company to find the best approach to attract new employees and fill job vacancies. This blog post explains what Active Sourcing is, how you can implement it in your own recruiting efforts, and the advantages it provides.

What is Active Sourcing?

Active Sourcing is a strategic recruitment method. It allows recruiters to actively search for, contact, and engage potential job candidates. When there’s a job to fill, suitable candidates are directly approached about the opportunity, encouraging them to quickly show interest and submit applications.

But Active Sourcing isn’t just about approaching potential candidates. Recruitment agencies can also use it to present their talented pool to companies proactively. In a competitive job market, Active Sourcing helps fill positions and build relationships even before candidates start looking for new roles.

Why Use Active Sourcing?

Active Sourcing is beneficial even without current job openings, as high-potential candidates can still be contacted. In the competitive “war for talent,” early engagement with candidates is crucial. Companies that reach out with attractive opportunities before candidates begin job hunting can make a lasting impression. However, the approach should show genuine interest rather than coming off as pushy or overly promotional.

Additional Benefits of Active Sourcing

Early engagement allows candidates to thoroughly explore job descriptions, understand companies, and align their expectations. This proactive approach enables recruiters to promptly address any questions, ensuring candidates feel informed and empowered. It also avoids the costs associated with traditional job advertising in newspapers, magazines, or digital platforms by using customizable templates that can be reused. Active Sourcing targets several groups:

• Job-seeking professionals
• Top talents not actively looking but open to the right offer
• Promising university or college students

Potential Drawbacks of Active Sourcing

If done incorrectly, Active Sourcing can be counterproductive, especially if companies seem too intrusive or make false promises. Failing to comply with data protection regulations can also be costly. A thorough understanding and proper training can help implement Active Sourcing correctly and legally. Companies should diversify their approach; relying on a single channel might result in missed opportunities elsewhere.

The Appeal of Active Sourcing

According to a University of Bamberg study, two-thirds of candidates react positively when companies use social media in recruiting. The study included 251 of Germany’s 1,000 largest companies, the biggest mid-sized firms, and major IT sector companies. Seven out of ten top-1000 and IT companies also viewed this favorably. Moreover, the study found that 51.4% of candidates preferred direct contact from companies over applying themselves, indicating that Active Sourcing makes a positive impression on many job seekers.

Active Sourcing Tools and Channels: 5 Tips

1. Build and Maintain a Talent Pool

   Collect contacts from past colleagues, interns, job fairs, or previous applicants in a talent pool. Regularly maintaining this pool helps build a network, with some companies filling positions directly from their pool.

2. Profile Mining on Social Media

   Recruiters now engage in profile mining, where they reach out to talents via social media platforms based on public data. Business networks are particularly popular for this purpose. The University of Bamberg’s study found XING as a leading platform for job postings and talent searches.

3. CV Analytics and Database Search

   Beyond profile mining, CV database search involves analyzing complete resumes for a comprehensive pre-selection of candidates. This approach offers deeper insights for better candidate matching.

4. Participate in Career Fairs and Events

   Attending these events allows companies to engage with candidates in person, fostering deeper connections and discussions about mutual fit.

5. Leverage Referrals

   Employee referrals are effective, as current employees can recommend talented peers from their professional or personal networks.

Integrating Active Sourcing with Software

Effective implementation of Active Sourcing requires integration into daily work routines. Software solutions, like CRM systems, are essential for managing talent pools and organizing information. These tools facilitate efficient sourcing, help identify suitable candidates, and enable scalable outreach through mailing campaigns.

Conclusion

Active Sourcing is a valuable strategy for connecting with promising candidates and ensuring quality hiring. Proper planning and the right technological support are crucial to fully harnessing its potential. Investing in a CRM system can help maintain and manage relationships smoothly as part of a forward-looking recruitment strategy.

Looking for a CRM to support your Active Sourcing efforts? Contact us for advice and solutions tailored to your needs.