What Direct Sourcing Means and How To Use It In Recruitment

Direct sourcing is a hiring solution in which the hiring company promotes job opportunities to a range of candidates that can be known talent, such as a current employee of the employer, as well as contingent talent. Essentially, direct sourcing means the most compatible, high-quality talent is attracted to the hiring company’s opportunities.

Notably, direct sourcing leverages the advantages of a pre-identified talent pool. Due to this, accessing streamlined direct sourcing means implementing a strategic and efficient hiring process, aided by professional talent communities built with partners like High5.

 High5 revolutionizes the way that employers attract and engage with suitable candidates by utilizing a global talent pool. This network encompasses all forms of work, contract preferences, and specialist subjects, enabling employers to have a broader choice of prospective workers.

Consequently, direct sourcing means you have an asset to your business in terms of optimizing recruitment. In this blog post, we explain how you can use direct sourcing in your business to maximize recruitment engagement and success, without compromising on a set quality, standard, or budget. 

What is direct sourcing?

Direct sourcing means a reliable third party works alongside your company’s human resources or recruitment team to source qualified and experienced candidates for job openings.

It is a process of direct communication between a sourcer and a prospective candidate to establish a professional relationship and boost employer brand equity. The selected individuals could be existing employees of the hiring company, a known talent to the partnered third party, or simply found online using social sourcing.

The biggest benefit of partnering with a workforce solutions platform like High5 is being able to access a large, global talent pool. Within this, all candidates have already been thoroughly vetted by experts to ensure a high-quality match can be found.

How sourcing can affect recruitment

The inclusion of direct sourcing can benefit a company’s recruitment process in a number of ways. Notably, direct sourcing means that hiring staff becomes a quicker and more effective system, as you decrease the time-to-fill. This will save the company money by implementing a flexible workforce that can instantly be added to when required.

By using this method, sourcers can receive almost instantaneous responses to messages when compared to traditional recruiting methods. This will speed up the rate at which the position is filled by a suitable candidate. 

Additionally, direct sourcing means companies are able to improve the standard of candidates. As businesses and sourcers choose who they reach out to based on the requirements of the job description, only fitting individuals will be contacted.

This ensures a high level of talent across the applications. Additionally, each individual has already been screened for their desirability and qualifications. Therefore, the recruitment process becomes even more streamlined.

For candidates who do not make the final cut, direct sourcing means your business has already built up a strong rapport and established brand equity. As a result of this, businesses can easily dip back into this pool of talent when in need of filling another job position. This makes for a more efficient enlisting process. 

Using social sourcing

Social sourcing is a free and quick way of directly reaching out to talented individuals. The concept of social sourcing is utilizing social media platforms to build connections and facilitate purposeful or informative exchanges. 

Popular social media sites for social sourcing include LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. LinkedIn is particularly useful for direct sourcing recruiters as it optimizes the ease of finding qualified people and establishing a connection (or “link”). 

Best methods for direct sourcing candidates

While social sourcing is one of the best methods for recruiting candidates, it is also oversaturated in its use. Consequently, sourcers may face obstacles, such as a lack of responses. 

Fortunately, there are other effective ways to practice direct sourcing: 

• Referrals: always listen to recommendations. 

• Events: create hype for the position by conversing with like-minded people. 

• Create talent pipelines: this ensures consistency. High5 offers a streamlined hiring experience with its large, international talent pool. 

• AI and portfolio sites: this enables you to observe past work before messaging.

• Niche platforms: look for talent on websites dedicated to the job role’s position. This will help you to find passionate individuals.  

Tips for communicating with directly sourced candidates

Listed below are ways to provoke engagement and increase successful recruitment.

• Personalize: When social sourcing, make your messages unique to the individual. This will entice a response and start a conversation. 

• Always Network: While casually browsing your social media or meeting new people and employees, always be on the lookout for new talent. If you are actively seeking to fill a role, consider everyone you communicate with, and ask for any recommendations. 

• Dedicate time to searches: Successful recruitment will only occur once a thorough and detailed search has been carried out. Make sure to pay attention to an individual’s current location, age, qualifications, interests, and future plans. These aspects will all shape the suitability of the candidate for the role. 

Direct sourcing at entry level 

Consider advertising internships to directly appeal to entry-level candidates. Social sourcing will be the best method of contact due to the age range. Promote to candidates the chance for professional training and growth.

Direct sourcing at the executive level

Promote the employer brand as a reputable company and personalize messages by focusing on the individual’s past achievements. Note how the advertised job role can elevate them professionally, and how they will be an asset to your business.

Tips for budgeting direct sourcing

The following tips will help to keep direct sourcing as a cost-effective solution to recruitment: 

• Always look for in-house talent. 
• Chase up recommendations. 
• Message consistently and reply fast. 
• Only source candidates that meet the requirements. 
• Use High5 to connect to talented, suitable candidates. 

Summary

High5 provides recruiters with a large pool of global talent, including full-time, part-time, and remote workers. Each candidate is individually vetted by experts within the field so that you can easily identify the best candidates for your business. Get started on High5 today!