The Recruiting Blog | People First Recruiting

This blog was written by Barbara Nordal, Annette Kohut & Pamela Habing - Talent Sourcers of People First HR's Talent Discovery Group.

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Every morning we walk into our office, sit down at our computer, take a look at our recruitment projects and off to the races we go.

We are Talent Sourcers and we partner with our Recruiters to ensure we are finding the best candidates for our clients.

But what is a Talent Sourcer you ask?

There is no one definition for what a Talent Sourcer is.  It varies from one company to another.  Even the titles can vary – what might be a Talent Sourcer at one company is a Talent Acquisition Specialist at another. What is the one constant? We all seek out and find candidates for our clients.

Our days consist of putting our heads down and finding the best talent the market has to offer.  We use every tool at our disposal including the internet, social media, online communities, associations, our own networks as well as those of our colleagues, and of course, the phone.  We conduct market and industry research to learn about positions, industries, companies and their people.  We ask ourselves “where would these candidates be?” and always do our best to put ourselves in their shoes.  The search is on and there is no challenge we aren’t willing to face.

As Talent Sourcers, we are often a candidate’s first point of contact, the person who ignites their curiosity and intrigues them about the possibilities out there for them.

Talent Sourcing is more than just name generation; to us it’s an art.  This art combines logic, problem solving and creativity.  The end result is the ideal pairing of employer and employee.  We love our jobs as a Talent Sourcers as it allows us to mix our passion for technology, research and our desire to help other people.  Helping others is what really motivates us around here.  

Talent Sourcing seems to be new and therefore a mystery within many industries.  In Winnipeg it is a fairly new term and an even newer career path.  The Talent Sourcing function combines research, technology, analysis, customer service and networking.  It takes a mix of commitment, problem solving and determination to develop a unique approach on where to find candidates. Every day is a learning experience for us.  

So what does a day in the life of a Talent Sourcer look like at People First?

• Every new project starts with identifying key information. It begins with a meeting between the Recruiter and Talent Sourcer who partner on recruitment searches. This meeting allows us to gather all the key information that we need to conduct our portion of search.
• The next step is to research, research and then do more research. Like any new project you do not jump right into the work. Take the time to learn about the role and the company. What is the current industry? Who are the other companies that have these qualified candidates and where would these qualified candidates be?
• Once the first two steps are completed then the fun begins. This involves developing a sourcing strategy and an advertising strategy. It is the point where we create our list of keywords, contact scripts and assessment questions.
• Now time to find the talent!

Talent Sourcing is so much more than finding that one candidate who can do the job.  It’s about finding that perfect candidate for that one job with the right company.  We love what we do because we get to work on a daily basis with people – our team, candidates, clients and the world of people is a fascinating one indeed.

You know what else we love?  That our team is growing and we are always looking for new Talent Sourcers.  You, or someone you know may be a Talent Sourcer and didn’t even know it!  

One thing is very clear, when you hire a recruitment firm you need a candidate fast, but you also want the best in the market.  Most times you have worked the search on your own and hit a wall so to speak, or you have a highly sensitive replacement search on your hands. 

When you outsource recruitment you expect there to be a database of candidates available immediately and one important question you will ask is, “how long will it take to find my candidate?”  You may be hoping for the answer to be yesterday but the reality is quite different.

I don’t believe there is a recruitment firm out there that doesn’t want to fill an assignment just as quickly as you do.  Recruiters are busy, they have many assignments, candidates and, clients to juggle and remember most work on commission so they are as invested as you in the search.  The question remains then is whether or not you want the search filled quickly with A candidate or with the RIGHT candidate.  This is where your due diligence in finding the right recruiter is most important.

When a position remains vacant your company is losing money and the company stakeholders are hunting you down every day for an update on the search.  I may be stating the obvious but hiring the wrong Recruiter simply to get the job filled will lose you much more than money.

Consider the following domino effect when speed trumps quality: 

• The hired candidate may be leaving a very good job for what they believed was a better one but because of a quick interview process the right questions weren’t asked or important information was not provided.
• Due to the fast turnaround, the appropriate people aren’t involved in the hiring process which means they aren’t available to be a part of those interviews that would allow for such valuable information to be shared with your possible hire.
• You make the offer and the candidate starts.  Now you are spending time and attention evaluating, training, and re-evaluating  the new hire only to realize they may not be the right fit.  You may find yourself reaching the inevitable decision to let them go.  Now you have a replacement search on your hands.
• Sure you are likely to get a replacement search in the fee you paid to the Recruiter but now you might be incurring new costs depending on what’s in the contract.  Regardless, having to start again is in itself a reason to take the time to have a thorough process.

The honest truth is many engagements do take time to complete.  The candidate pool is tight in North America and some candidates are risk adverse right now; they don’t want to take the chance leaving a stable job. 

Here are a few things you can do to ensure the search moves along:

• Provide a job description to the recruiter.  If you don’t have one, put one together.  There are a lot of resources out there that have basic templates.  Or ask for the Recruiter’s help in developing one.
• Meet with the stakeholders in your company to ensure they are in agreement with the job description and criteria.  There is a world of difference between the “must haves” and the “nice to haves”.
• Meet with the Recruiter who will be filling the job and mutually agree upon a timeline.  Try to involve a few people from your company (this might be the Manager of that particular department or HR).  Whenever possible give the Recruiter a tour of your office.  This is great for the Recruiter to get a sense of the environment as the environment and culture is critical to the sourcing of talent.
• Ask for transparency.  By that I mean, rather than an update each week from the Recruiter that goes something like this, “We’re still having some challenges locating candidates, we have interviewed a few this week but they were just not right.  We are continuing the search”, ask these questions:
• Specifically how many candidates have you interviewed this week
• What were their backgrounds and what industry did they come from?
• Why are they not suitable or interested in the role?
• Specifically how many candidates are you interviewing next week
• What are their backgrounds and what industry did they come from?

I think you see where I’m going with this.  If these questions cannot be answered with confidence by the Recruiter then there could be a problem and your search may be longer than the agreed upon deliverables.  At this point you will know whether or not it is time to have a meeting and serious discussion with your partnering Recruiter.

What?  An actual purple squirrel found in a Pennsylvania backyard?  Impossible, purple squirrels don’t exist!

But what about the one found in the UK in 2008?

Regardless if this discovery is the mystery of mysteries, a poor squirrel falling into the hands of some prankish kids, or the actual discovery of an elusive squirrel species (which to be honest, we recruiters have known about for some time), the imagination and delight people seem to be taking in this can be a great reminder to all of us – employer and employee alike.

Take delight in your uniqueness.

As an employer there is no other culture like yours, no other team, and no other business.   As a person there is no other experience like yours, no other drive, and no other creativity. 

Too often we measure ourselves through the lens of “what’s lacking” instead of what we’re good at.  Yet, if we stop and look at the successes we’ve had in our lives, we’ll probably find those times were when we embraced our surplus of imagination, desire, drive and enthusiasm – not what was lacking.

What makes this world we live in so fascinating is the differences we all have.  People who are happiest in their jobs are the ones who get to do what they love and what they’re interested in.  Doesn’t that interest typically come from what makes us unique? 

We applaud leaders in companies that see their teams as individuals, allowing them to engage their individual talents in the work they do, creating a happy and satisfying work environment.  It’s time to stop measuring ourselves against others, wondering what we can do to be more like someone else. 

It is the time of the purple squirrel.

So become the purple squirrel – revel in your uniqueness, focus on your skills and talent, not someone else’s. 

Separate yourself from the pack.