Sourcing is the use of one or more strategies to attract and identify candidates to fill job vacancies. It may involve internal and/or external
recruitment advertising, using appropriate media such as
job portals, local or national
newspapers, social media, business media, specialist recruitment media, professional publications, window advertisements, yard signs, job centers, career fairs, or in a variety of ways via the internet. Alternatively, employers may use recruitment consultancies or
agencies to find otherwise scarce candidates—who, in many cases, may be content in their current positions and are not actively looking to move. This initial research for candidates—also called
name generation—produces contact information for potential candidates, whom the recruiter can then discreetly contact and screen.
Referral recruitment programs Referral recruitment programs allow both outsiders and employees to refer or recommend quality candidates (people they know or are connected to) for filling job openings. Online, they can be implemented by leveraging social media networks.
Employee referrals An
employee referral is a candidate recommended by an existing employee. This is sometimes referred to as . Encouraging existing employees to select and recruit suitable candidates results in: • Improved candidate quality ('fit'). Employee referrals allow existing employees to screen, select and recommend candidates, lowering staff attrition rate; candidates hired through referrals tend to stay up to 3 times longer than candidates hired through
job boards and other sources. The one-to-one direct relationship between the candidate and the referring employee and the exchange of knowledge that takes place allows the candidate to develop a strong understanding of the company, its business and the application and recruitment process. The candidate is thereby enabled to assess their own suitability and likelihood of success, including "fitting in". • Reduces the considerable cost of third-party recruitment service providers who would have previously conducted the screening and selection process. An
op-ed in ''
Crain's'' in April 2013 recommended that companies look to employee referral to speed the recruitment process for
purple squirrels, which are rare candidates considered to be "perfect" fits for open positions. • The referring employee typically receives a referral bonus, either at the time of the referral (smaller amount) or at the time of placement (larger amount) and is widely acknowledged as being cost-effective. The Global Employee Referral Index 2013 Survey found that 92% of participants reported employee referrals as one of the top recruiting sources. • As candidate quality improves and interview-to-job-offer conversion rates increase, the amount of time spent
interviewing decreases, which means the company's
employee headcount can be streamlined and be used more efficiently. Marketing and advertising expenditures decrease as existing employees source potential candidates from existing personal networks of friends, family, colleagues and professional associates. By contrast, recruiting through third-party recruitment agencies incurs a 20–25% agency finder's fee – which can top $25K for an employee with $100K annual salary. There is, however, a risk of less corporate creativity: An overly homogeneous workforce is at risk for "fails to produce novel ideas or
innovations." Additionally, sourcing exclusively from employee referrals may jeopardize the overall diversity of your workforce.
Diversity Many major corporations recognize the need for
diversity in hiring to compete successfully in a global economy. The challenge is to avoid recruiting staff who are "in the likeness of existing employees" but also to retain a more diverse workforce and work with inclusion strategies to include them in the organization.
Social network referral Initially, responses to mass-emailing or organically posting open job announcements to those within employees'
social network slowed the screening process. Two ways in which this improved are: • Making available screen tools for employees to use, although this interferes with the "work routines of already time-starved employees" • "When employees put their reputation on the line for the person they are recommending" == Screening and selection ==