7 Sourcing Mistakes Recruiters Make

Let’s check out some of the most common sourcing mistakes recruiters make when looking for new candidates.

1. Making assumptions

Very often, recruiters make assumptions about a candidate they’ve never met before. This includes writing attractive emails about the job offers and openings and assuming that the candidate would like it even before you’ve analysed the candidate’s credentials.

With this kind of attitude and approach, the recruiter assumes that they professionally know the candidate very well. However, the fact is that you have little information about the candidate and don’t know whether the candidate would like the job opportunity or not. You are at risk of losing out on the trust that you may have otherwise gained from the candidate.

Therefore, using butterfly sales language and assumptions is not the right way to source candidates.

2. Ignoring active job seekers

Most recruiters believe that passive candidates are the best fit for their job positions, and it is worth their time to persuade them to consider your job opportunity.

Many experts disagree that only pursuing passive candidates is the right approach to sourcing. It mainly depends on the job position that you want to hire.

More often, active candidates are best suited for a majority of the job positions. Plus, there is a higher chance of finding the right cultural fit candidate among the active job seekers.

In the current job market, not many individuals often prefer to change jobs. The average period is about 4 to 5 years before a candidate actively seeks a new job. Therefore, don’t ignore or undervalue the significance and skills of active job seekers.

3. Creating generalised job ads

Another common mistake that most recruiters make is not creating focused job ads that highlight the specific qualities they want for the job role. This often leads to hundreds of job applications with weaker matches, which does not solve the purpose of sourcing.

Sourcing is about finding and creating a list of the most eligible and best-fit candidates and then encouraging them to apply for the job position. Therefore, the job ads need to focus on the specific skills, knowledge and experience required for the job role.

4. Sharing job descriptions on social media without proper brand building

Most recruiters rush to share job descriptions on social media platforms to their thousands of followers without prior brand building.

First, the recruiter needs to build their brand on the internet by actively engaging with their followers. This is a long-term process that starts well before posting your job opportunities.

Developing a proper brand helps your followers or your target audience on social media to connect and engage with your brand. This boosts your credibility, which pays rich dividends when sharing social media job opportunities or job descriptions.

5. Neglecting candidates that fall short by fewer margins

A majority of recruiters are too rigid in their candidate requirements. They overlook the fairly good candidates who fall short by narrow margins.

By being rigid with your requirements, you may miss some terrific candidates who are the best fit for the job. Sometimes, you do not just require a candidate with top skills and talent, but you also need one with the right attitude. Because skills can be acquired, but attitude is difficult to cultivate.

6. Being too dependent on job ads

Most recruiters rely heavily on job ads to source candidates. And they feel they’ve achieved good outcomes when they receive hundreds of resumes. However, there’s a flaw in this approach.

If you’ve received hundreds of job applications for your job openings, there’s clearly something wrong. This indicates that the active candidates did not fully understand your job posting; they just submitted their resumes to try their luck with this job opportunity.
It makes your sourcing more complex because, in such a situation, you have to work again to weed out the bad matches and invite the best-fit candidates to the next round of interviews.

7. Not using different recruitment channels

It is vital to use the proper recruiting channels to reach out to candidates in this digital age. Most recruiters rely on single recruitment channels such as job ads to source their candidates.

This way, they miss out on the vast resource of social media, which can help them directly connect and interact with active and passive job seekers. Recruiters need to identify the proper channels to find the candidates they want for the job role.

Sourcing is the first and the most crucial step in the recruitment process. To learn more about effective sourcing, visit BetterPlace.