The sourcer and the recruiter: two important members of the talent acquisition team. But to those unfamiliar with or new to the recruiting scene, it's often unclear what differentiates their roles.
The short answer is that a recruiter finds job candidates via reviewing applications to a job posting, whereas a sourcer goes out and finds candidates who fit the job description but may not be aware of the company or opening. In other words, a recruiter uses inbound recruiting tactics, whereas a sourcer uses outbound recruiting tactics. Keep reading to learn more about the similarities and differences between a sourcer and a recruiter.
The goal of both sourcers and recruiters is the exact same: fill a job opening with the best candidate available. Most of their recruitment KPIs are the same, such as cost-per-hire and time-to-hire. So, if their goal is the same and their success is measured by many of the same metrics, what exactly makes them different?
Both sourcers and recruiters start the recruiting process by opening a job requisition in their applicant tracking system (ATS) and posting the job to the company career page. But the steps they take after that are very different.
After opening a job req, the recruiter's next step is to post the job on one or more job boards. They wait for applicants to apply for the job, and then they review the applications. They may have only a handful of applications, or they may get thousands that they need to sift through. If they're using outdated tools, they'll likely have to go through the applications manually, which is incredibly time-consuming.
Once they have a list of potential candidates, they can begin reaching out to schedule interviews. This may be done manually or through candidate outreach tools. At this point, the process moves back to the ATS, and a hiring manager generally takes over.
On the other hand, someone taking a pure sourcing approach won't post the job to any job boards—a sourcer finds the candidate rather than the candidates finding the job opening. How they go about finding candidates depends on the tools they have available to them.
Scouring LinkedIn for candidates might work, but it limits the sourcer to only those candidates with an up-to-date profile on the platform. Preferably, the sourcer will have access to a sourcing platform that lets them view resumes from multiple job sites and even portfolio sites. Or even an AI sourcing platform that finds candidates for them, and all they have to do is review and accept/reject.
A smart sourcer will likely have also built a talent pool that they can turn to when it's time to fill a new role. These are candidates who are already familiar with your company, and though they weren't right for a previous role, they might be perfect for the next one. And since they've already expressed interest in working at your company, they're likely to jump on board more quickly than a purely “cold” candidate.
After compiling a list of candidates, it's time to contact them. Unlike the recruiter, the sourcer isn't sure if the people they're reaching out to have any interest in the role they're being contacted about. For this reason, it's a good idea to cast a wide net and utilize email sequences. Using a GPT-assisted automated outreach tool can help a lot with this process.
Most sourcers will ask the candidate to apply to the job on the company career page. Once interested candidates have done so, they're in the ATS, and the sourcer can hand them off to the hiring manager.
Just because sourcing and recruiting take different approaches doesn't mean they can't be used together. Anyone who's used both will tell you that you sometimes have more success with one than the other. If you're utilizing a recruiting CRM that lets you do both in one place (quickly and easily), you can better ensure that you're getting the best candidates for your open req every time.
There are way too many variables to say whether recruiting or sourcing is more time-efficient. How well did the recruiter craft the job posting? How well did the sourcer craft their candidate outreach? How high is the demand for that role? How specialized is it?
If you're wanting to speed up the recruitment process, your best bets are to utilize a highly effective talent acquisition platform, employ both recruiting and sourcing processes, and analyze recruitment metrics to see where you can be more efficient.
Sourcers and recruiters must craft their candidate outreach very differently. There's a huge difference between someone who's not aware of your company and/or role vs someone who actively applied for it. The first time a recruiter reaches out to a candidate, it may be to schedule an interview, whereas a sourcer's first contact is likely trying to entice this stranger to become an applicant.
Even though the messaging is different, once again, the goal is the same: to fill a job vacancy. So both sourcers and recruiters need to carefully consider how they write their recruiter email subject line and the internal message.
Ultimately, a recruiter and a sourcer could utilize several different tools to fulfill their talent acquisition needs. Or they can consolidate their tech stack and use only two: their ATS and hireEZ.
hireEZ offers sourcing capabilities, AI-assisted applicant review, automated outreach tools, insights and reporting, and more. Book a demo today to learn more.
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