7 Talent Sourcing Techniques For Recruitment Success in 2021

Talent sourcing has changed over the years. New methods are added, further scopes are being found. 2020 was a challenging year; We expected 2021 to be better; however, the pandemic still lingers, making sourcing and recruiting more difficult. But we cannot sit around, be it using technology or new methods; recruiters are trying everything they can to move forward.

Techniques and processes change over time to adapt to the new atmosphere. If you do not adjust, you will fall behind. Due to this pandemic, companies and recruiters are now adapting to a lot of things. Keeping these new situations and the pandemic in mind, below are the top talent sourcing techniques for 2021.

1. Optimise Your Career Site

Your career site is probably the first place where a candidate interacts with your company. Because hiring might increase in 2021, it is essential to have an appealing and easy-to-use career site. Your career site should be easy to find and use, delivering a high user experience (UX). If a site has problems or isn’t working correctly, candidates will most likely move away to another site. There’s a chance they might forget about your career website or find a better offer.

As an employer, you do not want to take that chance. The site should be mobile-friendly so that candidates can access it on the go. Candidates should be able to open a profile, search for jobs, and apply for jobs quickly. Top candidates are probably applying for multiple jobs simultaneously, and if it’s challenging to use, they will promptly move to the other. You would not want to lose a top-qualified candidate over some website issues.

There are many recruitment marketing tools that employers can use. Some recruitment marketing software includes career site capabilities. Your career site should be Search Engine Optimized so search engines can direct more applicants towards you.

The site should be appealing and provide transparent information to candidates about the workplace and work culture. When candidates can visualize working with you in a great environment, they will most likely apply for a job from your career site.

The site can provide content and videos that show the workplace, work culture. Interviews of employees or videos on employee experience at your company will allow the candidates to see and visualize working for you.  Remember to add new content, and refresh your site periodically so the returning candidates can see what’s new instead of the same old website.

2. Use Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Applicant Tracking System or ATS does a lot more than just tracking applicants. Recruiters use ATS to post jobs, handle applicants and job offers, end-to-end management of candidates. ATS also helps you build a pool of talent to search anytime to find candidates you need.

ATS also helps employers schedule interviews, send automated emails and notifications to HR and recruiters, and keep the recruiters and hiring managers notified about the current status of each hiring process.

The applicant tracking system is an excellent tool to handle full cycle recruitment process. There are many ATS out there, and you should make sure you are using the best one. A good ATS will allow you to search candidates using filters and rank them against the job role. It will also allow you to search for candidates with specific skills or qualifications.

ATS can post job ads on external social sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook. This activity will improve your reach and allow you to engage candidates on social media, saving time while also providing candidates with a fantastic candidate experience.

3. Increase Your Remote Hiring Capabilities

We are already deep into 2021, and Covid-19 is showing no signs of leaving any soon. Keeping the pandemic and the new developments in mind, you need to ensure you are equipped to source for remote jobs. You need to ensure that you as well as your clients can post jobs online, receive applications online, and conduct interviews through video calls. You need to be able to source, screen, interview, and hire online.

As mentioned in the points above, you need a career site and an ATS to post jobs and receive applications. Using ATS and career sites that are mobile-enabled combined with video calling software such as Zoom will allow you to conduct a full-cycle recruitment process online.

Remote interviews are a new norm. Previously remote hirings had happened, but interviews were always in person. However, that is not the case now. Right now, in-person interviews are not only complicated, but they are also fatal. Interviewing through video calls is the new normal, and it will probably stick around to some extent, even after the pandemic is gone.

There are many video-calling apps and software out there. Try to use a popular one that will also allow you to maintain your official image. By picking reputable platforms, you can show your candidates that you are serious. Candidates often face interviews, and they don’t want to download and install a new video calling app they haven’t heard about for every interview.

Technical problems can happen, and the recruiter should handle the candidate with empathy if such things occur. Because of the pandemic or working-from-home situations, candidates lack a quiet place or a professional-looking place; that should not matter. Candidates might not be comfortable because of such problems. Doing what you can to make them comfortable will ensure a better and more focused interview.

Educate your recruiting team about the job roles and industries thriving in the new normal of remote workspace, and prep them to recruit and source CVs around these profiles.

4. Use Your Best Source of Talent

Recruiters source talents from various sources. Be it internal transfer, referral program, social media conversion, or an application from a job board; it is essential to identify the source of your best talents. Recruiters should track and regularly review the source of hire for candidates who perform better or add value to the company.

For example, suppose you source candidates from social media, job boards, job ads, and referral programs. In that case, you can track these metrics and compare which candidates are working better and which candidates are underperforming. This way, you can decide what percentage of employees from which sources are overachieving or underperforming.

You can also track metrics such as successful hires, unsuccessful hires, and passive candidates. Tracking these metrics will show you which source is more efficient at sourcing vetted candidates. Using source of hire (SoH) metrics, you can identify the most efficient sources. If you think some sources are not working, you may as well drop them and try adding new ones

You can use ATS to track metrics regarding the source of hire. The ATS will show you the source and the current status of the candidate.

If your staffing agency needs help with sourcing and screening candidates, get in touch with our RPO specialists today.

5. Use of AI and Machine Learning

AI and Machine learning are new methods in the recruitment system. AI and Machine Learning are used to automate a wide variety of recruitment phases.

AI and Machine Learning is used in –

1. Screening and sorting massive volume of resumes and CVs
2. Scanning resumes
3. Matching candidates with job openings
4. Scanning job description, applications, and other communications
5. Running chatbots
6. Handling metrics and analytics

Many of the tasks mentioned above are time-consuming and require focus and a workforce. Using AI and Machine Learning will save your time and provide results without human bias. Using AI and ML to track metrics is an excellent idea as it eliminates the threat of human error or human bias.

Tasks such as scanning and screening resumes take a lot of time, but AI and ML can do it in a fraction of a second. Chatbots are a great way to interact with candidates. Candidates can ask questions and get the information within a few seconds. Some ATS software comes with all these options, while you will have to integrate your functions in some ATS.

For complete information on candidate sourcing: Talent sourcing strategy

6. Skill-Based Hiring

Skill-based hiring is becoming normal again, and it is because of AI and other software. AI-based technologies allow you to identify and match skills without any error. While academic degrees are a good indication, having practical skills are even better. Recruiters are now more interested in skill-based hiring because hiring a candidate with practical skills is more efficient.

Many contingent workers, freelancers, and employees lack the education degree but often have the skills for a role. Hiring candidates based on their skills is more efficient for the company. Many skills are essential, but candidates can’t get a degree. Skills such as communication, critical thinking, and innovative thinking cannot be demonstrated through a degree.

Using skills to identify the job candidates is way more efficient and attracts the perfect candidates. A skill-based hiring process can improve the sourcing, screening, and matching of candidates. To identify technical skills, you can hold a short test. Soft skills, such as communication or critical thinking, can be identified in the interview through a valid questionnaire.

7. Candidate Feedback

A few years back, candidate experience was not very important to recruiters. However, now candidate experience is one of the most critical aspects of the recruitment process. Whether the candidate is hired or not is not essential; however, it is necessary to make sure the candidate had an excellent experience. If candidates constantly have bad experiences with you, that can damage your reputation as an employer.

The recruitment process is lengthy, expensive, and requires a lot of focus. No matter how much you work on the recruitment process, they will be issues that you can’t see at that moment. Asking for candidate feedback will show you the problems and errors. It will also show the candidate that you care about their time, energy, and taking the process seriously.

The methods mentioned above are the most valuable and relevant at this time. While the pandemic is still here, we can see the businesses are rising back, and companies are hiring. New problems require new solutions, and adapting to the current scenario is the best solution to all your recruitment problems. Everything needs to upgrade with time, and it’s time for you to upgrade your talent sourcing methods to something that suits the current time.

QX Global Group, Recruitment division, offers resume sourcing services to staffing agencies in the UK, delivering scalability, agility and profitability benefits.

Originally published Jun 18, 2021 09:06:26, updated Jan 24 2023

Topics: Candidate Sourcing, Recruitment