Why a thoughtful candidate sourcing strategy is key to business success

3 mins, 33 secs read time

One thing’s for certain in today’s job market – change is here to stay. In the past few years, the economic climate has seen rapid changes, which sometimes leads to confusion for businesses looking for clarity on how to build out their hiring goals. Should you slow your hiring, or speed it up? When no one has a crystal ball, how do you future proof your business?

The truth is, in order to be successful in any economic climate, you need to find ways to grow and plan for the next wave of hiring. That’s why it’s so important to be actively thoughtful and strategic about your candidate sourcing strategy.

To help, we’ve compiled this list of tips for attracting and engaging talent in times of uncertainty so you can build an optimal candidate sourcing strategy for your organization

Focus on sourcing strategic hires

Many companies benefit from sourcing strategic hires that can help the company grow in any kind of economy or job market.

Here are some things to keep in mind for your always-on candidate sourcing strategy:

• In an uncertain job market, you might not be able to make all the hires you’d like to, so focus on making strategic hires who can impact the business significantly. To help you hone in on these key hires, think about questions such as: Which key roles do we need to move the company forward? Are these C-suite roles? Are these roles usually hard to fill?
• Find candidates who can fill multiple business needs – this is a valuable alternative to spreading your teams too thin.

Build and nurture relationships with passive talent

Another great candidate sourcing strategy at any time is to focus on building and nurturing relationships with passive talent. In times of uncertainty, this can help set you up for success when hiring ramps back up.

Here’s how you can start planning ahead:

• Spend more time sourcing now instead of later – If you invest your time in sourcing, building and nurturing relationships with passive talent today, you’ll have a solid candidate pipeline when hiring picks back up. This will save you time from sourcing candidates later and starting your sourcing process from scratch since you already have a great pipeline.
• Have candidates ready to fill roles – Since you can't predict which jobs will need to be filled in the future, building up your talent pipeline is always a smart idea. Having a solid pipeline in place empowers you whenever you need to identify quality candidates for future opportunities.
• Stay ahead of the competition by being top of mind – Having ongoing conversations with passive candidates is beneficial because when the time is right, your company will be at the top of candidates’ minds. This allows you to source and hire quality candidates quickly and to stay ahead of the competition.

Address hesitations about switching jobs

Addressing hesitations that prospects might have about switching jobs can help reassure them that joining your company is a great opportunity, particularly in uncertain times.

If you’re unsure how to address the hesitations your potential candidates could have, we’ve outlined some talking points to help you engage them and (hopefully!) convince them to join your company:

• Mention how your company is continuing to hire and expand by including a key metric like headcount, growth rate or a recent round of funding.
• Share industry news or company recognition that highlights how your industry is growing or how your company is recognized as a great place to work.
• If the timing still feels a bit risky, let them know you’re still interested in learning more about their career goals so you can reach out to them in the future when an opportunity arises.

Remember that recruiting takes time and cultivating relationships with prospects in good times and lean times is key to making strategic hires when you need to in the future.

It’s important to frequently adjust and finetune your candidate sourcing strategy so you can be prepared for and quickly adapt to the next hiring wave. Ready to start sourcing? Download our new eBook to ensure your candidate sourcing outreach is as fruitful as possible.

Learn more about Greenhouse Recruiting and Sourcing Automation by connecting with a member of our team today.