When Is It Advantageous to Choose Direct Sourcing for Talent Acquisition?

Recruiters from various sectors are going back to the drawing board to manage the unpredictable talent market. Besides slashing recruitment budgets, employers are reviewing who, when, and how they hire. That’s why companies are embracing direct sourcing, sometimes referred to as self-sourcing, for talent acquisition. This strategy allows companies to attract and manage a private database – referred to as a talent pool – of non-employee professionals available for and interested in future assignments. 

However, self-sourcing is only ideal for specific situations. This is when to use direct sourcing for talent acquisition. 

Finding Specialist Professionals

Only employers understand the “soft skills” they are looking for when seeking additional talent.  Recruiters may supply workers, but their choices won’t always meet your criteria for fit with your organization. Moreover, specialist roles demand specific qualifications, which aren’t always available on talent marketplaces. 

Supplementing Traditional Sourcing Channels

You don’t have to abandon other hiring channels when you use direct sourcing for talent acquisition. With the shifting labor market, it would take more than direct hires to land scarce talent. For example, you can combine direct sourcing with employment agencies, job boards, and social media hiring. 

You could also improve direct sourcing results by strengthening your brand message, hiring from employee networks, and contacting former candidates. Similarly, you could mentor interns, find candidates at industry events, or get referrals from professional connections.       

Completing Task-Based Work

For a long time now, employers have succeeded with traditional sourcing methods. But, as the world embraces remote work after the pandemic, businesses are struggling to find talent for task-based needs. It’s even harder for candidate-driven markets where the best professionals cherry-pick contingent opportunities. 

Rather than getting unproven workers from talent marketplaces, direct sourcing guarantees a pre-screened network for faster onboarding.  

Addressing the Challenges of Direct Sourcing

Direct sourcing is ideal if you want to hire on your own terms without sacrificing flexibility. However, it takes considerable effort to design and manage a direct sourcing solution. Effort is required to determine the skills you will frequently need and to source and screen individuals with these skills. Without continuous attention, your talent pool will rapidly become stale as individuals find other positions or lose interest in working for your organization. nextSource will address these issues for you, building, populating, curating and nurturing candidates so that they are ready and interested when you need them. Do you want to try direct sourcing for talent acquisition? Let’s talk about how this solution can transform your hiring experience.