What is Active Sourcing and why should I use it?

Active sourcing is the independent, proactive search, Addressing and recruiting of potential employees. Active sourcing also includes a plan to retain them initially. active sourcing what is it

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Active sourcing as a response to the changes in the labor market

What is Active Sourcing? Companies are facing strong competition to fill their vacancies with suitable candidates. Against this backdrop, many companies are currently questioning and rethinking their recruitment methods. While traditional recruiting methods are rather passive, where recruiters just wait for applications to come in, the method of Active Sourcing is increasingly present and popular. Active sourcing refers to the active search for and contacting of potential employees and the attempt to bind them to a company in the long term.

Active sourcing: reasons and methods

The shortage of skilled workers and demographic change are the reasons for the changed developments on the labor market: Companies are forced to approach potential employees more actively. For example, they are trying to market themselves as an attractive place to work through employer branding.

The shortage of skilled workers and demographic change are therefore leading to a change in the way HR managers work: Instead of relying on applicants, recruiters need to be proactive to fill vacancies properly to prevent future staffing shortages. By directly approaching and contacting potential employees, a talent pool is formed to bridge personnel bottlenecks.

Active and passive candidate market

A distinction can be made between two types of potential candidates in the pool: active and passive candidates. The active candidate market consists of people who respond to job advertisements and are therefore easy to reach. The passive candidate market consists of people who are latently looking for new challenges but are not actively looking for a new job. Both candidate markets can be reached with Active Sourcing.

Active sourcing measures

Successful active recruiting usually begins with extensive research and a search for a suitable candidate. However, contacting potential employees is only one of the measures that can be used as part of a corresponding strategy. In a broader sense, it also includes binding a person to the company - before he or she has even applied for a job. Even if the person is not available for a position at the time they are contacted, they can be "retained" in the talent pool and contacted again if needed. Potential new employees must either have a profile that fits well with the company or fit a specific position.

Active recruiting through social networks

The active way to recruit employees has become much easier through social media. On various social networks with a professional focus such as XING or LinkedIN, in resume databases such as Stepstone and Monste. On Facebook, too, recruiters can address potential employees in an uncomplicated and targeted manner.

Active sourcing outside social networks Active sourcing often takes place in social networks with a professional focus. This recruiting phenomenon existed even before such online platforms had resounding success. Recruiters try to recruit interesting graduates or students directly at trade fairs or in and for lecture halls.

Advantages of Active Sourcing

Even though it takes some time, the effort is worth it in the long run. Compared to other recruitment measures, the approach is very effective, targeted and inexpensive. With efficient active sourcing, companies can shorten their time-to-hire, the time that elapses between posting a job and actually filling it. Active sourcing enables recruiters to respond more quickly to staffing shortages by drawing on their accumulated talent pool. It can significantly reduce the time it takes to find new employees. In addition, candidates and recruiters already know each other, which means that bad hires can largely be avoided, as both parties know what they are getting into.