If you’re handling hiring at a growing business, chances are you’re overwhelmed and don’t care about the minutiae of HR mumbo jumbo—including understanding the difference between sourcing vs. recruiting. 

We feel you…but these terms are actually worth learning. Sourcing and recruiting go hand in hand in building a talented workforce. But to take advantage of both, you’ll need to understand what hiring professionals do to handle sourcing and recruiting well. 

You’re in the right place. Keep reading for a plain-language explanation of sourcing vs. recruiting so you’re ready to find and nurture the most qualified candidates.

What is talent sourcing?

Talent sourcing is the process of finding passive candidates that are qualified for a role. Passive candidates are professionals who are either not looking for a new position or at least haven’t applied to your organization yet, but meet the requirements for a role you're hiring for. Sourcing specialists are like a talent acquisition marketing team.

If your organization isn’t sourcing passive candidates, you’re missing out on a huge percentage of the best talent. According to research by LinkedIn Talent Solutions, “70% of the global workforce is made up of passive talent.” That’s a whole lot of missed opportunities if you aren’t taking a look at this pool of candidates. 

So, how do you go about sourcing passive candidates? Through research and cold outreach. Because there is no pre-existing relationship with a passive candidate. It’s the sourcing professional’s job to begin that relationship and create a talent pool.

A few of a sourcing specialists key responsibilities are:

• Research key job titles, qualifications, candidate experiences, and competing organizations in the industry that the best candidates are associated with. They also work to identify thought leaders and trends in the industry that will impact future talent needs for their organization so they can proactively source. 

• Build ICPs (Ideal Candidate Profiles) with hiring managers and recruiters to guide the candidate search.

• Network through attending industry events, participating in industry groups, scouring social networks and job boards for prospective talent, and seeking out employee referrals. Each of these activities also helps to create better visibility for the organization and provides opportunities to build a reputation as a desirable employer.

Curate a list of qualified candidates by conducting initial screenings and matching prospective talent to the organization’s ICP.

What is recruiting?

Recruiting is the process of guiding active candidates through the hiring process once they are in the talent pipeline. Active candidates are professionals who are proactively seeking a new role or have been brought into the pipeline through sourcing. These candidates may be unemployed or dissatisfied with their current position and have initiated the relationship with your organization. 

According to the same LinkedIn study, 30% of the workforce are active job seekers. While this pool of talent is quite a bit smaller than passive candidates, they’re just as — if not more — valuable for hiring teams because they’re motivated to find a new role.

Recruiters are like a talent acquisition sales team. They:

• Share job descriptions with potential candidates via job boards and career websites

• Focus on prospects already in the pipeline, working primarily with active candidates that are seeking a new position or have already applied for a role

• Guide prospects through the pipeline, engaging with active job applicants from the point of interest through onboarding them as new employees.

• Conduct interviews, reviewing the skills and needs of the prospect and comparing those to the requirements of the roles they apply for. Some recruiters may work with a recruiting coordinator for scheduling interviews, but most will both schedule and conduct the interviews themselves

Why you need both talent sourcing and recruiting

Full-cycle talent acquisition—meaning, sourcing and recruiting—opens up a much bigger talent pool than either could individually. According to LinkedIn, 87% of talent are open to new opportunities regardless of whether they are passive or active candidates. 

Putting sourcing on the back burner in favor of recruiting is like a company only marketing to its current customers; that would be a very short-lived business plan. You want to market to current and future customers to increase market share and grow the company. Regardless of whether a consumer is searching for a new product or not, they’re typically open to new products if it fits their needs and is at the right price point. Similarly, most professionals are open to a new role if it’s a good fit and within the right salary range, regardless of whether they are searching. 

Sourcing expedites recruiting by building a sustainable pool of talent, and also surfaces more highly qualified talent. According to research by LinkedIn, 62% of talent teams find more highly qualified sourced candidates over inbound candidates.

Recruiting is still an essential piece of the puzzle, though. While sourcing will help you find the best candidate, recruiting is what closes the deal. Recruiters take an introduction, identify points of connection, and turn it into a fruitful relationship.  

Talent acquisition is more efficient and effective when you use sourcing and recruiting in combination, letting each specialist focus on their skillset. A sourcer mines for talent and hands rough gems to a recruiter to refine, polish, and determine the quality of the candidate.

Sourcing vs recruiting: A visual breakdown

We promised a plain-language explanation of sourcing vs. recruiting, but—let’s be real—a picture is worth a thousand words so here’s your visual breakdown of sourcing vs. recruiting: 

How you can make the most out of sourcing and recruiting 

If you’re a startup or SMB, you’re probably thinking, “yeah, this all sounds great, but how am I supposed to do both sourcing and recruiting with a small or non-existent talent team?” 

Have no fear; we’re coming in clutch with just how to do that. 😎

1. Outline a clear talent acquisition cycle (including who is responsible for sourcing vs. recruiting)

Whether you have the luxury of a full talent team or not, it’s essential to delegate exactly who will be responsible for sourcing and recruiting. It takes intentionality to build a talented team, and leaving these tasks to chance will rarely get you where you want to go. 

Delegate these tasks to make sure they’re completed and to figure out what is realistically achievable for your organization. Begin outlining your sourcing and recruiting process by asking these questions:

• How big is our talent acquisition team? 

• If we don’t have a talent acquisition team, who has the best insight and capacity to take on sourcing? And recruiting? 

• Who should be involved in the hiring process?

• What kind of volume is realistically achievable for our team? 

• How will we prioritize needs based on bandwidth? 

• How will we communicate talent needs and candidate progress?
  Hint: A talent acquisition tool with an applicant tracking system (ATS)- but more on that later

If it’s just you (a single person) doing each of these tasks, that’s okay! This process of identifying tasks you need to complete and how you will complete them is even more important so you don’t get overwhelmed!

2. Forecast your talent needs and source early

As with most things, sourcing and recruiting typically go smoother if you plan ahead for your talent needs. According to research by LinkedIn, the median time-to-hire is between 33-49 days, depending on the industry, with some positions taking as long as 82 days!

Imagine if you don’t have a talent pool ready for you to start interviewing as soon as there is an open position. You would have to start the process by trying to build a pipeline from nothing before that 82 days even begins.

How do you know you’ll need a new role in advance? Here are a few forecasting tips: 

• 📊Consistently check in with department leaders about their capacity needs. Gauge which roles may be opening in the near future, so you have time to source a pool of qualified talent before the need is immediate.

• 📈Review industry and global trends. Changes in the economy and specific industries have a huge impact on how long the average hiring cycle is for specific roles. Keeping a pulse on current events allows you to predict more accurately how the needs of your organization will evolve and how long it may take to fulfill them.

• 🔬Analyze your organization’s hiring trends in your ATS. Using a single talent acquisition tool to build your talent pool and pipeline will make it easier to identify which roles are open on a recurring basis, either due to high turnover or organizational growth. 

3. Consistently network in your industry

Sourcing is fundamentally built on making those initial connections with talent, which is difficult if you’re not visible in the industry. It’s like dating - you have to put yourself out there to meet someone!

Be intentional about this. Join industry groups on social media and Slack communities, and attend industry events (virtually or in person); create as many touch points with professionals in the industry as possible.

4. Use hiring automation tools to save time  

If you don’t have the budget for a full talent team, a talent acquisition tool is especially critical. It will give you and your team members more time to focus on hiring tasks that require a human touch by automating busy work—like ….. 

• All of those templated messages you send to every. Single. Prospect.

• Gather referrals from current employees

• Preliminary vetting of candidates based on technical skills or experience

• Pulling data on pipeline and hiring cycles

• And so much more!

A talent acquisition tool also provides visibility for everyone involved in the hiring process, including a list of both active and passive candidates, where they are in the pipeline, and a detailed history of communications with the candidate.

Want to learn more about how to do sourcing? Check out our beginner’s guide to talent sourcing! 

Make Talent Acquisition Easy with Covey

Fast hiring shouldn’t come at the cost of hiring exceptional talent. At Covey, we believe you should be able to have both exceptional talent and an efficient and timely hiring process. Covey is a talent acquisition tool that helps teams hire better talent faster, so startups and SMBs with small or non-existent talent teams can still gain access to top talent. 🙌

We help organizations create a competitive edge in their industry by sourcing top talent with ease. The payroll API company Zeal has accelerated its hiring velocity by 5x thanks to using Covey!

Read more about how Zeal reached passive candidates with Covey’s referral network tool and sourcing automation!