Sourcing vs. Recruiting: What Are the Key Differences?

Finding and hiring the right people for your business is one of the most important processes of recruitment, no matter how big or small your company is. However, there are two distinct processes involved in this task: sourcing and recruiting. Knowing the difference between them can help you optimize your hiring strategy and save time and resources.

Sourcing and recruiting are related but not identical. In fact, both tasks are often performed by the same person or department. However, they have different goals, methods, and outcomes. In this article, we will explain what each process entails, how they overlap, and how they differ.

What is Sourcing

Sourcing is finding and attracting potential candidates for open positions in a company. It is the first step of the talent acquisition process, where recruiters use various methods and channels to identify and reach out to qualified candidates. Sourcing can help recruiters build a pipeline of talent, reduce hiring costs and time, and improve the quality and diversity of hires.

This process is often carried out by recruiters or talent acquisition professionals and involves several key activities including Boolean searches, social media recruiting, and employee referrals. They also attend networking events and job fairs to meet potential candidates in person.

Sourcers’ Key Responsibilities

• Talent Sourcing: The primary responsibility of a sourcer is to source and identify potential candidates for open positions. Sourcers find candidates via various methods and channels like job boards, databases, social media platforms, and professional networking sites. They also proactively reach out to passive candidates who may not be actively searching but possess the right skills and qualifications.
• Candidate Screening: Once potential candidates have been identified, sourcers are responsible for screening and evaluating their qualifications. They review resumes, cover letters, and online profiles, assessing candidates' skills, experience, and cultural fit to shortlist the most suitable candidates.
• Market Research: Sourcers are also responsible for conducting market research to gain insights into industry trends, competitors, and the availability of talent.
• Collaborating with Hiring Managers: Sourcers work closely with hiring managers to understand the specific requirements for each position. They collaborate to develop search strategies for specific roles.
• Continuous Learning and Improvement: Sourcers are constantly staying up-to-date with the latest sourcing techniques, tools, and technologies. They are staying informed about recruitment best practices to improve their strategies and performance.

With the talent shortage among other issues, sourcing today is not an easy job. On average, it costs $4,129 and takes 42 days to fill a position. [1] It’s increasingly difficult to find the right talent in time within a given budget and time. Smaller recruitment agencies with limited budgets suffer even more when investing in an ATS can cost you over $200 a month [2], and CRM tools can cost you over $1000 monthly. [3]

But there are options for such situations. Manatal combines ATS and CRM in a tool that starts at only $15 per user/ per month. No more juggling around between tools and hoping to find the right talent before the deadline. You’ll have time to manage both candidates and hiring managers at less cost and with more time on your hands. With Manatal, managing candidates and hiring managers can be simply done with drag-and-drop movement.

{{cta}}

Recruiters’ Key Responsibilities

Although similar, or often mistaken as the same position, recruiters’ responsibilities are a bit different.

• Job Analysis: Recruiters are responsible for understanding the requirements of the job position that needs to be filled. This involves conducting a thorough analysis of the job description, identifying the necessary skills and qualifications, and determining the key responsibilities and expectations of certain roles.
• Finding and Attracting Candidates: Once the job requirements are clear, it’s the recruiters’ job to actively find and attract potential candidates. Recruiters source candidates through various strategies such as job postings, social media recruitment, networking, and partnering with universities and professional organizations.
• Screening and Interviewing: Recruiters are responsible for conducting initial screenings and interviews to evaluate candidates' suitability for the position. This includes reviewing resumes, assessing qualifications, and conducting phone or video interviews.
• Assessing Skills and Competencies: Recruiters are assessing candidates' skills and competencies via technical assessments, administering aptitude tests, or organizing assessment centers.
• Conducting Background Checks: As part of the recruitment process, recruiters are responsible for conducting thorough background checks on potential hires. This may include verifying educational qualifications, employment history, and references, and conducting criminal record checks to ensure the credibility and reliability of the applicants.
• Managing the Hiring Process: The recruiters should coordinate and manage the entire hiring process. From scheduling interviews, and coordinating feedback from interviewers, to communicating with candidates at various stages of the selection process. Recruiters must ensure a smooth and transparent process to provide a positive experience for both the organization and the candidates.
• Building and Maintaining Relationships: Recruiters play a key role in building and maintaining relationships with candidates, hiring managers, and other stakeholders involved in the recruitment process. They must establish rapport, communicate effectively, and provide regular updates to ensure a positive candidate experience and a smooth hiring process.
• Staying Updated on Recruitment Trends: Recruiting is a constantly evolving field, so recruiters are responsible for keeping up with the latest trends, technologies, and strategies.

Sourcing vs. Recruiting

Recruiting is the process of attracting, shortlisting, selecting, and appointing suitable candidates for jobs within an organization. It involves identifying the skills and qualifications required for a position, developing an employer brand, and implementing recruiting technologies. Recruiting also involves managing relationships with qualified candidates and guiding them through interviews, evaluations, and hiring processes.

Sourcing and recruiting can work together to optimize the entire recruiting process. Some organizations may have separate teams or individuals for sourcing and recruiting, while others may have one person or team handle both functions.

Here are some key differences between sourcing and recruiting.

1. Timeline

The timeline for sourcing and recruiting can vary depending on the needs of the company and the position being filled. Sourcing typically occurs earlier in the hiring process, as it involves proactively searching for and identifying potential candidates. Once qualified candidates have been identified, the recruiting process begins, which involves evaluating and selecting those candidates for the position through methods such as application review, interviewing, and candidate assessments.

2. Roles and responsibilities

The sourcing process is carried out by human resources (HR) professionals who work alongside recruiters to compile a group of qualified prospective candidates for a particular role. Sourcers use various techniques, such as social media outreach and competitive research to find the right candidates. Recruiting is also performed by HR professionals who work with sources to handle the rest of the hiring process. Recruiters are in charge of administrative tasks, such as posting openings on job boards, reviewing applications, coordinating schedules, and meeting any other client needs.

3. Metrics and outcomes

Sourcing measures metrics and outcomes such as the number of candidates sourced, the quality of candidates sourced, the response rate of candidates, the conversion rate of candidates, and the cost per hire. Sourcing aims to generate a large and diverse pool of qualified candidates who are interested in the company and the role. Recruiting measures metrics and outcomes such as the time to fill, the offer acceptance rate, the hiring manager satisfaction, the candidate satisfaction, and the retention rate. Recruiting aims to select and hire the best candidates who meet the role requirements and fit the company culture.

4. Passive Candidates

Sourcing involves targeting passive candidates, who are those who might have other jobs already or aren’t necessarily looking for another job with the organization. They might have the qualifications necessary that sourcers identify through their social media profiles, referrals, or other research. Recruiting targets active candidates, who are people who apply for jobs within a company. They may or may not have the right qualifications, but recruiters typically identify this through pre-screening and reviewing their qualifications.

What Do Sourcing and Recruiting Have in Common?

There can still be a significant amount of overlap when comparing recruiting and sourcing. Here are four areas where sourcing and recruiting intersect:

• Identifying candidates: Both sourcing and recruiting involve identifying potential candidates for open positions. Sourcing focuses on finding top talent, while recruiting involves converting potential job candidates into hired employees.
• Screening candidates: They both involve screening candidates for their skills and experience. Sourcing involves researching potential top talent, while recruiting involves reviewing applications and conducting interviews with talented individuals.
• Interacting with candidates: They also interact with potential candidates to get valuable information. Sourcing involves making first contact with potential candidates and promoting the company as a good future employer, while recruiting involves managing relationships with applicants.
• Supplying qualified job candidates: Both sourcing and recruiting involve supplying qualified job candidates to the hiring team. Sourcing involves creating and maintaining a steady stream of highly skilled leads for the recruiting team, while recruiting involves converting potential job candidates into hired employees.

Bring Sourcing and Recruiting Together

Now that we’ve explored the differences and the common areas between sourcing and recruiting, let’s see how they can complement each other when you put them together.

When it comes to hiring top talent for your organization, it’s important to have a seamless process that brings together both sourcing and recruiting efforts. By combining them, you can create a more efficient and effective hiring strategy. Sourcing helps to build a pipeline of qualified candidates, providing recruiters with a pool of talent to choose from when positions open up. Recruiters can then focus on engaging with these candidates, assessing their skills and qualifications, and ultimately making the right hire for the role.

One way to bring sourcing and recruiting together is to have clear communication and collaboration between the two teams. Sourcing teams can provide recruiters with valuable insights about the candidates they have identified, such as their motivations, skills, and previous experiences. Recruiters can then use this information to tailor their messaging and engagement strategies to better attract and assess these candidates.

Aside from that, leveraging technology and data can help streamline the sourcing and recruiting process. Applicant tracking systems and recruitment software can help both sourcing and recruiting teams manage candidate pipelines, track candidate interactions, and analyze data to improve hiring outcomes. Through the use of data-driven insights, you can make more informed decisions about your sourcing and recruiting efforts, ultimately leading to better hires.

Conclusion

Combining sourcing and recruiting is a way of integrating the two functions of finding and attracting potential candidates for open positions in a company. There are several ways that a business can combine sourcing and recruiting. One of the simplest is to have the recruiter deal with both sourcing and recruiting as part of their role. Having one person or team handle both sourcing and recruiting, makes the hiring process more streamlined and simplified. There is no need to transfer information or coordinate between different parties, which can reduce errors and delays

—

Citations:

1. LinkedIn

2. Forbes

3. Forbes