Sourcers: Elite Technical Researchers

Attrition rates for recruitment have long been in decline. This is due to the nature of recruitment becoming ever more specialized as a discipline versus something one “accidentally fell into”. There are two reasons for this evolution. 1.) Employment is at an all time low. 2.) Every company must function as a tech company in advertising, selling and promoting its products and services. These reasons combined have created a market for elite sourcers, recruitment marketers, employer branders and talent analytics. In this article we will discuss the evolution of the Sourcer.

The Elite Technical Researcher:

Today’s Sourcers are deemed “Elite Technical Researchers” who go beyond booleans and harness advanced technologies as part of their discovery arsenal. While it’s true that the bedrock of any great sourcer is the boolean string, booleans can be automated and are no longer considered the bright and shiny resource that effects change. In a recent conversation with Uber’s Head of Global Sourcing Platforms, Noelle Hunt Bennett, she described the “Tech Elite” as an evolved practitioner equipped with a go-to-market strategy that utilizes sourcing tools, chrome extensions, data finders and more. Bennet believes replication is key. She employs a culture of sharing and trust by encouraging her team to replicate successful searches and share with the team. Bennet goes on to say, “Booleans are automated and no longer a tool. They are a function. Let it go!”

“Booleans are automated and no longer a tool. They are a function. Let it go!”

Sourcing Authority, Dean Da Costa, has written two book on sourcing. Employed by Lockheed Martin, Da Costa is the go-to source for finding contact information on targeted talent. Da Costa’s teachings on OSINT (Open-source Intelligence) has opened a whole new wave of education on sourcing techniques available to the recruitment and staffing world. Da Costa teaches how to find candidate data on meetups, twitter, facebook and everywhere except LinkedIn - although he can do that too without a LinkedIn account. #justsayn

OSINT has opened a whole new wave of education on sourcing techniques.

Mike Chuidian, Senior Technical Sourcer for Walmart eCommerce, believes that true recruitment is in sourcing. Chuidian’s approach to automating his own boolean strings with python code helps him replicate successful searches. An inspiration to the sourcing community, Chuidian admits that working with software engineers turned sourcers has inspired him to take his practice to the next level. “We’re like Data Scientists.” says Chuidian. Sourcing has evolved.

“We’re like Data Scientists.”

Meet speakers Noelle Hunt Bennet, Dean Da Costa and Mike Chuidian at LAX TechRecruit March 5th in Los Angeles. Purchase Tickets Now and Save Your Seat Before They Sell Out!