Behind every great sourcer lies technology. Technology drives our profession as much as curiosity. It is always changing and constantly evolving. 2016 was undoubtedly the year of change and acquisition. With so many sourcing tools being released, acquired and enhanced on a daily basis, this year we anticipated a heavy reliance on sourcing tools and technology. What we learned was a bit surprising. Though technology continues to drive and transcend our industry, there is still a tremendous opportunity for many of the new sourcing and recruitment technology players to penetrate the market.
There were some heavy favorites in LinkedIn and Indeed. The majority of survey respondents continue to use LinkedIn on a daily basis. In fact, 97 percent of sourcers use LinkedIn to source candidates. Sourcers are extremely satisfied and pleased with LinkedIn. Out of a one to five scale (five is the highest score), sourcers rated their paid version of LinkedIn as a 4.75 (an almost perfect score). This satisfaction rating was far ahead of its competitors Indeed (3.8), CareerBuilder (2.56) and Facebook (2.43).
Outside of LinkedIn and Indeed, many sourcers are still using Twitter and Facebook to find candidates. Though their time spent sourcing is limited on those social sites, over half of all survey respondents use Twitter and Facebook at least once a month to find candidates. Hiring candidates from those two social media powerhouses still remain low at about 15 percent, compared to 80 percent on LinkedIn.
Sourcers are indeed (pun intended) maximizing their time with LinkedIn and social sites efficiently. Once a candidate is found, sourcers are spending an average of 45 minutes a day customizing messages to candidates. This yields an average response rate of 35 percent. Additionally, sourcers are spending around 50 minutes a day on research (or pre-search) prior to sourcing, and around 30 minutes with the hiring manager in an intake meeting. Though the results seem a little superfluous in customizing messages compared to their response rate, the bar to better engage candidates is unquestionably being set. Sourcers know that candidate experience is not a fad. We will share those results and many more tomorrow.
The Results
In your current role, how often do you search for candidates using the following job boards?
Please rate your level of satisfaction with the following websites as a sourcing tool (1 lowest & 5 highest):
In your current role, how often do you source using the following people aggregators?
In your current role, how often do you search for candidates using the following websites?
In the last 12 months, how many hires have you had on the following platforms?
In your current role, how often do you use one of the following tools to build Boolean search strings?
In your current role, how much time to spend with the hiring manager during the intake meeting?
In your current role, how much time to you spend on gathering competitive intelligence, marketing intelligence or on general research prior to sourcing?
What is your average email response rate?
On average, how much time a week are you spending personalizing initial emails to candidates?
The 2016 State of Sourcing SourceCon panelists (left to right) Kristi Wawro, Chris Havrilla, Chris Hoyt, Amybeth Quinn, and Shannon Pritchett
Missed the survey persona? Check out it out here.