Ask The Sourcing Dude

We’ve enlisted the help of the Master Sourcer himself, The Sourcing Dude, to answer some questions that are at the forefront of many of our minds. In each issue of The Source, The Sourcing Dude will respond to some of these questions.

If you have a pressing issue you’d like the Sourcing Dude to answer, please email us and we will bring it to the SourceCon shrine for consideration.

With the economy the way it is now, how do you think the sourcing function will be affected within corporations? Is now a good time to consider becoming a contractor, or do you think sourcing will stand through this test? Do you have any advice for sourcers to follow during rough economic times?

These are great opportunities to focus on the building of pipelines, identifying and development passive candidates for future openings.   It is also a great opportunity to build out your sourcing strategy within your organization, and bring in additional training to re-tool your recruiting staff on various sourcing methods.  Under normal conditions, there never seems to be enough time for on-site training, webinars, conferences, etc. without impacting production.   So seize the opportunity to provide your teams with whatever training they need to become strong sourcers or to implement a sourcing strategy.

 A short-list of some things to consider would include:

• Participate in sourcing webinars as individuals or groups
• On-site training for the entire team in areas of sourcing and productivity
• Attend industry conferences – SourceCon, ERE, Kennedy
• Look into your options for implementing a CRM tool to track passive candidates
• Implementing a new ATS
• Look at your outbound channel grid for sourcing passive candidates – are you getting the optimum results from each channel?
• Put more time and effort into developing your passive candidate talent pools – proactive outreach, community development, special projects, etc.
• Do you have good metrics for your sourcing?   It is a good time to take advantage of a hiring “pause” and look at the metrics and results from the last 3 -6 – 12 months

If you are currently in a full time position, I would hang in there until the storm blows over. The market for contract sourcers is getting tighter every day as the layoffs have flooded the market with some outstanding talent.