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HR Staffing | Recruiting Sources

There are many types recruiting sources available and they fall broadly under two categories: internal recruiting sources and external recruiting sources. Internal recruiting sources are used to find people currently working for the company who would be good fit for other positions. External recruiting sources identify people who are available outside of the company. Most of the organizations look internally for talent whenever a position falls vacant, this is done to promote talent within the company and inspire staff to perform at their best. The other advantage of recruiting internally is that staff can start the work immediately, because they are already familiar with the company’s operations, procedures and business strategies. External sources are considered only when internal talent could not be found for a vacant position.

Internal Recruiting Sources

Following are some of the well-known sources of internal recruitment.

• Succession Management: This is an ongoing process of preparing employees for the future. This involves recruiting, evaluating, developing and preparing employees to take up other positions in the organization.
• Talent Repository: These are computerized records of employees’ past performance records, qualifications, education, etc. The past performance records of an employee are maintained by managers and HR and are made available during promotions and transfer. HR should ensure the talent inventory is maintained for each staff and records updated.
• Employee Development Programs: These are training and development programs designed to improve employee’s capabilities and prepare them to take up higher positions or other critical positions in the organization. Almost all companies have an employee leadership program to develop the leadership skills of employees who show potential.
• Internal Job Circulation: In this system the internal vacant positions are circulated internally to employees to self-nominate themselves for the open position. The circulation or posting contains the position description, qualifications and other minimum criteria for qualifying and usually uses the intranet or email. This method is found to be inexpensive.
• Employee Referrals: Referrals involve asking employees to refer a co-worker for an open position. People are familiar and aware of the talents and aspirations of other workers. Hence this method helps to identify promising internal talent.

External Recruiting Sources

Following are some of the well-known sources of external recruitment.

• Employee Referrals: Referring talent by senior people can generate lot of good leads. For example, the software solutions company Cognizant believes that employees hired through referrals stay with the company for longer durations. Referral programs are effective and they result in high quality potential employees. Some organizations discourage favoritism, but many others like Southwest Airlines encourage nepotism and even allow employees to refer their own family members (brothers, sisters, cousins, etc) who can make good employees. Employee referral programs are cost-effective and some organizations follow a policy of rewarding an employee for a good referral.
• In-house Sources: The in-house sources include the people whom the organization considers as a source of talented and reliable workforce with a great deal of experience. In-house sources develop relationships with people who have the potential and talent to have them in the pipeline and consider them for future vacancies. Many global companies like Google, Johnson & Johnson, etc. have employees dedicated to talent sourcing.
• Advertisements: Written advertisements in newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. are a good way to attract active job seekers. The advertisements can also attract some semi-passive job seekers if the job opening is advertised on business journals and on certain trade publications. This is one of the effective methods to attract external talent.
• Job Fairs: Job fairs and trade fairs are an ideal place for job seekers and employers putting them into direct contact to meet and discuss employment opportunities. Job fairs can target specific industries to have employers from many industries. This is an effective way of sourcing recruits externally. However it is important to ensure that the people who are attending job fairs have the appropriate qualifications. Trade fairs are another external source that invites people from any one industry to learn about current topics and products in their field. Passive and semi-passive job seekers mostly attend trade fairs and their skill levels tend to be higher and more consistent than people who are active job seekers.
• Observation: Observation is watching the skills and performance of people working for other organization and to evaluate their potential fit for their company.
• Resume Databases: Many companies maintain a database of pre-screened resumes of applicants who were not hired for other jobs or who are generated from continuous recruiting efforts. The resumes of potential employees are maintained in a database or easy retrieval for future positions as and when they are available. This is a promising resource whenever jobs become available and many global organizations follow this practice.
• Career Sites: These are web pages on an organization’s web site devoted to jobs and careers within the company. Career sites provide information to people interested in the company and on what type of people are hired by the company. Career sites are cost-effective, as they allow organizations to provide information on values, products and services, job vacancies, etc. Many companies find this practice productive and effective.
• Internet Job Sites: Internet job services allow employers to post jobs and also allow job seekers to post their resumes for employers to view. Job boards allow both the functions, sourcing and recruiting applicants. Sourcing is done by searching job applicant’s resumes available on the job board.
• Search Firms: These are independent companies specializing in recruitment and placement of particular type of talent. These firms present their candidates to many of the organizations and charge a fee when an organization hires one of the applicants. Search firms may not be cheap, but they improve the quantity and quality of a firm’s applicant pool.
• Professional Associations: Professional associations are similar to associations or groups with like-minded interests and a good place to look for professional talent. One good example for professional association is the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Inc. (IEEE), Linkedin.com (offers professional networking services), etc. A new professional willing to get associated, is first prescreened for appropriate credentials and this make the members a good external recruiting source. Organizations looking for professional applicants can quickly find the talent they need.
• Employment Agencies: These are government agencies that provide employment to applicants looking for government jobs. In India, the government recruiting is handled by Staff Selection Commission, Union Public Service Commissions, Recruiting boards, etc. for people seeking jobs with government services.
• Acquisitions and Mergers: Companies merge or acquire other companies’ talent rather than their products or services. It is quite common that big companies acquire small company’s talent and redeploy them to use their potential. Acquisition or merger of talent is an expensive proposition and does not fulfill the immediate hiring need. Good examples for this scenario are available in pharmaceutical companies.
• Raiding Competitors: A practice of raiding top talent away from competitors and also called ‘poaching’. Poaching is quite common during talent demand, and this is a vicious circle of firms continuously involved in poaching talent from each other. Some companies also have an informal agreement not to raid each other’s talent. When hiring an employee from a competitor company, it is ensured the person is not bound by a non-disclosure or non-compete agreement.
• Internet Search: Active job seekers respond to job advertisements, newspaper ads, career web sites but these sources may not always produce the best fit and qualified applicants all the time. Internet offers a rich source for locating talent in passive job seekers with the characteristics and qualifications needed for a position. Web crawlers are specialized programs that search for talented pool from other websites and they are sourced with other companies.
• Networking: This is a process of leveraging personal connections to generate applicants. This is similar to employee referrals and good examples of online networking can be found in Linkedin.com, Ryze.com, Tribe.net, etc. facilitate job leads. These sites also provide candidate profiles for the purpose of recruiting and many professionals, organizations and businesses have their profiles online
• Schools: Colleges and schools are also good external recruiting sources for companies looking to hire a fresher. Companies conduct campus interviews to shortlist interested students for job placements with their company after their academic session and further train them on the job. Many organizations also invite interns to work for them on a specific task and further absorb them in full time employment.