Hi there, I'm Vika and I'm a sourcer at an IT recruitment agency EvoTalents!

Half a year ago, I had no idea who a sourcer was and what he was doing. But after the meeting with EvoTalents team, I discovered the whole universe of sourcing :)

Who is a sourcer?

A sourcer is a person who searches for candidates and performs in-depth analysis of a huge amount of information, finds necessary data, selects various search channels and draws up a sourcing strategy.

How to be a great sourcer?

Key qualities that can become your ticket to the world of efficient sourcing:

1. Attentiveness. Yes, this is quite general trait, but it is really important for every sourcer. First of all, because our main goal is to research the market on a large scale and maintain a database of candidates, sometimes in very large volumes. The slightest switch of attention to an interesting article, a notification on social networks, or an alluring playfulness of a cat - and you can make a mistake. Therefore, it is better to plan some relax-time, "having agreed with yourself" when you can take a break.

2. Curiosity. You can't be a sourcer without this "magic" because when you work with a huge number of positions, resumes and skills in profiles, you understand one thing: you need to dive deeper into IT terminology and go to Google for answers. It not only contributes to the efficiency of your work but also significantly raises the general idea of what developers are doing.

For example, here's what I ran into recently:

• API – Application Programming Interface

• IP – Internet Protocol – IP-address

• APIS – Advance Passenger Information System

• APIs – that's what we need! Just plural of API.

Therefore, the slightest change in simple abbreviations during the searching process can change everything!

3. A critical view. During the day, any sourcer reviews a looot of profiles that need to be carefully selected and critically assessed, and these actions require maximum concentration. Therefore, it is vitally important to take the next steps before starting your search: to study all the requirements carefully, clarify controversial points and only then start work. 

A typical day of a sourcer

• Usually the working day begins with discussing the requirements for a position with the client, drafting search queries, and selecting search channels.
• Lots of searching
• Replenishment of the database with new candidates and tagging to understand the developer's portrait
• Searching for donor companies
• Searching for candidates' contacts
• Then you can allow yourself a coffee break :)
• Lots of searching again ;)
• At the end of the working day, you can analyze the sample and summarize the results.

Tips for sourcers beginners:

1. Be as informed as possible!

The efficiency of any sourcer directly depends on the correctly understood requirements, so try to clarify the details at the beginning.  And keep in mind that you will have to be good friends with Google, as you will need its help all the time.

2. Get distracted!

We are not robots and it is difficult and harmful, and ineffective to source during the whole day with no breaks. I divide my working day into blocks of 2-3 hours, it greatly helps me to be charged and set to work even in the evening. For each block, I define tasks in the morning (the number of search queries, the order of roles to search, if there are several) and the expected time for completing these assignments. In between work, I advise you to take a walk to get some sweets, change the location to a nice coffee shop, or just chat with someone.

3. Don't be afraid of experiments!

When we work with a popular and demanded position, and if the requirements are also quite minimal, this is, of course, paradise! And here you can follow the already known schemes step by step and methodically: search by position title, location, skills, universities, etc. But there are some “candidates-unicorns”, who are really rare and there are so few of them. And this is where your creativity comes to the rescue, and you experimentally find search channels that are completely new for you.

4. Record every step!

Simple recording of all the queries you’ve already used in the database or in a separate file will  simplify your work tomorrow, as you will clearly understand where you stopped yesterday. Therefore, it will greatly speed up your start-up process the next day and become a very useful tool for tracking your productivity during the day. It is also very likely that the queries you are using for one position may come in handy when you will have to look for another role.

5. Study English!

This will greatly speed up the process of viewing profiles.

6. Collect profiles "just in case; for later"!

A typical situation for a sourcer: position requirements can be changed, removed or added, so if you come across profiles whose relevance you doubt, put it in your piggy bank, let wait for better times. After a while, you can look at them from a different angle. And tomorrow they can be very useful to you!
+ This is how I train the “criticality” of my assessment of candidates.

Despite the already formed algorithm of my actions at work, every day is completely different and special in its own way. A sourcer is a person who never stands still, develops professionally and follows the news from the sourcing guru, keeps himself/herself in a good shape by watching webinars and participating in conferences. Our team has a #sharingiscaring atmosphere, so it is simply impossible to remain indifferent to new knowledge!

I hope it will be useful and interesting to read  my sourcing notes :)

Have a good sourcing path, friends!

And if you want to become a sourcer, take our sourcing courses.