Recruiters; we need to stop with all the ‘billy big bollocks’ stuff.
There seems to be an almost machismo belief among some in the recruitment community that direct sourcing is what real recruiters do and posting job ads is what weak recruiters do.
It’s like when my grandad used to tell me what ‘real men’ do, presumably because he felt he had to discourage me from becoming a metrosexual wanker.
These “headhunting is best” recruiters typically use words like “proactive” and “passive” to describe the difference.
Firstly, posting job ads is only passive if you get Chat GPT to do it, or if you just copy and paste the JD. If that’s all a recruiter does to find candidates, I’d argue they’re really an administrator.
Secondly, posting job ads that people are going to want to read is also proactive because you have to get the right information to be able to write a decent ad. Then you have to sit down and think what you’re going to write, then plan it, and then write it. All proactive activities.
Direct sourcing also requires you to get the right information if you’re going to identify and find people with the skills, knowledge or experience you need. And if you’re being really proactive, then you’re also using Boolean to find people those keyword bomber recruiters aren’t going to find.
Then, when you’ve built your list, you have to craft a message that (if opened) they’ll be more likely to want to read. Hopefully one that’s got a much better opening than; “I think you’d be a great fit for this job opportunity!”.
Then you have to wait for responses, follow up with those that do respond and chase those that didn’t. Activities that are no less passive than dealing with ad responses. And if you’re not one of those mass-mailing keyword bombers, it can be quite labour intensive.
Either way, you’re trying to sell a job. And if you sell jobs well (regardless of the channel) you’re going to have better conversations with better candidates.
Advertising and Direct Sourcing aren’t different marketing strategies, they’re just different routes to your target market. The marketing strategy is working out what you’re going to say, and how you’re going to say it.
The reality is that some jobs do require one or the other, not both. The obvious examples are senior and junior jobs. One has a relatively small or definable number of potential candidates, the other has hundreds or thousands of potential candidates.
And there’s a lot of jobs that need both, mostly in that £60-150K salary range.
Direct Sourcing and Advertising do have one glaring feature in common. They both involve getting people to read something. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a public job ad or a private email or InMail.
They both have the same goal. To get the right people to want to find out more.
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