My name is Jonathan Kidder and I’ll be writing a journal series about my life as a Talent Sourcer. I want to give an insider’s view of what it’s like to be a Talent Sourcer in North America. I’ll be highlighting my challenges and struggles as well as opportunities for me to grow within my field.
I want it to be uncut, unedited, and transparent of what I’m facing and what it actually takes to hire someone using an in-house talent acquisition team.
Dear Journal,
This past week, I was working on finance position. For two weeks, I sourced on this position. I was laser focused on it; we’re talking 2-3 hours of non-stop searching across the web for possible leads. It was a grueling experience. Eye twitching from viewing three computer screens at once and the standard 2pm headache of my day. My Spotify mix was a combination of Aphex Twin and Com Truise.
The steady flow of techno beats helped to keep me focused for so long. My main resource for finding leads is LinkedIn. Due to the upcoming holiday break I didn’t get that many responses back. Got maybe 6-8 responses back. I contacted them primarily over inmail and email to at least 20 potential prospects.
That’s the toughest part. Your input: what it takes to search and reach out to leads sometimes does not return on your investment in time.
Financial professional are a difficult butch. They don’t respond back to many messages. They don’t like working with Recruiters and if they do they work primarily with third-party ones only. If they do respond they are demanding in what they want. Here’s what happened to me!
I finally convince my leads to have a call over the phone; the first three are way over the comp range. The next three I schedule a more in-depth call each of them. First call, the lead says the distance is too long of commute so I ask where he lives. Turns out he lives less than 15 minutes away from our office and decides to decline moving forward because of it.
Thankfully, I was able to screen submit the last two options for the position. The manager reviews both applicants and decides to pass on one.
What has taken me 10-12 hours has literally been funneled down to one possible option. The manager then says he hasn’t seen a enough applicants and wants to see at least three more options by Monday.
No one understands how it takes to search, source, and submit a lead besides another Talent Sourcer.
I feel fueled by my stubbornness to succeed.
I also feel a sense of pressure and stress to magically find a unicorn that fills in every box and who is willing to consider a lower comp range.
This is a life that I have chosen. This is my life as a Talent Sourcer.
Recommended Reading:
Boolean Hacks to Source Diverse Talent
How to Use Evernote as a Recruiting ATS
Review of Vettery a Marketplace Hiring Platform
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