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Jul 24, 2017
This article is part of a series called Editor's Pick.

I’m in Austin, TX. My sourcer is in Orange County, CA. Our client is in the Bay Area.

Obviously, an office pop-in is not an option. Nor is installing a camera in my sourcer’s office to keep track of their time/progress. I can’t grab my sourcer and hiring manager for an impromptu white board session, so what do I do?

 

Brainstorm together

 At the beginning of every new search, I do a mind meld with my sourcer. What does that mean?

  • We dissect the role, figuring out what questions we have for the hiring manager.
  • We come up with sourcing key words and must-have pieces of the role.
  • We brainstorm the best companies to target.
  • We come up with a sourcing strategy- where will we find these people? What’s the best way to reach out to them? What do we need to say to attract this type of talent?
  • We do our research. We learn everything we can about the company we are supporting to make sure we can answer questions from candidates and represent our client accurately.

Once I have mind melded with my sourcer, I go back to mind meld with my hiring manager and make sure we are on the right track and are getting them everything they need to know to give the thumbs up or thumbs down to a candidate we present.

And then I mind meld with my sourcer again to make sure they have every update, and we are completely aligned.

 

Keep in touch

We Slack, we call, we text, we copy each other on emails. When I’m talking with our client, I want my sourcer to know what was said, what’s changed, and what is going to help their sourcing efforts.

If I hear a question that is being asked in interviews, I tell my sourcer about it so that they can ask something similar and see if the person can answer.

I expect my sourcer to pepper me with questions, sample profiles, and general updates as to what they are finding. No question is too small, and every time we ensure alignment, we are helping ourselves do the best job possible.

 

Meet Regularly

In addition to all of the one-off “conversations,” I meet weekly with my sourcing team to give them general updates, get updates, and look at progress to see if we need to change anything about our approach. Having these meetings on the calendar is very helpful, even if we end up canceling the meetings because of all of the communication listed above.

Same goes for the hiring manager. Having a regular meeting keeps the req a priority and makes sure that my team knows that we need to keep the job fresh to have new people to present each week. It also helps the hiring manager keep on top of people to review and ensures that I won’t go more than a week without getting back to a candidate. “I’ll get back to you Tuesday afternoon at the latest.” is such a great way to set expectations and keep the candidate experience positive.

 

Tools Are Your Friend

Whether it’s your ATS, spreadsheet or another tracking tool, seeing results is key. If I look at our prospecting tool (like the one in Greenhouse) and see that my sourcing team has reached out to 80 people for a role, I can be confident when my hiring manager goes. And, when my sourcer looks at our tool and sees that I have followed up with everyone they have presented, they know that their candidates are being taken care of in a professional way.

Again, our hiring manager can look at the tool, see our progress, and know that their req is in good hands.

 

Communication is Everything

Like every aspect of recruiting, the remote team needs to communicate regularly and more efficiently. When the sourcer, recruiter, and hiring manager are on the same page, trust each other and feel aligned, reqs get filled efficiently, and the team feeling is maintained with everyone sitting in different places.

This article is part of a series called Editor's Pick.
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