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May 18, 2018
This article is part of a series called Editor's Pick.

As we take our transformational journey in talent acquisition, we’ve seen significant shifts in how companies obtain talent. Throughout the years we have seen talent acquisition move from being order takers to becoming a strategic partner within the business (some more successful than others, this will be a future article) in the quest of securing the best talent.

Reactive versus Pro-Active Recruiting

In years past, companies have consumed themselves with deploying a “just in time” (JIT) approach to recruiting. Recruiters are assigned requisitions, need to deploy their full recruiting arsenal to ensure active candidates apply for the job and attract passive candidates to a job needing to be filled immediately due to someone leaving the organization.

You know the story, you hear it with every open requisition.

“It’s a critical, urgent role that needs to be filled “IMMEDIATELY.”  

In the traditional methodology of recruiting, the organization reacts then responds quickly to ensure there is minimal suffering to the business while the position remains vacant.

What happens next? A slew of unqualified candidates applies to the requisition, bogging the process down as the recruiter manages thirty (30) other requisitions and when the recruiter has the chance to source passive candidates in their spare time, it’s usually too little too late.

With each day you get further and further behind, with managers screaming why don’t you have any candidates. You’re stressed.

In your spare time, you speak to some qualified passive talent, but they’re not interested, timing’s not right, you have heard it before, they don’t want to switch jobs:

  • before the holidays,
  • after the holidays,
  • before the summer break,
  • after the kid’s summer vacation,
  • on a Tuesday

I think you get my point.

Passive candidates are rarely available at the time you need them. Meanwhile, 60 days later you are driving this reactionary process down an endless road which is killing your time to hire, your credibility, and your morale.

It’s very frustrating, to the point many early career recruiters flee the profession before they really get a chance to be successful or really understand what recruiting is.

Those recruiters who stick it out? Well, you know the story.

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The labor market has changed as it does with the economy. Philosophies have changed as well, and they had too!

Companies suffer when they’re not able to secure talent they need, whether it’s due to a reduction in sales, a slowdown in design from engineering, or the inability to start a project because there’s no project manager.

You name the role and if the business is short one person it impacts how they get the job done, ultimately affecting the organization’s bottom line.

Pipeline sourcing is relatively a new approach to talent acquisition. Yes, as recruiters we all have kept a list of people we have spoken too in the past who might be qualified in the future on an EXCEL spreadsheet or a sticky note on your desk. This is not pipelining candidates.

To pipeline source candidates, an organization must shift their mindset and approach to recruiting and the whole idea of what is “talent acquisition.”  You’re no longer relying on active candidates to fill your vacancies, you no longer are reacting to the need of the organization, and you no longer are “posting & praying.”

You are taking a strategic approach in sourcing candidates for opportunities that are going to be available (backed by data) in the future.

With this approach the recruiter/sourcer:

  • builds lists of qualified people in the industry,
  • networks with professionals and
  • interviews potentially interested candidates who may be interested in our openings now or in the future.

A robust pipeline provides a resource for the recruiter who can now come to the sourcer and ask for candidates. As the pipeline matures, the recruiter will be able to go to a hotlist and find candidates who have been screened, qualified and are engaged with your organizations brand and employee value proposition (EVP).

Developing candidate pipelines gives your organization market intelligence on who the key players are in a specific job category and how to connect with them when you have opportunities. A healthy pipeline will consist of qualified people you know and call upon them when opportunities arise.

This will reduce frustration, increase the recruiter’s morale and decrease time to hire (TTH). Most importantly, the organization will be minimally disrupted by the vacancy, allowing them to focus on their operations and improving their bottom line.

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