Being in the recruiting industry you’ve heard these terms a thousand times but how often have you stopped to wonder whether there is a difference between them or are the same. And if they are same why do we have so many different terms for the same reason? Well I’m not sure about you but I for one would like to know if there is any, Difference between Headhunters, Recruiters and Sourcers. Therefore, I’ve taken the liberty to answer these similar questions that most of us are also wondering. So let’s take it step by step and begin with how they are defined.

Definitions

If you wish to get a clear understanding of these terms it is important for you to understand the terms first.

Headhunters

These are individuals that are hired by a third party corporation or company in order to locate suitable candidates possessing certain skills sets that aren’t easy to come by. These skill sets are harder to find and requires a certain background.

Recruiters

On the other hand a recruiter is an individual that is hired by a corporation or company to fill positions that crop up on regular bases within the organisation. The recruiter may be either employed at the organisation and work solely for that company or a third party recruiting organisation. These individuals may work within their own business or are usually a part of a larger staffing organisation.

Sourcers

These are individuals that are tasked with finding candidate details such as a specific name, title and or contact information of that particular person.

Now that we have a clear understanding of the terms we’ll be able to understand what the tasks these individuals are involved in are and this too might help you get a clear understanding.

How do they work?

Headhunters

For Headhunters, as mentioned earlier, these individuals usually take a proactive and an aggressive role in finding candidates and reach out to the ones directly if they find them suitable for the post. Such candidates are reached out and searched by headhunters. Their task usually consists of actively sourcing candidates and is completed once they get the candidate but these individuals aren’t involved in the recruiting process apart from locating candidates.

Recruiters

Recruiters on the other hand are involved throughout the recruiting process beginning from advertising job specs, scouting the desired talent, recruiting the right talent and introducing the new recruit’s to the company staff. 

Sourcers

Sourcers have a relatively similar role to the ones mentioned earlier but they are tasked to only source candidate details that are forwarded to recruiters to take the recruiting process to the other level. These individuals are present for a brief period of time i.e. they need only source candidates with the requirements and then recruiters handle it from there.

In a nutshell, a Sourcers role ends after a candidate has been sourced and shows an interest in the job offerings. Similarly a Headhunters role comes to a halt after a particular prospect has been located. While a Recruiters role begins at the application stage and only ends after an offer has been extended and /or accepted.

Hope this information was as useful as it was for me. Well I think it’s safe to say that, the difference between headhunters, recruiters and sourcers is clear now. If you have any suggestions or pointers that you’d like to add, do let us know via the comments sections.

Companies are constantly seeking out talented individuals, to build and grow their individuals business. In times when talented and skilled labour isn’t easy to come by, especially when such individuals are in demand by several companies be it; a small start – up, a growing business or a big business. It’s safe to say that a recruiter’s task is never ending as candidates who have been great employees but have received better packages.

Recruiting is the most daunting task or job profile if gathering candidates isn’t as easy as you hope it to be. Luckily there exist “4 More Campus Recruitment Strategies, Recruiters need to be aware of” that are also out of the box ones. Let’s find out what they are.

Work with Students Associations

While career or On – campus events allows hiring companies to recruit fresh talent working with students associations gives you more exposure to catch talent in the making. What this means is that you can meet students before they decide on a career path and advise them according to their interested field. This will help them to get a clear idea about their choices and the kind of degree they should go in for. Or they can also pick students that have some experience in their field of choice even if they do not possess the specific degree.

Target students with Social Media

Nowadays, most students are relatively active on social media sites. So you can get their attention by analysing the kind of sites that have the maximum amount of students and then post job specs. This will definitely boost your applications and responses to your posts, thus you are likely to get more candidates from which to make a selection. Here you can also advertise any events that are related to recruiting that your firm is conducting, for instance hosting career fairs or introduction sessions.

Take the Recruiting Process Online

You are bound to have more success when you go online as most of your applicants that you wish to catch are within the specific age range that are regularly active on social networking sites. So posting on, online platforms or job portals will help you get more candidates fast.

Capture your Talent

Avoid asking students to fill up scraps of paper at job fairs and use modern methods of seeking the information you require by using technology instead, such as mobiles or iPads. This way all the data is stored in one place and when you require candidates you can simply sift through this data effectively and efficiently and thus speed up the entire process.

These options are far better and more effective ways to attract and capture the right talent that too with a mere click of a button. Therefore, get the desired talent that you seek by cost effective methods and by following the trend that is followed. So the next time you pick your method to capture talent remember to, “Be willing to step outside your comfort zone once in a while; take the risks in life that seem worth taking. The ride might not be as predictable if you’d just planted your feet and stayed put, but it will be a heck of a lot more interesting.” – Dward Whitacre, Jr.

If you’ve been following Sourcing Adda (@SourcingAdda) I’m sure you’re aware of the WhatsApp Group Chat and are probably part of it too. If not you’ve already missed a lot but you can still catch up. We now have 3 new additions to our groups i.e. Pune 2, Kolkata and Gujarat apart from Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune 1. Well now you can be a part of these new entries if you’ve wanted to connect with individuals within your location. So let’s get a recap of the Chat that focussed on how do you train someone to be a Sourcer?Well this brings our interesting Chat to an end. Overall I can say that it was quite entertaining and insightful with lots of take a ways which are trade secrets. So if you’re not already on these chats then you should be as it will definitely improve your knowledge and keep you updated. So stay tune to @SourcingAdda to get updates.

A Recruiters profile is quite demanding and those of you who practice it will agree. Just like any other job profile so also a Recruiter or Sourcers job too requires a set of skills if a company is sure to prosper. But how many of us actually stop to map out what kind of a candidate we are looking for? Having said that, this week’s chat was about, “What do you look for in a Recruiter or Sourcer when hiring? And here’s what was discussed amongst the 6 Chat groups namely Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai & Pune.

Well that brings another chat to an end with interesting insights that you can implement in your hiring strategy or even modify to speed up the desired results. How great is that? Don’t you agree? at least, I do. But don’t go yet, join us next week at the same time for another Chat that I’m sure you’ll enjoy and gain interesting insights in the process too.

 

You are probably familiar with the current trend that is followed i.e. Social Media Recruiting. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this put simply it is a new strategy that recruiters and companies use to fulfil their branding as well as hiring needs by utilising Social Networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ optimally.

As a Recruiter if you’re wondering why you’re efforts are going in vain, then you are probably following the 4 habits that Effective Recruiters avoid. If that’s the case then let’s find out what are the 4 habits that Effective Recruiter’s avoid and rectify them to improve our performance.Complain that there aren’t any good candidates

This is quite common with most Talent Acquisition Professionals, but let me stop you there. It’s fairly simple to start complaining and avoid the work. So before you start complaining take a minute to make a check list and identify whether you’ve explored all your options –

• Have you taken the time out to look?
• Have you completely searched you’re database?
• Have you written a Boolean Search String with all the required information filtered?
• Have you done an advanced LinkedIn Search?
• Have you done a Monster search or any other job portal?
• Have you checked Social media like Facebook, Twitter etc.?
• Have you contacted current and past employees for referrals?
• Have you got in touch with influential people?

You get the picture, need I say more?

Spam Candidates

Do you send In-mails to everyone that meets one keyword of the job spec by using LinkedIn or any other networking sites but haven’t tailored it according to the candidates you’ve sent it to? If that is the case then it will definitely affect your chances of establishing contact with potential candidates. In such a scenario it is important to note that individuals respond better to personalised contact as compared to a generalised one.

Falsely connecting with individuals

Another common method used by many Recruiters is having false connections. When we wish to establish connections with individuals, the general tendency is to say things to get them to listen to you. The most common statement used is that you’ve done business together although that may not be the case. Once rapport is established a connection is made. This is done by almost every person on LinkedIn that is seeking a candidate. In order to get the most response it is important to stop developing false connections else you’ll lose connections rapidly.

Describing every job as a Great Opportunity

Nothing puts off candidates then describing every job as a great opportunity. Popular statements that are used are …

• This is a great opportunity!
• You’ll have the opportunity to experience X!
• You can take the opportunity to learn Y!

So on and so forth, does this sound familiar? Therefore, if you’re following these statements in your job specs then you might want to stop because no one really responds to such statements.

There you have it the aspects that can make a difference. These are but a few habits that Recruiters follow which affects their efficiency on the whole. Therefore if you wish to be a good Recruiter instead of an average one, you need to first identify if you’re following any of these habits and avoid them. This will in turn improve your hiring percentage and land you with the right candidates. Do you have any ineffective Recruiting habits you’ll like to add?