1. e Tru Files
SOURCING TECHNOLOGY
6 4.0
TRU HEAT
INDEX
@BillBoorman and Martin Lee
2. 10 /02
events
8,000field of recruiting. 48
We scoured
presentations and
conversations from
the last twelve
months of TRU
events to bring you
the best forward-looking
ideas in the
attendees Big ideas
3. sourcing technology /03
More than gathering social
profiles from the web,
the latest sourcing technologies use
complex ranking algorithms to uncover
which candidates are best suited to your
organization, and who’s is most likely to jump.
4. /04
sourcing
engine
social
profiles
evidence of
professional
online activity
personal
hobbies
size and influence
of a candidate’s
social network
specialty
profiles
evidence
of skills
5. sourcing technology /05
Professionals not actively looking for a job typically don’t
want to be found too easily online.
They won’t publish their contact information or work histories on public sites for fear of
attracting spam. And in-demand talent, such as engineers or programmers, fear the attention
even more as it opens a door to throngs of recruiter inquiries.
And yet, the people you likely want to recruit are so-called passives: professionals who would
consider a switch, but aren’t actively seeking one. They are those you most want to find, and
also those who try hardest to shrink from sight.
Yet even the savviest professionals leave pockets of data sprinkled across the largest social
networks (e.g. LinkedIn, AboutMe, Facebook, Twitter), as well as on specialized sites (e.g.
StackOverflow, GitHub or a personal blog). Sourcing technologies are able to aggregate
the bits and pieces to compile a complete—and in some cases quite sophisticated—profile
of working professionals. And more than just stitching together what they find on social
profiles, these sourcing engines also use complex ranking algorithms to understand individual
candidate’s influence among their peers, skills and knowledge, and even personal passions and
motivations—all of which may figure into their proprietary ranking system.
Sourcing technologies
are able to aggregate
the bits and pieces to
compile a complete—
and in some cases quite
sophisticated—profile of
working professionals.
6. sourcing technology /06
To understand the sourcing solution market, let’s review
some of the biggest players:
Entelo: A US-based solution, Entelo lets you conduct standard searches for professionals and
filter results based on dozens of factors. Entelo’s engine even hypothesizes whether a particular
professional is ready to consider a new job (based on how recently they’ve switched roles and
sentiment about the employer brand, among other factors).
Gild: A sourcing engine for developers, Gild lets you evaluate candidates based on a
proprietary scoring method. Gild’s algorithms evaluate individual candidates for proficiency in
different programming languages (based on analysis of a developer’s open source code) and
their level of influence in their field.
The SocialCV: Sources and ranks professionals according to their social recognition and
mentions. It ranks who each professional is connected to, and how influential their network is
(i.e. if you’re connected to influencers, it raises your overall score, particularly if those influencers
are in your field). The company also markets a product called FreshUp, which allows recruiters
to access updated information about professionals already in their database. Both SocialCV and
FreshUp are add-ons to existing applicant tracking systems.
7. sourcing technology /07
RemarkableHire: As with many other sourcing technologies, RemarkableHire scours
the web to aggregate social profiles, and scores candidates based on what they call “social
evidence”—which includes algorithms to analyze professionals’ online contributions and
interactions.
TalentBin: Like many others on this list, TalentBin scans for clues in social networks, and
aggregates a list of top talent. But this solution goes one step further; it cross-references
the resulting list with the networks of current employees to find out if there’s an existing
relationship.
OpenWeb: A part of Dice, OpenWeb aggregates information from approximately 50 sites
to produce a profile that includes both professional and personal information. It specializes in
tech-focused sites like GitHub to details candidates’ current tech projects and relationships/
interactions with peers in their field.
erecruit: Unlike some of the other niche players, erecruit is an end-to-end staffing solution
that happens to include a sourcing component.
8. /08
sourcing technology Sourcing talent
We expect many of the smaller sourcing technologies will ultimately be acquired by staffing
and ATS companies, as can be seen happening currently in the assessment technology field.
(Enterprise companies ultimately prefer technology suites rather than selecting solutions and
extensions one by one.) That said, as long as some of these smaller-company solutions continue
to offer robust products—and substantively better products than those offered by larger end-to-end
solutions—the niche players will continue to grow and draw new customers.
The ability to fly over vast groups of professionals and cherry pick those who are most suited
to work for you is not simply about efficiency or finding a better person. It’s about transforming
the recruiting field from one that’s focused on rejecting candidates, to one that’s focused
on attracting candidates. With a well-tuned sourcing engine, recruiters will no longer focus
on netting the most applicants (with the idea that more applicants equates to a higher
probability of finding a good one). Instead, recruiters will zero in on their short list using artificial
intelligence, automated assessments, and other advanced technologies. As a result, recruiters
will be more responsible for attracting and wooing the very best. A refreshing change for both
recruiting and job candidates.
in Europe
For companies operating in
Europe, it’s critical to keep in
mind EC data legislation that
says companies cannot cache
personal information pulled
from the web, nor build lists
based on public information
found online. While the
legislation is only in force in
Germany, there’s also a pilot
program in other EC nations,
and many observers expect
it will become the law across
most European countries. In
essence, the law will make
the sourcing technologies
described here illegal because
a company will not be able
to cache profile information
for even 10 minutes. Instead,
sourcing platforms will need
to operate in real-time in
the European market—and
as of this time none of the
companies discussed in
this document does so.
Given the recency of the
legislation, this is an area of
sourcing that’s still evolving.
9. /09
sourcing technology:
actionable insights
Try then buy
Map your current state:
Take a hard look at what
you’re currently doing to
source applicants. What
technologies are you using?
Review successful hires over
the last 18 months, and
find out how you sourced
those individuals. Figure
out what’s actually working,
rather than what you think
is working (and segregate
those findings by area of
specialty to see variation
by discipline).
Begin with a few key
segments: Commit to
testing three new solutions
over the coming year,
focusing on just one or
two key disciplines. For
example, perhaps you will
be hiring three digital
marketers and five
programmers in the next
three months. Test-drive two
new technologies for these
searches, and compare their
relative performance and
features. How good was the
list, and how easy was the
solution to use? Compare
your findings with your
colleagues who participated.
Sourcing technologies are
evolving at an aggressive
pace. Don’t feel you have to
spend months thinking and
planning before selecting
a tool. The object is to fail
fast: experiment with new
tools, test-drive them on
real searches, and weed out
quickly what you like and
don’t like.
Map your future needs:
As you weigh purchasing
decisions, estimate what
you will need three years
from now rather than what
you want today. We say this
because it’s possible you
should consider a suite
of products rather than a
one-off solution. Think
about how your recruiting
strategy is evolving, and
what a future state may look
like. Place calls to current
vendors and find out their
plans for future add-ons.
For example, your applicant
tracking system may be
readying a new feature you’re
considering purchasing.
For more information about
other technologies in the
recruiter’s arsenal, download
the Video Interviewing and
Assessments eBooks.
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10. sourcing technology /10
thE #tru story
I first discovered the Unconference concept when I led a track at #RecruitFest in Toronto in
1999. I was taken aback by the way discussion flowed and how different the format was to a
traditional conference. I led a track all day under a tree and learnt far more than I gave.
Two months later and back in the UK, we ran the first #truLondon at Canary Wharf in November
2009. Today, we’re running dozens of #tru events a year across Europe, North America, Africa
and the Asia-Pacific. Thousands of recruiters, HR leaders and providers come together in an
informal spirit of information sharing and networking.
#tru is based on the BarCamp principle, which means that everybody can be an active
participant instead of listening to speakers and watching presentations all day. The emphasis is
on communication and the free exchange of ideas and experiences where the participants fuel
the conversations.
bill boorman
11. sourcing technology /11
Sourcing with skill
The flood of candidate data that arose due to social networking sites was both good
and challenging for sourcers. Good because it gave us greater matching capabilities and
challenging because we needed to master even more how to filter to relevant results. It was
therefore inevitable that aggregation or “big data” tools would be developed and have a place
in the sourcing world.
Before their emergence proficient sourcers were already cross referencing candidates against
multiple sites in order to match them best to their roles. Not just hard and soft skills but also
their personality types, personal situations and who their colleagues are. When we match
candidates considering all these factors together then we’ve given the best sourcing service to
candidates and clients alike.
What these tools do is nothing we couldn’t already do, it’s just that they dramatically speed
up the process, look in alternative places, give us a variety of contact options and bring it all
together in an easy to use product – for a price.
The algorithms are smart and they learn and adapt. However the data you find is only as good
as the search you put in. Therein lies the skill of the sourcer.
Martin Lee
martin lee,
Vice President (VP), Head of
Sourcing and Research for
EMEA and Asia-Pacific
Martin is responsible for all
sourcing activity within the
EMEA APAC regions, including
sourcing strategy, process,
implementation and ongoing
enhancement. He also works
with Kelly clients to advise them
on the most innovative sourcing
and recruitment solutions
available for their business.
His expertise spans the following
areas: Advanced and Direct
Sourcing Techniques, Boolean
Searching and Search Engines,
Data Mining, Competitor
Analysis, Recruitment Research,
Social Media, Talent Pooling,
Sourcing from Social Media,
Recruitment Software,
Market Mapping and the
Candidate Experience.