Candidate Sourcing Techniques: Job Boards, LinkedIn and Referrals
Find good candidates who are not applying, and reach them with messages they answer.
Where candidates come from
Candidates come from job boards, the company careers page, LinkedIn searches, employee referrals, college placement cells, communities and past applicants. Referrals often bring strong, faster hires because employees know the culture. Recruiters build a mix and track which sources produce hires, not just applications.
Search with keywords and filters
On LinkedIn and job boards, combine titles, skills and locations. Use alternative titles, because the same job has many names: business development associate, inside sales executive, SDR. Save searches and revisit them weekly. Read profiles for evidence of results, not just keywords.
- Search alternative job titles
- Combine skills and location
- Save searches and revisit
- Look for evidence of results
Outreach candidates answer
A good candidate message is short and specific: why you thought of them, what the role offers, and a simple question such as whether they are open to a short call. Mention location, work pattern and pay range if allowed, because candidates decide quickly. Follow up once or twice, politely.
Worked example: a referral drive
Struggling to fill an inside sales role for the US market, a recruiter asks the sales team who they know with night-shift calling experience. She shares a ready message they can forward. Within a week she has six referred candidates, two of whom reach the final round.
Common sourcing mistakes
Sourcing quality beats volume. Fewer, better candidates save interview time across the company.
- Relying on one source
- Searching one job title only
- Generic outreach messages
- Not tracking which source produced hires
- Mix job boards, LinkedIn, referrals and colleges.
- Search alternative titles and save searches.
- Send short, specific outreach.
- Track sources by hires, not applications.
Build a search for a sales role using three alternative titles and a city. Write an outreach message and a referral message employees could forward.
Check your understanding
1. Why search alternative job titles?
2. What should sources be judged by?
3. What makes candidate outreach work?
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Templates from our playbooks
Copy ready templates with when to use each one and why it works.