Talent Sourcer vs Recruiter: What Are the Differences?

The Employment & Recruiting Agency market in the US is worth about $28.5 billion, as specified by researcher IBISWorld. Most people would simply think that this huge market is full of “recruiters.” However, various other roles and responsibilities are recruitment-related.

One role that people are less likely to know about outside of recruitment circles is that of a talent sourcer. In this guide, we’ll take a look at the role of a talent sourcer vs. recruiter. Some may think these two roles are the same, but there are some key differences.

Read on to get the lowdown on how to distinguish between talent sourcers and recruiters. You’ll also learn how to identify a person who takes on both roles.

What Is a Talent Sourcer?

A talent sourcer is someone who searches for passive candidates in an active way. They need to know all the details of the company wishing for hires.

With these details, the talent sourcer can then qualify candidates accordingly and develop a talent pool over time. So, if you have ever been contacted by a recruitment agency, then it often will have been a sourcer who did the contacting.

Senior talent sourcers make decisions on which candidates in a talent pool should have more priority in particular ways. For instance, a senior talent sourcer might make a list of the potential hires for priority contact. They will then send these lists along with other important information to the recruiter.

What Is a Recruiter?

Being a recruiter involves generating interest from candidates. They are also the ones who do the interviewing.

Once recruiters find suitable candidates, they can then work on negotiating the hiring terms. Recruiters will also work alongside hire managers from the companies they are representing with their agency.

When Do Recruiters also Act as Talent Sourcers?

It’s typical in smaller recruitment agencies for recruiters to also act as talent sourcers. This may be because they have a limited number of employees to separate the roles and not enough demand for it to be worth it either.

You’ll often see the separate roles in larger recruitment firms that are more specialized. For instance, in the IT sector, it makes more sense to split the roles and have dedicated teams that can razor focus on the tasks that need doing.

Another example of where the roles tend to be separate might be in supply chain recruitment. SCOPE Recruiting is a company that does this.

There are some instances where a recruiter will become a talent sourcer for a short period. This happens when the recruitment agency feels that there is strategic value in putting a particular recruiter in the talent sourcer driving seat.

Talent Sourcer Guide

In essence, a talent sourcer deals with outbound recruitment, which is all about finding new talent. The agency will measure their performance on how many candidates they get to the interview stage.

To be a good talent sourcer your need strong skills in networking and communication. It also pays for you to understand various social media channels to your advantage to seek out potential candidates and contact them.

Since talent sourcers mostly interact with potential candidates online, their written communication skills must be on top form. They may also connect with hiring managers about basic and essential requirements for positions. And, of course, talent sourcers will have strong working relationships with the recruiters in their agency.

A talent sourcer, over time, will develop their understanding of sourcing techniques. One such technique is Boolean searching. As well, talent sourcers will build up a talent pipeline so future hires may become easier for the agency.

This role might demand a certain level of analytical skills and knowledge. The reason for this is that talent sourcers often have to measure their conversation rates.

Talent sourcers are responsible for promoting the agency in many ways, both online and offline. After all, they tend to be the first point of contact with the public, in general. Furthermore, they will try to keep a good report with past applicants, in case future job opportunities look like a strong fit for those applicants.

Recruiter Guide

A recruiter will deal with inbound recruitment, which means they follow up on applications that people make for jobs the agency has advertised. Agencies measure a recruiter’s performance by looking at the metrics of how long it takes for them to fill a role. They will also look at the quality of hires the recruiter finds.

Recruiters are like the overall project managers of a recruitment campaign. They will oversee all the aspects of a recruitment drive, including checking on and working with talent sourcers.

In many cases, recruiters were once talent sourcers who worked themselves up to their position. Recruiters need to have a strong understanding of the industries they provide candidates for. They also need to develop strong relationships with numerous hire managers to guarantee the recruitment agency with a flow of consistent work.

Recruiters are masters at interviews and many have reliable intuition about particular candidates due to their extensive experience. Talent sourcers may not develop these sorts of instincts until they’ve learned more about the recruitment industry.

Recruiter Tips

We’ll finish up with some recruiter tips. This way, you can better understand what a good recruiter might look like:

Be graceful with rejected candidates as they might suit future roles
Try to be personalized with rejected candidates
Highlight the strengths of all candidates for positivity
Nurture relationships
Always think ahead

These are just a few tips to consider. In the end, it’s all about development and creating an excellent report with all the people you encounter.