When you find one place where you can consistently find great candidates for your team, it’s easy to go back to the same well. A certain professional organization, a certain location, a certain group you always trust to source referrals.
What do you do when that trusted pipeline runs dry? What happens if the timing’s off and the person you need to hire now isn’t available where you usually look?
Job seekers find success in diversifying their search by looking for jobs on different listing sites. The more proactive job seekers will build professional relationships and network to find jobs they might not find on their own. They recognize the need to be flexible in their approach.
The same goes for employers seeking talent: sticking to the same rigid requirements and only recruiting certain ways will lead to diminishing results in time.
Conversely, do you know where you can be flexible in your hiring requirements and sourcing strategy? That opens more opportunities to find the person you need and keep your business moving forward!
One way to avoid getting stuck with hiring needs? Tapping into different talent pipelines. And a technology recruiting partner like Lighthouse Technology Services can help you do just that. Let’s dive in.
What Is a Talent Pipeline?
A talent pipeline is a group of professionals organized by a combination of criteria like experience, location, and skillset.
Building talent pipelines helps a business proactively source and engage potential candidates. When a job opening comes up, having a talent pipeline means you know several qualified individuals you can call and assess their openness to considering that job before you have to source new candidates.
A recruiting team could build a talent pipeline assessing candidates from several sources from job boards to networking events, referrals, social media, and educational recruitment.
The Risks of Relying on a Single Talent Source
Relying on just one channel for hiring significantly limits your reach. Take job boards, for example. Not all job seekers are using your one job board. Many of the best candidates – especially top talent that’s currently employed – aren’t actively browsing job postings.
Focusing on one candidate source not only makes it harder to find the best person for the job, but it also increases competition for the same pool of job seekers, driving up costs and time-to-hire.
A narrow approach to hiring can also impact team diversity. When talent is sourced from a limited group, businesses miss out on the benefits of diverse perspectives, experiences, and skills. A homogenous workforce can lead to groupthink, stifling innovation and problem-solving.
This also happens when rigid hiring requirements disqualify too many candidates. If candidates with non-traditional educational backgrounds or excellent experience in different industries are automatically rejected, that blocks talented candidates that could be a value-add versus a value-fit for a team.
Finally, relying on a single pipeline makes hiring unpredictable and reactive rather than strategic. Knowing you plan to go back to one proverbial well, this creates urgency-driven hiring decisions that may not result in the best long-term hires. A well-rounded talent acquisition strategy keeps your hiring process steady and proactive!
How a Recruiting Partner Expands Your Talent Pool
Recruiting partners like Lighthouse Technology Services specialize in matching employers with talent through different sourcing channels.
No two recruiters on our team recruit the exact same way through the exact same channels – and they all source for every job that comes our way. That’s one way a recruiting partner like Lighthouse Technology Services can help you seek out talented professionals in different channels.
Industry-specific recruiting partners can also tap robust networks and referral programs, and have a strong brand that makes an impression when reaching out to candidates in that industry.
Beyond opening recruiting to new talent pools and pipelines, recruiting partners are also dedicated to hiring for your jobs. This opens up time for in-house human resources or people teams to focus on other important work that supports their current employees.
The Role of Workplace Flexibility in Talent Sourcing
No matter your take on whether you and your team work in-person five days a week, work fully remote, or build a hybrid schedule, there’s one thing to keep in mind. All the tools and systems exist to help your team do your best work, and it’s up to you to figure out how much you need to be in person to accomplish your goals.
Where you choose to work will have an impact on how many candidates, and the caliber of candidates, you’re able to attract for your open jobs.
That said, opening up your roles to remote candidates will greatly expands your talent pool. This is often a good option for short-term contract roles, and for consulting opportunities where you need to find someone well-versed in a niche technology tool.
The best hiring strategies align workplace flexibility with business strategy and your team’s goals for growth.
Let Lighthouse Show You a Smarter Approach to Hiring
Broadening your horizons in the hiring process is a great way to gain a competitive hiring advantage. One way to do that? Partnering with a recruiting company.
Lighthouse Technology Services helps Buffalo businesses grow with technology by matching them to the right technology solution – whether that’s hiring technology professionals, enlisting a managed services program, or both.
Want to learn more about our recruiting services? Reach out to our team and see how we work at The Place for Technology Talent.
