Phone sourcing is the quiet creeping about.

Engaging Those You Source

Ami Givertz commented (in that infamous RBC string about sourcing being dead):
"In all the replies to this thread there has not been one mention that I can see of how useless any type of sourcing is without an understanding of how the information will be used to engage prospective candidates in a dialogue."

I answered:
All I can empirically speak for is telephone sourcing, and I will harken back to numbers that I have put forth before to the distinguished audience with the disclaimer that these numbers are (admittedly) changing somewhat in today's challenged environment. Like the very funny Letter to the IRS I received in my email this weekend (posted below for your enjoyment) that said, "... all is not lost," all is not lost, Ami.

When you're telephone names sourcing the following (semi-loosely) applies (but not for challenged industries like defense, some engineering, pharma, biotech and many Big 4 disciplines (like SAP) Those numbers are, in general, less than what I discuss below). That being said - here goes.

If you have a field of 100 telephone sourced names from your telephone sourcer (of people who presently hold specific titles inside specific companies performing specific job functions) it's a pretty good bet that 80+ of them are going to be pretty surprised when you call them. The first thing they're likely to ask you (or tell you) is "How'd you get my name?" (Oh please, please ask me that!) or the always refreshing disclaimer, "I'm not looking for a job!" Thank goodness you're not!

The reason 20 or so won't be surprised is that in the population you have a certain percentage of people looking for jobs anyway so when you phone source you're naturally going to pick those folks up in your broom and dust/pan sweep. It can't be helped. So, let's do these numbers so far.

We have 100 people gainfully employed at companies we admire and would hire people out of in a heartbeat!
We have 80 of them who are truly passive -not looking for a job and too busy with theirs to even think about another job!

Out of those 100, the majority are going to be pleasantly surprised by your novel approach and willing to listen to the opportunity you're presenting.

Nice, huh?

It is true that in today's uncertain environment these potential candidates are more wary than they have been in the past but, to assuage fears on this account, they were never that wary to begin with!

Let's work with the numbers so far.
100 names good-to-go
20 of them actually "looking" - they may or may not have resumes posted -some will. Some most definitely will.
That leaves 80. What do these 80 consist of?

About 10% of these eighty are going to tell you "Not interested," and get off the phone pretty quickly no matter how much you try to engage them. So what. We have 72 left. Of those 72, roughly:

40-45% of those (about 30-35%) are going to say, "Hmmm...I'm not looking for a job but that sounds interesting, tell me more!"

The remainder, about half of them (35 or so), are going to say, "Hmmm....I'm not looking for a job right now but you never know what the future holds - that sounds interesting, tell me more!"

Any which way you cut it you may understand that telephone sourced names are going to produce possible candidates that are going to react to your attempt to engage them as a prospective candidate mostly in a positive manner.

Nice, huh? So, Ami, as you can see, truly, all is not lost. Oh, by the way, here's that letter (for your reading pleasure) I referred to when I started this rant:

Actual 'Letter to the Editor' from the February 5th edition of the
Wichita Falls Texas Times Record News...
Dear IRS,
I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to pay taxes owed April 15, but all is not lost.
I have paid these taxes: accounts receivable tax, building permit tax, CDL tax, cigarette tax, corporate income tax, dog license tax, federal income tax, unemployment tax, gasoline tax, hunting license tax, fishing license tax, waterfowl stamp tax, inheritance tax, inventory tax, liquor tax, luxury tax, Medicare tax, city, school and county property tax (up 33 percent last 4 years), real estate tax, social security tax, road usage tax, toll road tax, state and city sales tax, recreational vehicle tax, state franchise tax, state unemployment tax, telephone federal excise tax, telephone federal state and local surcharge tax, telephone minimum usage surcharge tax, telephone state and local tax, utility tax, vehicle license registration tax, capital gains tax, lease severance tax, oil and gas assessment tax, Colorado property tax, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and New Mexico sales tax, and many more that I can't recall but I have run out of space and money.
When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an honest mistake.
Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen Charles Rangle, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Dashelle and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest.
P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus check.
Ed Barnett
Wichita Falls