How to conduct sourcing and screening

Learn about the difference between active and passive candidates, how to approach them, and the components of a screening interview.

After creating your position map, it's time to build a list of potential candidates. If you don't know what a position map is, then learn about it in the previous lesson here.

To build a list of potential candidates, start with a long list and then take the time to shorten it to a reasonably sized contact list of prospects. The contact list should be long enough to include enough candidates to select finalists from and short enough to make it possible for you to meet them all.

Two types of job seekers could be on that list - active and passive. To learn the difference between them, watch the video below.

Active and Passive Job Seekers

Simply posting a job ad will not necessarily attract the best candidates, as only a small percentage of active job-seekers will respond to ads. Many good candidates are actually "passive" job seekers who are not actively looking but might still be interested in a new opportunity.

An even smaller percentage of candidates are the best fit for the job; thus, targeting passive job speakers when searching for candidates is essential. Instead of waiting for people to apply, you must look for them yourself.

After you have completed the list of potential candidates, it’s time to start with the screening interviews. Potential candidates are also called prospects.  

Do you know how to conduct screening interviews and what to ask? Are you aware of the most common mistakes made while calling potential candidates?

Here’s a video to illustrate a real-life example of an executive calling a prospect. What would you do differently?

The Executive is Calling a Prospect

Please reflect and comment on whether the approach the executive used in this video was good or bad, and why.

Self-check quiz

What you think about the executive call?

1. It was a good approach.
2. It was a bad approach.

Let’s try this again. Watch the video below to hear how executive search consultant Tõnis Arro would approach qualifying the prospect. 

The Consultant is Calling a Prospect

Self-check quiz

What do you think of the example? Was this a …

1. Good approach
2. Bad approach

In the video, you saw our executive consultant Tõnis Arro discussing a potential career opportunity. So what did Tõnis do differently than our executive in the previous video?

Tõnis first emphasizes that he is aware that the prospect is not actively seeking a new job but would like to discuss the possibility of an interesting offer. He doesn't start with a long company introduction. Instead, he focuses on understanding the key factors, like whether the prospect has management experience and would be interested in the broader management role with a new company. After that, he mentioned the CEO position and asked the prospect if he would like to schedule a meeting to discuss further.

Mini Lecture: Qualifying a Prospect

In the video, the executive search consultant and the hiring manager discuss a job prospect. As a result of the screening calls, they got someone interested but will still need to qualify the prospect to ensure they are a good fit for the job. One of the deal breakers, in this case, could be the compensation, and it's important to ask about the prospect's current compensation package before agreeing to a meeting.

If the basics, like the compensation package, location, or work hours, do not fit the potential candidate, then there's no point in moving forward and losing everybody's time with the meeting. The goal of the screening interview is to understand if the basics of everybody's expectations are met and if there's an interest on both sides to move forward with the process.

The sourcing aspect of hiring has changed dramatically in recent years, with companies turning from hiring from within to winning over passive job seekers. However, while businesses have never carried out as much hiring as they do now, they are not monitoring or measuring the results of their sourcing efforts.

This article, Your Approach to Hiring is all Wrong outlines a more cost-effective approach to better hires, by starting with better sourcing methods.

Self-check quiz

Take the test below to self-check your own learnings from this article.

Self-check quiz

How do get candidates?

1. They will mostly apply through job ads.
2. You need to reach out.