Glossary
A plain-language definition from the Curriculo hiring glossary.
Candidate sourcing is the work of finding and contacting people who could fit a role, including people who haven't applied or aren't looking.
Why it matters
Inbound applications don't always bring the right people, especially for senior or niche roles. Sourcing lets you go after the candidates you want instead of waiting. It also fills your pipeline before a role opens, which cuts the time you spend starting from zero.
For small teams, sourcing is often done by founders and hiring managers, not a full-time sourcer. That makes a simple, repeatable method more useful than a large toolset.
Where sourcing happens
- Professional networks and public profiles.
- Referrals from your team, investors, and past candidates.
- Communities, meetups, open source projects, and conference speaker lists.
- Your own database of past applicants who came close.
A metric worth tracking
Response rate is replies divided by messages sent. If you send 50 personal messages and get 12 replies, your response rate is 24 percent. Track it per channel and per message version. A short note that names the person's work and the role usually beats a long pitch about your company.
A short example
A startup needs a data engineer. The hiring manager asks the team for three names each, reviews past finalists from earlier roles, and messages 30 people with a two-line note. Within a week, eight reply and four take a call.
Common mistakes
- Sending the same template to hundreds of people.
- Ignoring past applicants who were nearly hired.
- Sourcing before the role, pay range, and must-haves are agreed.
- Not following up once, politely, after a week.
Read the full candidate sourcing guide, learn how to build a talent pipeline, and see how a recruiting CRM keeps contacts warm.