The executive search firm Andreessen Horowitz has a broad, front-to-back recruiting process that includes both active Sourcing and recruiting for potential candidates. Finding effective staffing solutions through the process helps them build a portfolio of companies worldwide, sometimes leading to the partnership or investment opportunities.
The firm has outlined its process, highlighting what they look for when evaluating potential candidates and giving offers, including active Sourcing. This article overviews the recruitment process and how the company utilizes active Sourcing to fill vacancies within and across those they partner with.
Active Sourcing focuses on local hires that can be found within a defined region, heightening the recruiting process through leveraging connections within the area for potential candidates. This lowers dependence on recruiters for finding new candidates and enables more open opportunities for individual employees to find employment through both internal and external networks of contacts. Andreessen Horowitz has seen great success from this approach in filling positions and increasing productivity among lower-performing teams within their company.
A new perspective to recruitment
Recruiters who take the passive approach of waiting for applications to pour in are likely to be disappointed. Potential candidates are taking the passive approach as well. Think of it like two single adults cautiously eyeing each other across the dance floor, both too afraid to walk over and start a conversation.
Headhunters must now behave more like marketing professionals and find ways to reach out to candidates effectively. This revolutionary approach to recruiting and hiring is known as Active Sourcing.
Why active sourcing?
The recruitment profession has seen sweeping changes in recent years. Gone are the days when there was a surplus of top talent. No longer do CVs sit untouched for weeks in the hiring manager’s inbox. Several factors have contributed to the shortage of qualified labor and the shift to proactive recruitment.
A sizable portion of the workforce retired in recent years, and millennials tend to postpone career decisions. Many take a gap year before starting university, take longer to graduate from university, or pursue graduate degrees.
The inadequacy of talent, especially concerns in the information technology sector. Technology evolves so quickly that the workers who are needed right now in IT are still being educated and trained. The skills gap is growing wider by the day and shows no signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future.
A LinkedIn study states that 70% percent of desirable candidates are passive candidates. That means that job posting reaches out to just 30% of the workforce at best. Moreover, 52% of candidates who see and apply for jobs must be qualified.
Nevertheless, among all these disappointing facts, one significant positive stands out 87% of active and passive candidates are open to new job opportunities. It should encourage TAs to implement Active Sourcing strategies and push talent sourcing in a different direction.
The benefits of active sourcing
There are many benefits to active Sourcing for companies; some of these include the following:
- A significantly lower cost-per-hire offsets the cost of the initial effort.
- Job descriptions and postings can be tailored to candidates in the pool according to their qualifications, personal interests, and cultural fit.
- Scaling is fast. Since recruiters and candidates have already built a relationship, the length of the hiring process is sharply reduced.
