Have you received any formal training on how to source candidates?

If yes – what kind of training was it? What was the format? What was the focus – syntax, techniques, sites? Who delivered it – a third party trainer or an internal resource? How was the content delivered? Was it effective? Were you tested or certified?

If you’ve never received any formal training on candidate sourcing – you’re not alone. When I asked the SourceCon attendees the aforementioned question during my presentation on the topic of creating or selecting effective sourcing training, by a show of hands, the majority had not received any formal sourcing training.

I’ve never had any formal sourcing training either – everything I know I learned the hard way, through trial and error and a simple determination to not fail and to get results.

Although certainly not ideal, figuring out how to do something by yourself isn’t actually the worst way to learn something. Aristotle (384-322 BC) once mused that “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

Before I delve into the training methods that have the highest amount of knowledge transfer, it is important to take a look at why it tends to be so difficult to effectively train sourcers. Continue reading →