Are you confused about the difference between talent sourcing vs talent acquisition?
You’re not alone.
Many HR professionals (juniors and seniors), managers, and small business owners use these terms as if they mean the same thing.
However, they refer to two different strategies within recruiting.
Understanding how they’re different and figuring out how to use both effectively can boost your hiring quality, speed things up, and give your organization an edge.
In this article, we will explain the differences between talent sourcing and talent acquisition, show how they work together, and how working with experts like TROIS Collective can improve both.
Talent sourcing means looking for potential job candidates even before a position is open.
It focuses on building contacts with passive candidates who might fit future roles.
Passive candidates are professionals who aren't actively seeking a new job or haven't applied to your company yet, but are qualified for the position you're hiring for.
Think of sourcing specialists as the marketing team for bringing in talent. They're job includes:
The goal is to have a list of top talent ready so that when a position opens, you don't start from the beginning.
If your company isn't tapping into the world of passive candidates, you're likely missing out on some of the best talent (and HR strategies) out there.
It's definitely worth teaming up with a specialist to set up a system for cold outreach.
When it comes to HR management, talent sourcing is a smart way to build a list of qualified candidates:
Talent acquisition on the other hand, involves a strategy that includes planning ahead how to find the right candidates and keeping them to help your business grow.
(We have a complete guide on how to keep talent with the best strategies)
So, what does talent acquisition involve?
As you can see, talent acquisition is really an investment in the future.
While talent sourcing helps you find a pool of candidates, acquisition focuses on making sure you hire the perfect fit for each role and keep them on board.
If you're dealing with growth or high turnover, having a solid acquisition strategy is important.
That’s why many small and mid-sized businesses look for fractional HR support to create and roll out custom talent acquisition plans that match their goals.
Talent acquisition benefits businesses of all sizes, including smaller ones that utilize outsourcing.
Talent sourcing and talent acquisition are both important parts of the hiring process, but they actually have different goals.
Talent sourcing is about actively finding and reaching out to potential candidates, even before a job opening comes up:
In contrast, talent acquisition is a broader strategy:
So, sourcing is more of a short-term, tactical move to fill the top of the recruitment funnel, while acquisition takes a long-term, strategic approach to ensure the right people are hired, integrated, and stay (while keeping high performance and great communication).
In short, sourcing finds the talent, and acquisition secures it.
HR business partners know that companies that invest in both methods can hire more effectively.
Think of talent sourcing as building a strong team by finding promising candidates.
Talent acquisition is about hiring the right person at the right time to succeed.
When used together, they can help you in several ways:
When you think about talent sourcing vs talent acquisition, it's not a matter of picking one over the other.
They actually work together in the same system.
Sourcing helps build the candidate pipeline, while acquisition focuses on bringing in new hires.
If your HR team is overwhelmed by implementing both methods or you don't have a team yet, TROIS Collective can be your partner.
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