# Candidate sourcing

Sourcing is the proactive work of finding and contacting potential candidates who haven't applied anywhere, as opposed to recruiting more broadly, which also covers screening, interviewing, and closing a hire once someone is already in the process.

Everything that happens after someone responds falls under recruiting more broadly.

**Candidate sourcing** — Sourcing is the specific activity of finding people who could be a fit for a role and reaching out to them directly, before they've applied anywhere or even necessarily know the role exists. A sourcer or recruiter doing sourcing work typically searches resume databases, LinkedIn, an existing talent pool, or industry-specific communities, then sends a personalized message explaining the opportunity and asking if the person is open to a conversation. Boolean search is one common tool for this: combining keywords with operators like AND, OR, and NOT to narrow a huge database down to people with a specific mix of skills, titles, or experience. Sourcing is usually aimed at passive candidates, people not actively job hunting, since active candidates are already visible through inbound applications and don't need to be found. It's one stage within the larger recruiting process; once someone responds to a sourcing message and agrees to talk, what happens next, screening, interviews, an offer, falls under the broader term recruiting rather than sourcing itself.

Sourcing tends to get more attention for senior, specialized, or hard-to-fill roles, where the pool of active applicants is too small to fill the requisition on its own. A company hiring for a common, high-volume role can often fill it from inbound applications alone, while a niche technical or executive search usually can't. Response rates on sourcing outreach vary a lot based on how specific the message is: a generic pitch sent to a wide list performs worse than a shorter, more direct one explaining why that particular person's background fits.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is sourcing the same thing as recruiting?

No. Sourcing is the specific act of finding and reaching out to potential candidates before they've applied. Recruiting is the broader process that also includes screening, interviewing, and getting someone to an offer.

### What is Boolean search used for in sourcing?

It's a way to combine keywords with AND, OR, and NOT to build a precise search query, so a recruiter can narrow a large resume database or LinkedIn search down to a specific mix of skills and experience.

### Do sourced candidates count as applicants?

Not automatically. A sourced candidate becomes an applicant, and enters an actual pipeline, only once they respond and agree to move forward with a specific role.

## Related pages

- [Passive candidates](/glossary/passive-candidates)
- [Boolean search in recruiting](/glossary/boolean-search)
- [Talent pool](/glossary/talent-pool)

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