Unlocking Sourcing Success: The Secret Source
The secret’s out. Sourcing teams, this is your data-driven guide to unlocking sourcing success.
KEY FINDINGS
77% say active sourcing is crucial for their overall talent acquisition strategy – but less than half of new hires are actively sourced. Sourcing tools might be to blame.
Sourcing teams today face three main challenges. The most common one is determining if candidates actually have the skills listed on their resumes.
Nearly half (46%) of sourcing teams say their current tools are either ‘somewhat’ or ‘not at all’ effective. Teams who say their tools are effective source more hires.
Teams need to be ready and able to use AI, automation, and advanced analytics in their sourcing efforts, but only 37% feel prepared for this shift. What's the secret to success?
01 Methodology
The data in this report comes from a study that was sent to 1,000 US professionals, all of whom have been directly involved in active sourcing in the last 12 months. 31% of respondents were talent acquisition professionals, 24% external recruiters, 31% hiring managers, 10% HR leaders, and 4% a mixture of other positions like business owner, advisor, or director.
Data was collected via independent third-party survey panels, and respondents were balanced across gender, age groups, and income brackets, with quotas in place to support demographic representation.
Active sourcing is an approach to talent acquisition that involves actively identifying, contacting, and engaging with candidates for a job opening rather than waiting for them to apply.
02 The sourcing paradox
Today’s job market is more volatile than the wi-fi on a moving train. Jobs as we know them are changing and building skilled, forward-looking, resilient teams is imperative for businesses everywhere. In previous research, more than half of employers said that determining if candidates have the right skills is the hardest part of their hiring process today. The pressure on sourcing teams has never been greater, and the path forward has never been less clear.
02.1
02.1
Active sourcing is critical
One thing is clear: Active sourcing is critical for modern businesses. 77% of the professionals we surveyed said active sourcing is either essential (29%) or very important (48%) to their overall talent acquisition strategy. Despite this, the vast majority (73%) actively sourced less than half of their hires in the last 12 months.
0 %
say active sourcing is very important or essential
0 %
actively source less than half their hires
02.2
02.2
... But sourced candidates make up less than half of hires
Although it varies by industry and company size – with 501-1,000 FTE companies sourcing the most hires – active sourcing efforts lead to a minority of hires across the board.
The smallest and the largest organizations source the fewest hires. This makes sense: The smallest organizations tend to rely more heavily on their direct networks, whilst the largest will likely get more than enough inbound candidates to need to go sourcing. Companies in the middle – between 200 and 5,000 FTE – are more likely to actively source new hires.
What percentage of your new hires were actively sourced?
0-10%
11-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
0-10%
11-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
Why the paradox? If active sourcing is so essential, why aren’t more hires being actively sourced?
In this report, we’ll dig into this question a little deeper. We asked 1,000 US sourcing professionals about the hurdles facing sourcing teams, their sentiments around the tools they’re using, their thoughts about the future of sourcing, and the things talent acquisition teams everywhere should be doing if they want to see sourcing success. We’re calling it the secret source. Let’s get into it.
03 Sourcing teams face three big challenges
Half (51%) of sourcing teams are finding it difficult to source qualified candidates for their open roles. This problem is more pronounced for smaller organizations: 60% of 1-50 FTE and 57% of 51-200 FTE companies report difficulties, whilst 37% of 501-1,000 FTE and 49% of 1,001-5,000 do.
03.1
03.1
How difficult is sourcing qualified candidates?
16%
35%
18%
14%
17%
This explains the paradox. While active sourcing is viewed as crucial, it’s difficult – for lots of different reasons. And because it’s difficult, it’s rare for teams to actively source most of their hires. Here’s a breakdown of the issues sourcing teams are facing.
Sourcing challenge | Percentage of sourcing teams that have this issue |
Determining if candidates actually have the skills listed on their resume | 58% |
Identifying candidates who are aligned with company culture | 47% |
Lack of skilled candidates in the market | 43% |
High competition for talent from other companies | 35% |
Poor quality of candidates from existing sources | 20% |
Engaging passive candidates | 20% |
Lack of time and resources dedicated to sourcing | 19% |
Difficulty finding diverse candidates | 14% |
Not enough time (tight sourcing deadlines) | 10% |
Ineffective sourcing tools or technology | 8% |
Measuring the ROI of sourcing efforts | 6% |
struggle to determine if candidates have the skills they say they do
find it hard to identify candidates who are aligned with their culture
say there’s a lack of skilled candidates in the market
These three stand out as the most common challenges. In the next section, we'll examine each in detail.
03.2
03.2
How do I know if candidates have the skills they say they do?
How do sourcing professionals know which candidates really have the skills they need? Or even the skills listed on their resume?
58% of sourcing professionals struggle to know, and while this varies by industry (it goes up to 66% for financial services, and down to 47% for marketing and advertising, for example), it’s a pressing question across the board. So, is it possible? How can they know?
Industry | Determining if candidates have the skills they say they do is an issue for sourcing |
Education sector | 67% |
Financial services | 66% |
Construction | 62% |
Manufacturing | 62% |
Human resources | 61% |
Information & technology services | 61% |
Government administration | 60% |
Telecommunications | 58% |
Consulting services | 58% |
Healthcare | 56% |
Retail | 55% |
Marketing and advertising | 47% |
Nonprofit sector | 47% |
The fast rise of skills-based hiring has, in many ways, been an answer to this question. In order to determine whether your inbound candidates have the skills you need, you must measure them accurately and reliably. At TestGorilla, we argue that you should do this first, before you build your shortlist.
This approach is helping hiring teams make better, more confident, skills-based hiring decisions. But while it makes sense to ask inbound applicants to prove their skills (they’re actively job seeking, have expressed interest in your role, they’re already bought into your application process), it might feel less reasonable to actively reach out to people and ask them to take a test.
0 %
are using skills-based hiring in 2025
0 %
are using skills tests
Unfortunately, you won’t know if candidates have the skills they say they do until they prove it. Either they prove it when you’ve hired them and they’re on the job (or they don’t and you have a mis-hire on your hands), or you find a way to gather that proof during your hiring process. This is the only way to know before you shortlist.
We have two pieces of advice for sourcing teams on this one:
Perfect your pitch. Sell your company so well that the candidates you’re reaching out to aren’t apprehensive about taking an assessment as part of the process. Be upfront about why you hire this way, too.
Source from a talent pool that’s already been skills tested, like ours.
03.3
03.3
How do I know if candidates are aligned with our company culture?
Nearly half of sourcing teams struggle to know if a candidate is aligned with their company culture. We know that holistic hiring – where the candidate’s soft and technical skills, behavioral competencies, motivations and cultural alignment are all factored into hiring decisions – leads to better hiring outcomes, so it makes sense that this is a concern. But, again, how can you know?
0 %
say values & cultural alignment distinguish hiring success
0 %
of mishires are from lack of cultural alignment
You can guess, but knowing whether someone is aligned with your company culture from a distance is impossible. Once again, a tried and tested way of knowing is, well, to ask them to prove it.
Tools like a Motivation test, a Culture Add test, or a Behavioral Competencies Profiler can do the work for you, bringing you real, valuable insights into how your candidates like to work, what motivates and energizes them, what drains them, and what their values are.
This comes with the same hurdle – that they have to be willing to take the test – so our advice remains the same here. To help your pitch, let them know that this is an opportunity for them to find alignment, too. Research shows 52% of job seekers have been in a situation where they were hired for their technical skills but weren’t a good fit because of cultural misalignment. It’s not a good experience, and 1 in 4 said it was so bad they quit. In your pitch, explain that your hiring process is designed to prevent experiences like that.
03.4
03.4
Where can I find skilled candidates?
2 in 5 sourcing teams say they’re facing a lack of skilled candidates in the market.
Skills shortages are a genuine problem, especially for emerging capabilities like AI. But research we conducted earlier this year shows that this is being compounded by hiring’s match-making problem. This is not strictly a supply and demand issue.
Employers are struggling to identify skilled candidates. Most sourcing professionals struggle to know if candidates have the skills they say they do, and 3 in 5 job seekers say they struggle to stand out with their resumes. It’s also possible that employers don’t quite know which skills they’re looking for (which is why we always recommend a thorough job analysis as the first step in any skills-based hiring process).
0%
have trouble standing out with their resume
0%
experienced hiring bias this year
0%
of employers don't get enough candidates
On top of skills shortages, skilled talent and open roles just aren’t finding each other. Because of this, it’s good to remember that your dream candidate may or may not have the background or experience that you expect. It pays to know skill and potential when you see it, regardless of where it’s come from.
For candidates, standing out can be tough. We created TestGorilla Profiles so that anyone can show, not just tell, their skills.
04 Is your tech stack helping or hindering?
We’ve covered the problems. But what about the tools being used to solve them? Crucially, teams that actively sourced less hires are less satisfied with their tools.
04.1
04.1
The percentage of new hires that teams actively source correlates directly with how effective, or not, their sourcing tools are.
Percentage of new hires actively sourced | Percentage of this group who find their sourcing tools very or extremely effective |
|---|---|
0-10% | 17% |
11-25% | 37% |
26-50% | 54% |
51-75% | 78% |
76-100% | 90% |
They say a good craftsperson never blames their tools, but there’s clearly a story to tell here. More effective tools lead to more hires actively sourced. So, what’s the state of the stack? We break it down below.
% who say sourcing tools are very or extremely effective
% who say sourcing tools are not at all or somewhat effective
% who say sourcing tools are very or extremely effective
% who say sourcing tools are not at all or somewhat effective
04.2
04.2
The state of the stack
First up, let’s take a look at which tools are used most commonly by sourcing teams.
Sourcing tool | Percentage of sourcing teams using it |
LinkedIn Recruiter | 47% |
Social media | 47% |
Indeed Smart Sourcing | 42% |
Referrals from company networks | 38% |
Other professional networking sites (e.g. Xing, Viadeo) | 31% |
Employee referral schemes | 34% |
Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) system | 27% |
Internal talent marketplace | 27% |
Sourcing browser extensions (e.g. for finding contact info) | 22% |
We do not use any specific sourcing tools | 6% |
LinkedIn Recruiter and social media are the most common tools, with nearly half of sourcing teams using them. But are they helping or hindering?
When we asked people if they find the tools they’re using effective, nearly half (46%) of sourcing teams said they are either ‘somewhat’ or ‘not at all’ effective. One third (33%) find them very effective, and 1 in 5 (21%) find them extremely effective.
Tool | Not at all effective | Somewhat effective | Very effective | Extremely effective | % very or extremely effective |
Other professional networking sites (e.g. Xing, Viadeo) | 2% | 26% | 35% | 37% | 72% |
Sourcing browser extensions | 1% | 31% | 35% | 33% | 68% |
CRM | 1% | 32% | 37% | 30% | 67% |
Referrals from company networks | 1% | 41% | 33% | 25% | 58% |
Social media | 2% | 42% | 33% | 24% | 57% |
Indeed Smart Sourcing | 3% | 42% | 29% | 27% | 46% |
LinkedIn recruiter | 4% | 48% | 27% | 21% | 48% |
Employee referral schemes | 2% | 49% | 31% | 17% | 48% |
Internal talent marketplace | 2% | 53% | 28% | 18% | 46% |
When we break it down by tool, the data gets a bit more interesting.
Our data shows that less commonly used tools are more effective than the ones that sourcing teams use most. More than half (52%) of the professionals using LinkedIn Recruiter, one of the most popular sourcing tools in the market, find it underwhelming. Referral schemes, which are traditionally considered a gold standard for candidate quality, also score poorly for effectiveness. Meanwhile alternative professional networking sites, like Xing and Viadeo, are more widely seen as effective by their users.
"LinkedIn has slowly changed the search functionality to a point where even the basic Boolean searches are not functioning the way they should. It’s very difficult these days to run a search on LinkedIn and get less than a thousand results."
In short, the biggest, most commonly used tools – and even the most traditional ones – are not necessarily the best. Mainstream tools are letting teams down, and specialist, single-purpose tools are outperforming them.
04.3
04.3
Top tooling frustrations for sourcing teams
We can take a stab at guessing why this is happening, but we don’t have to. We asked sourcing teams about their specific frustrations with their current sourcing tools. Here’s what they said.
What are your biggest frustrations with your sourcing tools?
Lack of integration between sourcing tools and other platforms
48%
Outdated candidate information
46%
Ineffective search and matching algorithms
41%
Challenges managing and nurturing passive candidates
31%
Poor data quality
30%
Clunky user interface and poor user experience
29%
High cost of sourcing tools and tech
20%
Lack of integration, outdated candidate information, and ineffective search and matching algorithms are the biggest problems sourcing teams have with their tools today.
Professionals want tools that bring them up-to-date information, integrate with the tools they’re already using, and surface talent matches that actually make sense. Although legacy tools boast enormous candidate pools for teams to source from, this isn’t helpful unless the tool meets these three criteria. Anything less, and the professionals using them begin to feel like their time (and money) is being wasted.
0 %
frustrated by lack of integration
0 %
frustrated by outdated candidate information
0 %
frustrated by ineffective search and matching algorithms
“I’ve returned to conventional sourcing strategies. Developer platforms such as GitHub, industry-specific forums, and direct access through email or referral have been more effective"
Whilst most of the people using lesser known professional networking sites are finding them effective, 7 in 10 say a lack of integration with existing tools is a problem. Although there is certainly demand for new, alternative tools, teams need these tools to integrate with their other hiring tech just as well as legacy platforms.
05 The secret sauce: Your recipe for future sourcing success
Here’s where things get saucy. Sourcing teams need a supercharge. Only 1 in 5 find their tools extremely effective. The tools and processes they’re using just aren’t cutting it. Something needs to change – and we’ve got the recipe.
05.1
05.1
Measure what matters
Teams know what successful sourcing looks like. Quality of hire, pipeline conversion rates, and time-to-fill are the most commonly used metrics. But their confidence in their ability to track and accurately measure the success of sourcing efforts is low, and 1 in 10 don’t even attempt to measure success.
How does your organization measure the success of its sourcing efforts?
Quality of hire
49%
Pipeline conversion rates
43%
Time-to-fill
42%
Hiring manager satisfaction
39%
Acquisition cost
37%
Diversity of candidate pipeline
36%
We do not formally measure the success of our sourcing efforts
11%
Half of sourcing teams (51%) say they’re not at all or only somewhat confident that they can accurately track and report on their sourcing metrics. This is a missing piece: If teams can know and show the value of their sourcing efforts and the tools they’re using, they can justify spending more time and money on sourcing.
Our data backs this up: 94% of the teams who are extremely confident about tracking have plans to invest in new sourcing tech, versus only 49% of those who are not at all confident. Additionally smaller organizations, who likely have less money and resources to put towards sourcing, exhibit less confidence in tracking and reporting on their sourcing metrics.
0%
Not at all confident
0%
Somewhat confident
0%
Very confident
On the flipside, teams who track and report will know what’s not working. Having this data can help convince stakeholders that it’s worth investing in new sourcing tools and tech – although our data shows they probably don’t need convincing. 3 in 5 sourcing teams (61%) say they will invest in new sourcing technology in the next 12 months. Professionals who aren’t happy with their tools are ready to invest in something better.
Org size | Planning to invest in new sourcing tech | Not planning to invest in new sourcing tech | Not sure |
|---|---|---|---|
1-50 FTE | 30% | 20% | 50% |
51-200 FTE | 56% | 11% | 34% |
201-500 FTE | 73% | 12% | 16% |
501-1,000 FTE | 80% | 6% | 14% |
1,001-5,000 FTE | 56% | 15% | 29% |
5,000+ FTE | 41% | 10% | 49% |
05.2
05.2
Are sourcing teams prepared for the road ahead?
With the majority set to invest in new sourcing tools, sourcing teams are looking ahead. 77% say active sourcing is either essential or very important to their talent acquisition strategy, and the majority are unimpressed by the tools they’re using. Some professionals anticipate that certain tools will become obsolete, with more than half expecting manual spreadsheet tracking and email-scraping tools to disappear in 5 years time.
3 in 10 say there will be no place for non-integrated sourcing tools by 2030, and 2 in 5 think traditional job boards (those with no focus on matching or a data driven/AI-backed sourcing strategy) will become obsolete.
Which sourcing tools and technologies do you think will be obsolete in the next 5 years – if any?
Manual spreadsheet tracking
54%
Contact-finding/email-scraping tools
51%
Traditional job boards
39%
Non-integrated sourcing and CRM tools
30%
None of the above – I believe all these tools will still have a place
19%
Beyond this, the professionals we surveyed see AI and automation and advanced data and analytics as the most impactful changes for talent sourcing in the next 2-3 years.
Which of these do you see impacting talent sourcing the most in the next few years?
AI & automation
46%
Advanced data & analytics
43%
Skills scarcity/rising skills gaps
33%
Economic volatility & budget constraints
28%
Changing candidate expectations
27%
The rise of digital talent marketplaces
17%
The rise of remote and hybrid work models
14%
Despite this, only 37% feel their organization is well or extremely well prepared for these future trends in sourcing. 30% are somewhat prepared, 27% are starting to prepare, and 7% are not prepared at all. Larger organizationa are more likely to be well or extremely well prepared.
How prepared is your organization to deal with future trends in sourcing?
7%
27%
30%
19%
18%
Overall, this tells us two things. Firstly, teams know that the way we source top talent is changing. They understand the forces at play (advances in technology, the eroding value of mainstay sourcing tools) and what they have to gain – better analytics, for example, will help boost teams’ confidence in tracking sourcing success. Secondly, they’re starting to get prepared. Although the minority feel ready at this stage, 3 in 5 will invest in new sourcing tech in the year to come.
0 %
will invest in new sourcing tech in the year to come
05.3
05.3
MMM: The secret sauce
If you’re in the 63% of sourcing teams who aren’t feeling well-prepared, this bit’s for you. And even if you are feeling prepared, keep reading – we’ve got the secret sauce for better sourcing. It’s simple, with only three ingredients.
1. MEASURE: Skills-based intelligence for smarter sourcing
The biggest challenges facing sourcing professionals today are determining skills match and understanding cultural alignment of candidates. They want more information, so that they can reach out to people with more confidence about their fit for the job.
Professional networking sites like LinkedIn Recruiter and Indeed aren’t delivering. Candidate information is outdated, the information people can add to their profiles is unverified, and search and matching algorithms are ineffective. The emphasis on posting content has made some of these tools more difficult to use for recruitment.
The solution is plain to see. Instead of sourcing via information that has little relevance for job-fit (like education, connections, or experience), sourcing teams need to tap into other signals to get a better picture of who candidates are before they reach out. Signals that identify which ones are actually a skills match.
2. MATCH: An integrated ecosystem of sourcing tools
Half of employers are frustrated by the lack of integration between their sourcing tools and the other hiring platforms they use. A well-integrated tech stack saves teams time and makes for more streamlined sourcing, hiring and reporting.
With this being such a common frustration, we expect that the teams who are ready to invest in new sourcing tools will turn their eyes (and money) towards platforms that are well integrated, or can offer end-to-end solutions.
3. METRICS: Real insights into sourcing success
You can’t improve what you can’t measure. The third and final ingredient for sourcing success is connecting your sourcing activity directly to business outcomes like quality of hire, pipeline conversion, and time-to-hire. Mis-hire rates are valuable to measure too, and this can be easier than measuring quality of hire.
You need to know what’s working and what’s not. This way you know what to double-down on, and what to scrap. 3 in 5 teams have got their budgets at the ready, and this will help them continue to invest wisely.
05.4
05.4
Your next steps
Now you know the secret sauce for better sourcing. Thanks for reading. We hope you found it helpful – and if you’re ready to start sourcing smarter, with every ingredient of the recipe in one tool, check out TestGorilla Sourcing.
