sourcing-strategy

name	sourcing-strategy
description	Build multi-channel sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill roles with Boolean search, outreach sequences, and pipeline tracking
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Grep","Bash"]
effort	medium

When to activate

• Sourcing passive candidates for niche or senior roles
• Building Boolean search strings for LinkedIn, GitHub, StackOverflow
• Designing multi-touch outreach sequences
• Evaluating sourcing channel effectiveness
• Creating talent maps for recurring hiring needs

When NOT to use

• For posting job ads on job boards (inbound)
• For agency/vendor management
• For recruitment marketing campaigns

Instructions

1. Define ideal candidate profile. Skills, experience, company targets, location, and deal-breakers.
2. Build Boolean searches. Create 3-5 search strings per platform (LinkedIn Recruiter, GitHub, StackOverflow, X-Ray).
3. Identify target companies. List 10-20 companies with similar tech stack or industry for poaching.
4. Design outreach sequence. 4-touch sequence over 14 days: InMail → follow-up → value-add content → final nudge.
5. Personalize outreach. Reference candidate's specific project, talk, blog post, or open-source contribution.
6. Track pipeline. Source → responded → interested → screening → interview → offer. Target 10% response rate minimum.
7. Report channel ROI. Cost per hire, response rate, and quality score by sourcing channel.

Example

Role: Staff ML Engineer
Boolean (LinkedIn): ("machine learning" OR "deep learning") AND ("PyTorch" OR "TensorFlow") AND ("MLOps" OR "model serving") AND ("senior" OR "staff" OR "lead")
Target Companies: Scale AI, Anyscale, Hugging Face, Weights & Biases, Databricks

Outreach Sequence:
Day 0: InMail — reference their recent paper/talk
Day 4: Follow-up — share relevant blog post on your tech stack
Day 9: "Quick question" — ask about their experience with [specific tool]
Day 14: Final — "Keeping this open until Friday"