Jonathan Kidder: “The Wizard Sourcer” Reveals The Tools of the Recruiting Trade

October 9, 2020 Marcus Edwardes Recruiting Trailblazers Comments Off on Jonathan Kidder: “The Wizard Sourcer” Reveals The Tools of the Recruiting Trade
Jonathan Kidder headshot

Jonathan Kidder: The Wizard Sourcer

In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Jonathan Kidder, otherwise known as the “Wizard Sourcer”. He is a top-ranked tech sourcer and recruiter, staffing expert and corporate trainer who assists organizations of all sizes in identifying and attracting top talent. He is currently working as a tech recruiter for Amazon, and his blog, Wizard Sourcer, has become one of the leading knowledge resources for recruiters online. His mission is simple: To help recruiters and talent sourcers stay updated on the latest sourcing trends within our community.

In the past several years, sourcing has changed in many ways. In particular, different phases of the staffing process now require different specializations. From having separate sourcers and recruiters, to splitting between sourcers who look for candidates and those who engage with candidates, professionals within different stages of the process serve as their own individual knowledge experts.

Do not limit yourself to LinkedIn. Go to wherever your lead is spending the most time on, whether that is LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. Jonathan also encourages recruiters to reach out through email or a phone call instead of a direct message on social media to separate themselves from the spam that so many have become accustomed to. Finally, when reaching out to your prospect, focus on quality by giving your message a personal, human touch. The initial message, if you find them on social media, can be a simple DM letting them know what caught your interest, be it something on their resumé or even an interesting hobby.

Listen in as Jonathan unloads a treasure trove of advice on the current sourcing and recruiting landscape, including best practices to keep in mind when reaching out to potential candidates. He also gives us his favorite tools and platforms for prospect databases, customer engagement, and automation, as well as a primer on his own free browser extension, Recruiter Wand.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • [1:49] How sourcing has evolved over the past five years
  • [3:45] Looking for candidates versus engaging with candidates
  • [4:52] Do all good recruiters make good sourcers, and vice versa?
  • [5:44] Is automation disadvantageous to the recruiting process?
  • [8:43] Jonathan’s process as a technical recruiter at Amazon
  • [15:30] What are some alternatives to LinkedIn?
  • [21:24] Why InMail is losing steam
  • [22:59] The best way to utilize texting
  • [26:00] Using video to connect with prospects
  • [27:26] Examples of candidate engagement platforms
  • [31:28] How Jonathan built his brand with Wizard Sourcer
  • [33:48] Jonathan’s other favorite platforms
  • [38:36] The four levels of automation and examples of automation tools
  • [40:39] What is Jonathan’s browser extension, Recruiter Wand?

Key quotes:

  • “Sourcing, as a whole, when it first started, was focused on lead generation. It’s changed in recent years as some teams do the full cycle process while others have sourcers and as well as recruiters to take over at some point in the process. More than ever, sourcers do now communicate and engage candidates and start them on the process.”
  • “You go where your leads are. LinkedIn is great, but sometimes I think that LinkedIn is overused. If they’re on Facebook or Instagram, go there. There are also different ways to reach out to people. I recommend, number one, email, or a direct call over a message on a social media site.”

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