A great diversity talent sourcer gives businesses seeking to fill their open positions a huge edge in the marketplace.

Why?

Because they have developed the necessary skills and talents in sourcing the best possible diversity candidates for their clients.

Businesses are now realizing the importance of pulling together a diverse workforce. This growing awareness explains why diversity talent sourcer positions are in such high demand.

When employers first realize they lack diverse candidates, they try the same talent acquisition methods they’ve always used.

Soon, however, they realize how ineffective their methods are, so they search for a diversity talent sourcer who can help them achieve their goals.

And because of the high demand for diverse candidates with the skills and abilities employers need, when you build a reputation as an effective diversity talent sourcer you’ll have clients knocking down your door to get you to fill their positions.

Following are some tips on how to grow your reputation and excel as a diversity talent sourcer:

Be intentional as a diversity talent sourcer

In your day to day activities, you have developed a process for finding talent. While having a process is important, it’s even more important to prevent that process from becoming stale.

Instead of “going through the motions”, a great diversity talent sourcer will be deliberate in trying to improve their performance.

Look for ways to more effectively target those individuals who would be the best match for your clients’ needs. When you reduce your time chasing down leads that don’t work (for whatever reason) you’ll be more effective and will grow your reputation as a great diversity talent sourcer.

Make an effort to purposely stretch yourself outside of your comfort zone.

Do this by doing things you’ve not done before such as seeking to fill positions where other recruiters have failed or finding candidates for positions that you might have little understanding of.

When you do this you’ll gain more confidence in your skills and become an even more effective recruiter.

Erase “good enough” from your vocabulary

A great talent sourcer will always be asking themselves “is this the BEST candidate out there?”

You strive to deliver the absolute best matches possible to present to your clients. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of knowing that you’ve done your absolute best in making a great connection for both your prospect and your client.

Practice makes perfect

A trained athlete or musician will spend hours upon countless hours practicing to improve their skills and performance…so why shouldn’t you?

At every step in your process ask yourself if there is a way to do it better or faster.

When you do this, again and again, every day, you’re building a habit of continual self-assessment and adjustments to changing environments and conditions in the marketplace.

Which will help you get to and stay on top of your game?

For example, let’s say you’re not satisfied with the results returned by your candidate searches so you begin to observe what you’re doing more closely.

Over time, you might begin to recognize patterns from your searches that can help you narrow down those search terms with the highest possible chances of giving you better matches.

Only by purposely looking at your processes will you be able to spot ways to improve your search results.

Get feedback

One of the fastest ways to grow and learn as a diversity talent sourcer is to seek feedback from both yourself and others.

Routinely ask yourself if you’re doing the absolute best at everything you set your hand to.

If your self-review shows any deficiencies, then you’ll know what you need to do to resolve the problem(s).

Get feedback from others too, but only seek advice from individuals with a great track record of getting results.

You can also ask the candidates themselves for feedback in their experiences.

This will help you understand those things you’re doing that get the results you’re after…and what you can discard because it’s ineffective or potentially harmful.

Mindfulness

Make it a point to think about every task you do.

For example, if you’re leaving a message for a candidate to return your call, think deeply about what you’re going to say, rather than rattle off the same voice message you leave for everyone.

In other words, think about the words and the information you’ll use to encourage your prospect to respond so you can continue building the relationship.

Embrace hard work

It’s not easy being a diversity talent sourcer.

Some parts of your job may feel easier than others, so don’t put off the hard tasks…do them first before moving on to things that you find easier to do.

If you find that you’re satisfied with your current abilities it may mean that you’ve gotten too comfortable and aren’t challenging yourself.

It’s only through a deliberate effort to improve your skills that you’ll be able to grow your level of ability.

Focus on the process…results will follow

When you’re trying to improve your skills, set goals that focus on the process rather than on the outcome.

Instead of getting bogged down by looking at the end goal, focus on what you’re doing every day to improve your sourcing skills.

When you’re focused on those day to day things that are within your control you’ll be more effective than if you were to make your entire focus and concern about the desired results.

So for example, rather than setting a goal for the number of hires you are able to achieve, focus on finding the highest number of the best possible candidates for your clients.

Bottom line, if you’re focused on finding great prospects that are a great match for your clients, the results will just happen…naturally.