2 Myths About Candidate Sourcing and DEI

by PRC Agency PR

A couple of myths are floating around the talent acquisition industry these days. One is that candidate sourcing is an equitable approach to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). The other is that inbound recruiting is inefficient.

Neither is the case. Basically, there’s no need to manufacture diversity through candidate sourcing if the top of your applicant funnel is already diverse. And inbound recruiting is very efficient, enabling hiring teams to attract larger, more qualified, and more diverse applicant pools. Just as long as you get one thing right: the job post.

Myth #1: Candidate sourcing is an equitable approach to DEI

Right out of the gate, candidate sourcing limits the number of job seekers encouraged to apply for a given role. Which isn’t equitable. It also invites unconscious biases to influence the candidates chosen. Which isn’t inclusive.

DEI is nowhere near as simple as targeting certain candidates to increase diversity. And while candidate sourcing can help hiring teams grow their applicant pools, how fair is it to job seekers whom hiring teams don’t target?

There’s a lot of talk these days about various candidate sourcing methods, from on-demand sourcing to referral bonus platforms and more. The general thread is that they offer proactive approaches to DEI.

But, really, they’re just attempts to artificially manufacture diversity, similar to diversity hacks like the Rooney Rule. Meanwhile, our research shows that a qualified, diverse top of the funnel yields a qualified, diverse bottom of the funnel. So there’s no need to target job seekers or wedge in diversity hacks.

Candidate sourcing and the optics of DEI

There’s also the question of how it looks when a sourcer reaches out to a candidate from an underrepresented group and mentions DEI.

What is the recruiter really conveying? That the company is committed to diversity? That the recruiter needs to check the diversity box to meet a company quota? Or that the recruiter is just mentioning DEI because it’s a buzzword?

A lot of hiring teams are doing diversity sourcing these days. That means candidates are left to wonder exactly why a recruiter is contacting them. Is it because of their abilities, expertise, and experience or because they appear to belong to an underrepresented group? Unless the sentiment is genuine, it can feel contrived or pandering.

That’s especially true if the candidate looks at the company’s website and sees few or no faces similar to theirs. Maybe the organization is just getting started with inclusion efforts, or maybe they’re just trying to hit target diversity numbers. Job seekers won’t know.

The makeup of the hiring team can be a clue for candidates, which is why it’s important to have diverse hiring teams. And the hiring process itself can be revealing as well. For example, does your hiring team include women and people of color? Does your hiring team take cultural or socioeconomic factors into account (e.g., do they understand that some job seekers don’t own a car or live in a space conducive to virtual interviews)?

If the clues don’t add up to a genuine effort to help people from underrepresented groups, candidates from those groups may sense it. They may feel like the company is only interested in them as a token.

Why employee referrals can be particularly problematic

Then there’s the inherent inequity and inefficiency of referral programs. Not only do employee referral programs tend to favor referred candidates, they also tend to perpetuate whatever lack of diversity already exists.

As a whole, referral programs can exclude large swaths of qualified job seekers who don’t know anyone at the company. If a job seeker gets a referral before the job posting goes live, they may get an offer before anyone else has even seen the job post.

Also, when an employee refers someone, the hiring team may favor that candidate without even realizing it. Actually, this is more common than you may realize.

In a recent analysis of jobs data from 10,000 U.S.-based employers, our science team found a number of recruiting trends. One of these trends was a heavy bias towards applicants from referrals.

These applicants are, on average, 9 times more likely to get an offer than applicants from inbound recruiting efforts. Which is eye-opening, given that inbound recruiting channels bring in the majority of applicants.

In fact, over 80% of all applicants come from inbound recruiting channels like company career pages, Ind