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name: sourcing-strategy description: "Build a talent sourcing strategy for a hard-to-fill role. Use when asked to create a sourcing strategy, a candidate sourcing plan, a channel plan for hiring, or to figure out where to find candidates for a role. Produces a strategy — the ideal-candidate profile and where they are, prioritised sourcing channels, outreach approach, a pipeline target with funnel math, and a weekly plan — so sourcing is deliberate, not just posting and praying."

Sourcing Strategy Skill

Hard roles aren't filled by posting a job and waiting — they're filled by knowing who you need, where they are, and how to reach enough of them to fill the funnel. This skill builds that plan: the target profile, the channels ranked by where the talent actually concentrates, and the pipeline math so you know how many to source to make one hire.

Working from a brief

Given "we can't fill our staff ML engineer role", build the strategy anyway — infer the candidate profile, where they cluster, and a realistic funnel, labelling assumptions. Use funnel ratios with a worked example rather than inventing exact numbers. Never withhold for missing detail.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided (else infer and label):

• The role — what it is, the must-have skills, level, and what's hard about filling it.
• Constraints — location/remote, comp band, timeline, and any visa/relocation limits.
• Selling points — why a strong candidate would want it (and any known weaknesses to counter).
• What's been tried — current pipeline, channels used, and where it's stalling.

Output Format

Sourcing Strategy: [role]

1. Ideal candidate profile — the realistic must-haves vs. nice-to-haves, the adjacent profiles worth considering (to widen the pool), and the signals that identify a strong fit.

2. Where they are — where this talent concentrates: companies to source from (and avoid), communities, platforms, events, and content they engage with.

3. Channel plan — sourcing channels ranked by likely yield for this role:

Channel	Why it fits	Effort	Approach
Direct sourcing (LinkedIn/GitHub)	…	high	boolean + personalized outreach
Referrals	…	low	targeted ask to the team
Communities / events	…	med	…
Job posts / inbound	…	low	only part of the mix

4. Outreach approach — the message angle and cadence (pairs with recruiter-outreach and boolean-search-builder).

5. Pipeline target & funnel — how many to source to make the hire: a funnel with ratios + a worked example (e.g. sourced → replied → screened → onsite → offer → hire), so weekly activity is sized to the goal.

6. Weekly plan — the concrete cadence (X sourced, Y outreach, Z screens per week) and how you'll track it.

Quality Checks

• Starts from a clear candidate profile, including adjacent profiles to widen the pool
• Names specific places the talent actually concentrates — not just "LinkedIn"
• Channels are prioritised by likely yield for this role, with effort noted
• Pipeline is sized with funnel ratios + a worked example, not invented totals
• There's a concrete weekly activity plan tied to the hire target
• Selling points and objections are addressed; criteria stay job-related

Anti-Patterns

• Do not rely on a job post and inbound for a hard role — lead with proactive sourcing
• Do not define the profile so narrowly that no one qualifies — include adjacent talent
• Do not invent exact funnel numbers — use ratios and a worked example
• Do not list channels without prioritisation — say where to spend effort first
• Do not skip the weekly cadence — strategy without activity targets doesn't fill the role

Based On

Talent-sourcing strategy practice — profile-first sourcing, channel prioritisation by talent concentration, funnel/pipeline math, and a measurable weekly cadence.

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Create a sourcing strategy for this role."
• "Where do we find candidates for this?"
• "Build a candidate sourcing plan."
• "Plan our hiring channels for a hard-to-fill role."