Candidate sourcing tools are crucial in a world where about 90% of hiring managers face difficulty sourcing skilled candidates. With these tools in your stack, you can leverage the untapped candidate pools and find unique talents for your clients. 

Wonder which tool is right for your business? We’ve compiled a list of 18 best candidate sourcing tools that can transform your sourcing strategy for the better. 

What is a candidate sourcing tool?

Candidate sourcing tools are specialized software applications that help recruiters identify and attract potential candidates for future or current job openings. They’re also used to build a talent pool to quickly draw candidates from when there’s an opening. 

How do candidate sourcing tools work?

Traditionally, candidate sourcing used to be a tiresome process where recruiters would spend days sifting through resumes to find suitable candidates for a role. However, AI-powered candidate sourcing has totally changed the game now. 

Recruiters can now scour a sourcing tool to search for candidates based on different criteria:

• Specific technical skills
• Current or past roles
• Companies they work for (especially competitors)
• General or specialist qualifications
• Experience with particular software or projects

All you have to do is enter the specific search term and use boolean operators to narrow down the requirements. 

Not just that, advanced AI models have surpassed this basic keyword-matching and evolved to a context-matching search. They can also grasp the meaning behind the information in resumes and job descriptions. For example, when searching for a “python developer”, AI will also consider profiles with related technologies with or without the keyword “python” to ensure you don’t miss out on great talent.

Ideally, you integrate a candidate sourcing tool into your applicant tracking software for a seamless workflow. This is how the workflow typically looks like:

• When you identify a potential candidate through a sourcing tool, it gets automatically transferred to your ATS.
• The ATS tags and categorizes the sourced data based on skills, experience, location, or source.
• When a candidate’s status changes within the ATS (e.g., interviewed, hired, rejected), the sourcing tool can be notified of these updates. This way, the sourcing tool doesn’t recommend candidates you’ve previously assessed. 
• This integration allows you to generate reports to understand the effectiveness of your sourcing strategy. 

Top candidate sourcing tools for recruiters

Candidate sourcing tools come in various types depending on how you’d like to source candidates. The choice depends on the kind of roles you typically recruit for, or whether it’s an immediate requirement or a long-term planning initiative. 

Here are the different types of sourcing tools you get:

• Resume databases: These platforms extract candidates’ details from multiple sources. These sources are where candidates submit their resumes and create profiles as part of their job search or to be visible to potential employers. 
• Job sites: This is where recruiters publish their job requirements and candidates apply to them. 
• Social media and networking platforms: These are good places to target passive candidates who may be great fits for future roles in your client’s organization. 
• Portfolio platforms: This is where candidates (ideally from a creative industry) display their work samples online in anticipation of getting leads for new projects. 

Let’s look at sourcing tools from all these categories one by one.

Resume databases for sourcing candidates

The ideal way to use resume databases in your recruitment process is to integrate them within your ATS. That way, you don’t have to switch between screens in between tasks. 

Here are our top recommendations:

1. SignalHire: Find verified candidate emails

SignalHire fetches emails of up to 10000 potential candidates at a time, which helps in fast-tracking your recruiting process. Its powerful search filters allow you to find emails by using a person’s name, job title, or location. 

Key features:

• Verifies emails via a 3rd party tool before displaying them
• Free extension to quickly get candidate information from a website

Pros

• Delivers accurate information in most cases
• Integrates with an ATS like Recruiterflow

Cons

• The pricing is on the expensive side
• Customer service could be better

Pricing: Starts from $0

Rating: 4.4 stars out of 5

2. HireEZ: AI sourcing tool

HireEZ gathers candidate profiles from a wide range of sources on the Open Web, including social and career sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Indeed. It helps you fully leverage a candidate’s presence across various platforms and touchpoints.

Its AI-enabled search features allow you to discover 7x more qualified candidates faster. 

Key features:

• Advanced AI Sourcing to discover hard-to-find profiles
• Informs your diversity hiring decisions with real-time data

Pros

• Easy to use and navigate
• Offers integration into an ATS like Recruiterflow

Cons

• Candidate contact details aren’t always accurate
• Some profiles only show phone numbers or email IDs

Pricing: Custom

G2 rating: 4.6 stars out of 5

3. Betterleap: For outbound recruiting

Betterleap has a sourcing extension that helps you add potential candidates from LinkedIn to Betterleap. It automatically extracts email addresses from these profiles and connects well with your ATS.

Key features:

• Easy collaboration with the team and clients
• Centralize all your conversations into one chat

Pros

• Responsive customer service
• Easy integration with Recruiterflow

Cons

• AI-driven candidate suggestions aren’t always accurate

Pricing: Custom

G2 rating: 4.8 stars out of 5

4. Seekout: AI-powered talent search engine

Seekout sources candidates from its dedicated talent pools built from 800M+ public profiles of candidates. You can filter your search by specific requirements such as technical expertise, medical licenses, etc, and match candidates based on your requirements.

Key features:

• AI matching automatically compiles and shares a list of candidates that match your requirements
• The system learns and adapts to provide more accurate results based on candidates you accept or reject
• Talent acquisition, talent management, and talent analytics are all in one place

Pros

• It easily integrates with Recruiterflow
• The advanced search features are spot-on

Cons

• Data can be a bit out of date as the platform is based on candidates’ public profiles
• Sometimes the data is not accurate with respect to LinkedIn

Pricing: Custom

G2 rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Also, check – 25 Best Talent Assessment Tools for Recruiters

5. Interseller: Find candidate emails quickly

Interseller makes candidate sourcing easy by allowing recruiters to find contacts’ work and personal emails using their Chrome extension. Its algorithms and APIs are designed to find candidate emails with just their names and websites and verify those emails. 

Key features:

• Easy importing and exporting of contact list
• Allows you to synchronize all your candidate communication in one place

Pros

• Integrates with ATS like Recruiterflow
• Easy to set up and amazing onboarding process

Cons

• It only allows you to sync contacts in your recruiting CRM once
• It lacks an email-warming feature

Pricing: Custom

G2 rating: 4.7 stars out of 5

Job sites for sourcing candidates

Job sites are a critical part of any recruiting process. For optimizing your recruiting process, it’s best to integrate job boards into your ATS, so you have all your candidate information streamlined. 

Here are some popular job sites you can use to source candidates for a new role:

6. Indeed: A free candidate sourcing tool

Indeed is a free job search tool that allows recruiters to post their job requirements and find their match. The process is pretty simple—candidates create their profiles on the platform, you publish your job post to which candidates apply or you reach out to candidates encouraging them to apply. 

You can also choose to sponsor your job post by paying only for candidates who meet your requirements. 

Key features:

• You can view and sort candidate profiles easily
• Sponsor job feature increases your visibility
• You can Add screener questions and assessments to the job description

Pros

• Neat home page display, which makes it easy to navigate and find things
• It has a wide reach
• Integrates with Recruiterflow

Cons

• It sometimes shows irrelevant candidate matches
• Sponsoring a job can be expensive without proper knowledge

Pricing: Starts from $0

G2 rating: 4.3 stars out of 5

7. ZipRecruiter: Send your job to 100+ job sites

ZipRecruiter is another free sourcing tool that allows you to post your job requirements and reach top talents. You can also manage candidates and rate them within the platform and even invite top candidates to apply. 

Key features:

• Powerful matching technology that scans thousands of resumes to find your ideal matches
• Easy-to-use dashboard to sort, review, and rate candidates
• You can add screening questions to your job posts

Pros

• It’s easy to navigate and user-friendly
• It integrates with an ATS like Recruiterflow

Cons

• It could use a smart AI pre-screening functionality

Pricing: Starts from $0

G2 rating: 4.8 stars out of 5

8. Dice: For recruiting tech candidates

Dice is the platform where millions of tech candidates are searching for new roles. It has a community of about 6.7 million members that you can leverage and get visible to whenever you have a requirement. 

Key features:

• Tech-focused AI that matches your open roles with the most relevant candidates
• Connect with in-demand tech candidates

Pros

• Houses top-quality tech candidates 
• Easily integrates with an ATS like Recruiterflow

Cons

• Cost is on the higher end
• It needs to do something about duplicate profiles

Pricing: Custom

G2 rating: 4.3 stars out of 5

9. CV Library: UK’s largest job board

CV Library has a database of over 19 million CVs in the UK and is suitable for businesses of all sizes. You have the option to advertise a job or search from their CV database to pick potential candidates for a role. 

Key features:

• Sources jobs from 800+ UK job sites
• You can create and save your candidate searches
• View unlimited CVs

Pros

• Excellent customer service
• Easy integration with Recruiterflow

Cons

• Users reported problems with accessing their database by changing their IP address
• It can be a bit expensive for small businesses

Pricing: Starts from £75 for 28 days

Rating: 4.9 stars out of 5

10. Reed: Manage recruitment on the go

Reed is another UK-based job site with a database of about 26 million active candidates. It’s mainly used by small and medium businesses looking to get their job ads visible to a large set of candidates. 

Key features:

• Dedicated mobile app to manage recruitment on the go
• Directly delivers the application to your inbox

Pros

• It’s easy to use and keep you updated
• It easily integrates with an ATS like Recruiterflow

Cons

• It can sometimes be slow to respond

Pricing: Starts from £89

Rating: 4.3 stars out of 5

Social media and networking-based sourcing tools

These tools not only offer access to a vast pool of potential candidates but also provide unique opportunities for engagement and relationship-building.

Here are some of the best sourcing tools out there:

11. LinkedIn: A top choice for both recruiters and candidates

LinkedIn is always in the picture whenever the word “recruiting” is tossed around and there’s a reason for that! About 75% of candidates who recently changed jobs have used LinkedIn to inform their decisions. 

That’s because not only can you post jobs on LinkedIn and connect with candidates, but you can also build a strong brand and attract candidates. Plus, you get exclusive recruiting tools from LinkedIn that help you systematically source candidates from their database. 

To make your LinkedIn sourcing efforts more convenient, Recruiterflow offers a Chrome extension that allows you to source candidates from the platform directly to Recruiterflow. 

Key features:

Pros

• Access to a Large Talent Pool and advanced search filters
• It’s great for recruiting for niche roles

Cons

• The cost for recruitment and job posting services went up by 50% this year without any increase in service
• The interface could use a bit of upgrade especially when recruiting multiple candidates

Pricing: Starts from $170 per month

G2 rating: 4.5 stars (Job search platform) and 4.4 (LinkedIn Recruiter) out of 5

12. X: Keeps you updated about the industry you’re recruiting for

X (previously Twitter) makes it easy to search for candidates using hashtags and advanced search functionality. 

You can narrow down your search by entering multiple criteria such as location, keywords, or language and find passive candidates to engage with. 

Key features:

• Filter your search by tweets, accounts, or media
• Track tweets from specific candidates and stay on their radar

Pros

• It’s easier to connect with your potential candidates
• It allows you to stay up to date with the latest industry news

Cons

• Users found premium subscriptions to be too costly
• You cannot edit job tweets once they’re posted

Pricing: Starts from $0

G2 rating: 4.3 stars out of 5

13. Wellfound: A community of startup-ready candidates

Wellfound is a great networking site for finding talents around the world, especially for startups. 

While the free version allows you to set up job posts with your agency’s branding, you have much more to explore with their RecruiterCloud. It integrates into your team & tools to fetch you enriched candidate profiles using AI-powered search. 

Key features:

• A database of 10M+ candidates
• Automates your entire sourcing process

Pros

• It’s easy to set up and use
• Excellent customer support

Cons

• Doesn’t allow the prioritization of jobs
• Tracking conversions is difficult

Pricing: Starts from $0

G2 rating: 4.4 stars out of 5

14. Reddit: A community platform filled with passive candidates

Reddit is where most of your passive candidates are probably hanging out. You’d find them engaging, solving problems, answering questions, and forming opinions. To break into the world of Redditors, you need to start engaging with the community, and then start posting job requirements to attract the right kinds of candidates. 

Key features:

• Use Reddit boolean strings to search candidates
• Reddit communities for every industry and role

Pros

• You can directly get in touch with high-quality candidates
• The approach is more personalized than most platforms

Cons

• It’s time-consuming to source candidates from Reddit
• You may find yourself down the community-search rabbit hole

Pricing: Free 

G2 rating: 4.2 stars out of 5 (Reddit for Business)

15. GitHub: A tight-knit community of tech candidates

GitHub is where developers showcase their work and collaborate on projects. You get a large pool of tech talent that’s constantly learning and growing with the latest tech trends. 

Key features:

• You can use boolean operators to perform a targeted search
• You can filter your search results by location, programming language, and skills

Pros

• Clearly showcases reviews your potential candidates have gotten from their peers or collaborators
• The community support is really good

Cons

• The GitHub Pro plan can be a bit costly for teams 
• It’s not very beginner-friendly

Pricing: Starts at $0

G2 rating: 4.7 stars out of 5

Portfolio platforms for sourcing candidates

Portfolio platforms are where candidates showcase their skills, projects, and achievements in a visually compelling and comprehensive manner. Here are the best ones we found:

16. Behance: A haven for recruiting creative talent

When you land on Behance’s website, you’ll see thousands of creative professionals showcasing their designs on the platform. When a design catches your eye, you can check out the creator’s profile and see the kind of work they’re open to accepting—full-time or freelance. You can even follow them and send a text message to initiate the conversation and generate interest for a role. 

Key features:

• Dedicated hire page to source candidates who are open to new roles
• Filters to narrow down your search

Pros

• You can see all kinds of media in candidate portfolios, which helps with better decision-making
• Provides a lot of integrations with other tools

Cons

• Notifications could be better set
• The paid plans are on the higher-end

Pricing: Custom

G2 rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

17. Carbonmade: A vast database of candidate portfolios

Carbonmade is another portfolio website that showcases candidate profiles from around the globe. You can literally find potential candidates for any creative field and industry you want to recruit for, such as copywriting, design, illustration, modeling, and so on.

Key features:

• Offers a huge variety of portfolios
• Features top portfolios

Pros

• Shows professional portfolios with proper branding
• Simple to use

Cons

• Could offer a Freemium pricing model
• Subscription is a bit pricey

Pricing: Custom

G2 rating: 4.2 stars out of 5

18. Muck Rack: A platform to source journalists

Muck Rack is where you’ll find journalists showcasing their writing portfolios. But the best part is, that they don’t even have to manage their profiles and keep them updated—the platform itself automatically collects their bylines from the internet and updates them. 

Key features:

• See all of a candidate’s latest posts from different publications
• Get all the information about your potential candidates in one place

Pros

• They have a really large database of reporters and journalists
• Their support team is quite responsive

Cons

• You cannot search candidates based on demographics
• Their pricing is steep

Pricing: Custom

G2 rating: 4.6 stars out of 5

Ready to source top talents for your clients?

Candidate sourcing is a critical step of the recruiting process. The higher the quality of the candidate you source, the easier it gets to recruit the perfect match for a role. And a candidate sourcing tool helps you get to the best matches faster!

So, take time to consider the listed sourcing tools, take free trials of the ones that entice you and pick a tool that matches your best interests. With an ATS like Recruiterflow, it becomes easier to integrate these tools into your existing recruiting processes and make their best use. 

The best part? Most of these listed sourcing tools integrate well with Recruiterflow either via native or API integrations. 

Try Recruiterflow for free today!