How To Become A Sourcer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a sourcer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Sourcers, sometimes called hunters, act as the primary point of contact for incoming candidates. They work with the company's recruiters to understand their recruitment needs. They develop and implement sourcing strategies to identify the best candidates using job boards, LinkedIn, and advanced sourcing techniques. Likewise, they identify great candidates for companies and help the candidates grow professionally. This is because they have to know the recruiting needs, the work style, and candidate preferences of their employers. Additionally, they prepare candidate's submittal reports.

Employers seek applicants with at least a bachelor's degree in human resources management, organizational development, business administration, or a related field. Applicants must possess analytical, communication, customer service, organization, and time management skills. You must also possess at least a year of relevant experience and be proficient in Microsoft Office and applicant tracking systems (ATS). Sourcers earn an average gross salary of $61,676 annually. This varies between $35,000 and $109,000.

ScoreSourcerUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $65,637

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.61%

Asian 7.62%

Black or African American 9.17%

Hispanic or Latino 19.11%

Unknown 5.11%

White 58.36%

Gender

female 65.16%

male 34.84%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a sourcer

Explore sourcer education requirements

Most common sourcer degrees

Bachelor's

77.0 %

Associate

10.3 %

Master's

6.3 %

Start to develop specific sourcer skills

Skills	Percentages
Applicant Tracking Systems	14.12%
HR	13.66%
CRM	10.21%
Source Candidates	7.03%
Facebook	6.79%

Complete relevant sourcer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New sourcers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a sourcer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real sourcer resumes.

Research sourcer duties and responsibilities

Participate in Lawson HRIS user implementation and staffing procedural strategies that manage candidate process.
Sourced/Recruit software engineer at various levels with background with cloud computing, machine learning.
Update and maintain database and CRM.
Post positions to external boards through ATS.

Prepare your sourcer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your sourcer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a sourcer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable sourcer resume templates

Build a professional sourcer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your sourcer resume.