Dear Recruiter...

Getting candidates to self-qualify before they hit “apply” is the dream. With the recent surge in applications, making that dream a reality is more important than ever.

Candidates need a clear picture—of the role, the culture, and the hiring manager—to know if you’re right for them (and if they’re right for you).

And it’s employer branding that paints that picture for them.

So, we sponsored The Launch Collective 's Employer Branding webinar, featuring Hannah Heath of Drata, Evan Atkinson of Red Panda, and Megan Batterbury from incident.io.

All the speakers had great insights, but Evan’s point really stood out: Employer branding has to come from inside your organization—not be something you impose.

Your hires—the people inside your organization—know what’s worth shouting about. So ask them:

• What do you love about working here?
• What attracted you here in the first place?
• And what’s the best-kept secret that we should be yelling from the rooftops?

?? Data Point: Applicants per hire by channel—sourced

Data and insights direct from the Pinpoint team at RecruitmentTrends

This week I’m digging into manually sourced applicants per hire.

The latest RecruitmentTrends data confirms what we suspected: last year’s growing economic optimism took a turn for the worse, making top talent nervous about making any big moves. (a.k.a. sourcing got tougher)

But here’s the twist—attrition is set to rise in 2025 in the UK?and the US. This means more roles to fill, yes. It also means sourcing might be the best channel to fill them, as more candidates enter the market.

Employer branding can help here, giving top talent the confidence that you’re a safe ship to jump to; and giving you the tools you need to convince them it’s a leap worth making.

??? How to improve sourcing efficiency - Purpl Webinar

Practical tips to help you automate lists, improve precision, and get more efficient

Sourcing is an undeniable time-suck. So, I’m sharing Purpl’s recent webinar, packed with practical sourcing efficiency hacks:

• Automating research, led by Mina Golesorkhi tells you how to use tools to build lists that deliver candidates with the right track record.

Top tip: Start by nailing the details of the company profile you want in a candidate’s work history.

• Precision sourcing, led by our own Mike Bradshaw , walks through actionable sourcing strategies that emphasize speed, efficiency, and candidate experience.

Top tip: Set alerts for career trigger moments so you reach candidates when they’re most open to new opportunities.

• Productivity and time management from Matthew Mercer-Elgenia , describes building a structured sourcing process and creating reusable sourcing assets.

Top tip: Google Programmable Search Engines (PSEs) save time by allowing you to define the sites you want to search and sets of synonyms for key terms.

?? The Pinboard

What's new in recruitment?

• ?? Want to hear about River Island’s hiring revolution? Join myInterview tomorrow (26 Feb) at 15:00 GMT/10:00 ET/07:00 PT for their webinar: From hiring bottlenecks to AI-powered efficiency.
• ???TA strategy, talent functions, and pipeline building—straight from a top TA leader. Edward Segond von Banchet shares his approach in this episode of Tea Time with Talent Acquisition.
• ??Great take from Adriano Herdman—he flips the Talent Acquisition funnel on its head. Before you start sourcing, nail down who you’re looking for—and why they’d want to join.

?? Employer Branding Strategy Template

From the Pinpoint team and our customers

After The Launch Collective’s webinar, we shared our employer branding template—and I wanted to share it with you too.

Giving you a step-by-step process for developing your strategy and helping you bring it to life, this template is a great way to get your brand refresh off the ground.

Get your copy of the template here.

Finally, here are some photos from the Stress Less, Lead More - Mindfulness Workshop event we co-hosted with Workology in Austin, Texas last week.

Word is, everyone had a great, calming session—vital for TA leaders caring for teams and candidates. Plus, I learned the infamous Pinpoint tote even looks good on yoga mats!

Have thoughts or questions? Reach out at?[email protected]—we’d love to hear from you.

All the best,

Tom Hacquoil

Pinpoint CEO