SourceCon Community,

Okay, here is something every Sourcer should know and if you don't then pretend that you do. The internet can be divided into 3 parts: surface web, deep web, and dark web. The surface web is the online stuff indexed by search engines like Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo. Some people say this accounts for 5% or even 4%. The deep web is where the majority of the internet resides, 96% by some estimates. That's the part of the internet not indexed by standard search engines such as medical records, subscription services, cloud storage and dynamically generated webpages. And then there is a tiny 0.01% of the web where the dark web resides. It is intentionally hidden due to all the illicit activities that go on there. (Danger Will Robinson! Stay away.) But I digress. 

There are a lot of sourcing AI tools out there and I am happy to see them. But they all have one inescapable flaw, they gather their intel from the surface web, the smallest part of the internet. Why? Surface web data is publicly available and the overall majority of the web is not. This means that if you want to find talent your competitors are overlooking, one surefire way is to research the deep web. One way of doing that on the cheap, is to get a library card. 

As luck would have it, I possess one. ;-) 

So, this is what it looks like when I log into the library. I noticed at the top, a search bar. I searched for the term "cybersecurity."

As expected, there were several books in the results. What caught my eye though was the "Refine Results" section because I noticed that there was an "Emagazine." section. 

I clicked my way to what looks like a scanned PDF of an actual magazine, full of how-to hack tutorials.  

One of the article writers is Christopher Patrick Hawkins, a lecturer at the University of Staffordshir. Not only is he an expert on cybersecurity, he used to be a cop. This is a super-qualified candidate any company would love to interview. (Oh, the stories he could probably tell!) Funny thing is, when I searched for cybersecurity expert police he did not appear in the first 10 pages of results. See how easy it is to overlook stellar talent? 

As I continued to explore the power of my library card, a chatbot appeared and asked if it could be of assistance. I thought, "Hmm... yeah, why not?" but more on that in a future newsletter. 

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So, what do you think of this approach? Hit reply and let me know or (better yet) post your response on social media, tag @SourceCon and I may respond to it in an upcoming newsletter. Operators are standing by. 

Jim Stroud
Your SourceCon Editor
[email protected]

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Inbound job applications have seen a significant increase, driven by factors such as the continued access to remote work, a more competitive global talent pool, fewer job openings per available candidate, and improved job search and application technology. This influx presents a new challenge for recruiting and hiring teams, who must sift through large volumes of candidates, many of whom may not be a perfect match for the role. Based on recent research from the ERE CandE Benchmark Research Program and Gem, we’ll learn how companies like Pendo.io are improving how they handle inbound applications and how they enhance recruitment outcomes while maintaining a positive candidate experience.

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