Sourcing Guru Interview: Jonathan Kidder

Jonathan Kidder, the founder of WizardSourcer blog, author of Linkedin Revealed, and a dedicated sourcing professional answered the questions of our interview.

You define yourself as a mentor, speaker, and author. Speaking about career aspirations, as a kid, what did you want to be?

I was really interested in designing robots. There was a show on television called BattleBots where teams would design robots and have them compete against each other. I loved using legos to design robots and automating them to doing certain tasks. I really enjoyed learning about technology and feel that it encouraged me to become a Talent Sourcer focused on the Information Technology field.

How did you start recruiting? Why are you still there?

I graduated from college with a degree in business marketing and got a job at Allegis Global Solutions, a local staffing company where I started in the recruitment marketing department. I was assigned to support their Best Buy RPO account with social media recruiting. I fell in love with using marketing to attract and retain employees. I was promoted to a Talent Sourcing role after that RPO contract ended. I really enjoyed learning about Boolean searching and soon discovered a community of other Sourcers called SourceCon. It was an eye-opening moment for me. I feel like going into a sourcing role was challenging but also very rewarding at the same time. I’ve been doing sourcing roles ever since.

You have an unusual nickname WizardSourcer (perfect for our blog section;)). How did the idea come about? What is behind this nickname?

I worked at a local recruiting agency and my manager started referring to me as the Wizard. I stuck ever since that. I started looking for domain names and I remembered that nickname and thankfully it was available.

Tell us about wizardsourcer.com? What is the mission/main goal behind it?

At the core of it – it’s basically a talent sourcing blog. I try my best to highlight the newest recruiting and sourcing technologies in our industry. There have been a lot of changes and it’s hard to keep up. I try to make it fun to stay up to date on the latest. I do offer talent sourcing services, mainly supporting independent recruiters. Maybe they don’t have the extra resources to hire a full-time sourcer or coordinator, and I’m able to fill that gap by supporting them with candidate leads, Boolean training, and recruitment marketing projects. I can support almost any small recruiting team with projects on a freelancing basis within the U.S.

You were ranked in the top 10 Sourcers in the world by SourceCon in 2014. Where do you get ideas from? Who the thought leaders in your sphere you are following yourself?

I was ranked on SourceCon‘s forum site for being a top sourcing leader in 2014. That site was taken down a few years back. All my thought-leaders have been recruiters/sourcers that I have worked directly with. I’ve been fortunate to have a few strong mentors in my career. These people don’t speak at conferences and some don’t even have a presence on Facebook or other social media. The point is to try to find Sourcers at your local level who can show you the ropes. Taking training courses and attending conferences can only take you so far. It’s all about finding someone local at your level who understands the industry/area that you are working in.

What is your sourcing superpower? What are your favorite sourcing tools/hacks?

AmazingHiring is a great tool. I was given a 2-week pass to play around with it. I actually found an applicant and they gave him the offer. It’s all about finding small wins like that one. If a tool works for you then use it! It’s never about one tool that works magic for everything.

Tell us about “LinkedIn Revealed” in 3 sentences? What motivated you to write this book? For whom is it?

I got inspired to write a book about LinkedIn for the average user. People don’t really fully understand how powerful it can be. Basically, the book is about optimizing your summary and experience sections. I also gave tips on how to network and approach other recruiters for jobs. Since being published it’s been downloaded over 60 thousand times. I’m really proud that I was able to help others find career opportunities in LinkedIn. It’s a fantastic resource if used correctly.

What makes a person a great Talent Sourcer?

A good listener, someone who is open to learning on the fly, someone who can handle winning but also losing without getting too discouraged, and someone who loves solving problems.

If you have some, what do you prefer to do? What are your hobbies?

I recently purchased a 1977 VW camper van. I’ve been slowly restoring it in my free time. It’s been fun learning about fixing it up. It’s really challenging but I’m up for it. My wife and I also have a small dog-sitting business in our home. We usually have several dogs running around my property, which is a blast.