Candidate Sourcing Checklist for HRs

This Candidate Sourcing Checklist is for HR teams, hiring managers and recruiters who need a practical, repeatable process to identify and attract suitable candidates. Use it to organise sourcing tasks, reduce compliance and operational risk and improve consistency across recruitment activities.

The checklist includes:

Planning and preparation

• Define the role purpose, core responsibilities and essential skills
• Agree mandatory and desirable criteria with the hiring manager
• Confirm budget, salary range and approval authorisation
• Set clear timelines and target dates for each hiring stage
• Establish measures of success and sourcing KPIs

Compliance and policy

• Verify right to work requirements and documentation needs
• Apply equality, diversity and inclusion checks to job adverts
• Confirm background and security checks required for the role
• Ensure candidate privacy notices and consent are in place
• Follow data retention rules for applicant records

Sourcing channels and outreach

• Map priority sourcing channels for the role and audience
• Prepare a concise, consistent job brief and person specification
• Publish vacancy to authorised channels and partner contacts
• Use targeted outreach for passive candidates where appropriate
• Track channel performance and candidate source for reporting

Candidate engagement and screening

• Acknowledge applications within the agreed timescale
• Screen applicants against essential criteria and shortlist
• Use structured questions to ensure consistent assessments
• Schedule interviews and confirm panel roles and availability
• Obtain candidate consent before proceeding with checks or references

Documentation and records

• Record screening decisions and reasons for shortlisting
• Store CVs, interview notes and consent records securely
• Log candidate communications and key decision dates
• Maintain an auditable trail to support compliance reviews
• Update the talent pipeline for future opportunities

Review and follow up

• Provide timely feedback to candidates after each stage
• Review sourcing outcomes against KPIs and cost expectations
• Identify gaps in channels or job specification and revise
• Close the vacancy formally and confirm hire or rejection
• Capture lessons learned to improve future sourcing activity