Recruiting on Parlel starts from a structural advantage: every profile is published deliberately, carries structured work history and skills, and is readable without a login -- by you and by your tooling. No InMail credits, no connection request before you can read a profile. Here is how to source well.
1. Translate the req into skills, not titles
Titles are employer-specific fiction; skills travel. "Senior Backend Engineer, 5+ years" becomes a skill set: the languages, the infrastructure, the domain. Search those on the people directory -- our skill search guide covers how to pick terms people actually list -- and treat titles as a second pass over the results, not the query.
2. Filter by availability first
The "open to work" signal is the highest-value filter for sourcing. A smaller pool of people who want to move beats a large pool of people who do not, and every conversation starts warmer. Only widen to the full directory when the skill pool is genuinely thin.
3. Screen on the profile, verify off it
A Parlel profile gives you work history, education, bio and skills. Screen for specificity: quantified outcomes and named systems beat adjective soup. Then verify:
- Verified employer badges (e.g. "verified: @company.com") confirm the person holds that work address.
- The company itself: is it a published, verified company? Cross-check the company directory.
- Posts: many profiles carry public posts that show how the person thinks. Reading two posts tells you more than a keyword match.
4. Reach out with the profile in hand
Because you can read the whole profile before contact, generic outreach is unforgivable here. Reference one specific thing -- a project, a post, a skill combination -- and state the role, location posture and why them in under 150 words. Sourcing from Parlel and pasting LinkedIn templates will underperform the channel.
5. Close the loop with a public role
Candidates take you more seriously when the role is real and readable. Publish the open role on your verified company page and link it in your outreach -- a candidate who can read the JobPosting, the company and your profile before replying converts far better than one asked to take a call blind.
Sourcing at machine scale
If you run an agency or an in-house sourcing function, two force multipliers:
- Watch agents that monitor the directory for new profiles matching your skill set and email you the moment one publishes. Sourcing becomes something that runs while you sleep.
- The MCP API (
search_people,get_person) to pipe profile discovery into your ATS or screening workflow.
And if you are on the other side of the table, the job seeker's guide explains what candidates see.