Getting started with Gorilla Sourcing

The basics of running your first search, reviewing ranked candidates, and sending your first invite, in under 5 minutes.

Run your first search, see ranked candidates with the reasons behind each match, and contact the ones worth a conversation. This article is for any TestGorilla account user. Users on all plans can search and save candidates; you'll need a plan with Sourcing seats to contact them.

Approx. read time: 5 minutes

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In this article

1. What is Gorilla Sourcing?
2. Running your first search
3. Reviewing and saving candidates
4. Contacting candidates
5. Who can do what
6. Common questions

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What is Gorilla Sourcing?

Gorilla Sourcing helps you find candidates who match a role, ranked and explained, without waiting for them to apply. For the full picture, see What is Gorilla Sourcing?

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Running your first search

1. Start your search
   a. For a search for a new job, start on the Home screen and click “Source candidates”

OR
b. start on the Jobs screen, and click on New job and select “Source candidates”

c. For a search for an existing job, start on the Jobs screen and click “Source talent”

2. Tell us who you are looking for. Type a job title, paste the job description, or describe the person in your own words. For example: "Senior product designer for a fintech. Led a team of three. Based in New York."
3. Check the search. We turn your brief into search criteria, such as job title, seniority, skills and location, including criteria you implied but didn't spell out. You can add your own requirements in plain words too, like "has worked in a marketplace". You decide what counts:
   1. Must haves - Candidates who don't match are filtered out.
   2. Nice to haves - Candidates matching the criteria are ranked higher, but candidates without it can still appear.

Setting up a talent search in Gorilla Sourcing with suggested criteria

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Reviewing candidates

Your results come back ranked, strongest match first, with the evidence behind each ranking, not just a name and a photo. All the candidates that you see, meet your must have criteria. For each of your nice to have criteria, you'll see whether the candidate matches or doesn't, along with the evidence from their profile.

• Candidate card: job role, recent experience, and (for skills-tested candidates) their skill score, all in one place.
• Skills tested tab: narrows the list to only candidates who've already sat a TestGorilla assessment.
• Table view: candidates as rows, your criteria as columns, for comparing several at a glance.

If you're on the Free plan, you'll see up to 20 results per search.

Reading the thumbs

Every candidate card shows how that person's profile lines up with your criteria, one criterion at a time. You can see why someone is on your list at a glance, and explain it to your hiring manager.

Icon	What it means
Green thumbs up	Match. The profile meets this criterion.
Red thumbs down	No match. The profile doesn't meet this criterion.
Neutral	Partial match or no evidence found. The profile partially shows evidence of this criterion. Or profile does not have evidence about this criterion.

Classic view:

Table view:

Saving candidates

Save anyone worth a second look. Saving is free, doesn't use an invite, and doesn't reveal the candidate's contact details. To do that, you'll need to contact them.

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Contacting candidates

Contacting a candidate uses one invite. You can customize the subject line and message. Once you've reached out:

• The candidate moves to your Contacted list for that search.
• You can copy their email address from their candidate card.
• If they've uploaded a resume, you can download it.
• Assessments aren't bundled into your message automatically. You can choose to attach one when you send it, or wait: once the candidate replies, inviting them to an assessment is one click away from their candidate profile.

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Who can do what

Gorilla Sourcing is available on every plan. What you can do depends on your plan and role.

By plan

Plan	Search	View candidate results	Save	Contact candidates
Free	Up to 3 searches in total	Up to 20 candidates per search	Yes	No
Core and Plus	Unlimited	Unlimited	Yes	Yes, with a Sourcing seat

By role

Role	Search	View candidate results	Save	Contact candidates
Owner	Yes, with a Sourcing seat	Yes	Yes	Yes, with a Sourcing seat
Admin	Yes, with a Sourcing seat	Yes	Yes	Yes, with a Sourcing seat
Recruiter	Yes, with a Sourcing seat	Yes	Yes	Yes, with a Sourcing seat
Hiring Manager	No	Yes	Yes	No

Before anyone contacts a candidate, an Owner or Admin needs to:

1. Assign a Sourcing seat to that person in Team Management.
2. Connect your account's mailbox in Integrations. Emails are sent from it.

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Common questions

Will candidates still have to take an assessment? That's up to you. You can attach an assessment to your message when you send it, or wait: once a candidate replies, inviting them to an assessment is one click away from their candidate profile.

How will candidates reach out to me?
Your message is sent from your connected mailbox, so candidates reply to you directly. Replies show up in Gorilla Sourcing too.

I've run out of Sourcing credit invites. How do I get more?
Check your plan's Sourcing invites balance, or ask your account admin to add more. See Guide to credits.

My problem is I have too many candidates.
Try narrowing your criteria, or use the Skills tested tab to focus on candidates with a score already on file.

Will I see candidates who've applied to my company before?
Yes. If a candidate applied to a role and wasn't hired, they may still show up in your results, as long as their profile matches your criteria.

Why can't I see some of my candidates in Sourcing?
Candidates only appear if they've opted in to share their profile, aren't marked as Hired, and (for TestGorilla test-takers) completed their assessment at least 14 days ago.

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🚀 Next steps

• What is Gorilla Sourcing?
• Guide to credits
• Manage access to assessments
• Account settings

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Need help? Contact our support team at support@testgorilla.com