LinkedIn sourcing takes an average of 7.3 hours per week. With 4 searches per week, that’s nearly 2 hours per search. Too long.
These 10 LinkedIn sourcing tips cut your time in half. No tricks or quick fixes. These are tactical adjustments that recruiters actually use in 2026 to go from 800 profiles to 80 relevant candidates. In 45 minutes.
1. Use employer context filtering (not just Boolean)
Boolean search is the standard. Job title, location, years of experience. But after the first filter you still have 800 profiles. The real problem starts after that.
How many of those 800 employers do you know? Probably 10-15%. For the rest, you’re guessing whether the experience is relevant.
What employer context filtering does:
SourceLens automatically analyzes the last 8 employers of each candidate across 18 dimensions: sector, company type, customer segment, sales model, deal complexity, growth stage, and more.
Result: From 800 profiles to 80 that truly fit. Not because you scroll faster, but because you filter smarter.
2. Start broad, filter afterwards (not the other way around)
The temptation is to start with narrow filters. “Only these job titles, only these companies.”
That works if you already know the market. If you don’t know 90% of the employers, you miss candidates.
Better approach:
- Broad boolean search — 500-800 profiles
- Bulk export to a tool
- Filter on employer context
You start broad. You end narrow. But you miss nobody.
3. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters
Sales Navigator costs EUR 80/month and has filters that recruiters underestimate.
3 filters recruiters overlook:
- Company headcount growth — growing companies are hiring. Target growers.
- Posted on LinkedIn in last 30 days — active LinkedIn users respond more often to InMails
- Changed jobs in last 90 days — people who recently switched are more open to conversations
These aren’t silver bullets. But they increase the chance someone responds.
4. Bulk export with Chrome extension
Opening 30 profiles manually, copying them to a sheet, or making notes in your ATS. That takes 30 minutes.
With a Chrome extension, the same takes 30 seconds.
SourceLens bulk export:
- Auto-scroll through search results
- Up to 100 profiles at a time
- Real-time counter keeps track
- Works with any LinkedIn (Basic, Premium, Recruiter Lite, Recruiter)
5. Browse mode (LinkedIn + tool side-by-side)
You have a candidate list with matching scores. You want to see the LinkedIn profile. You click. New tab. You go back. Repeat.
Browse Mode solves this. You navigate through your list with Previous/Next buttons. A LinkedIn popup automatically opens the right profile. No new tabs. No back-and-forth clicking.
It sounds small. It saves you 20% of your screening time.
6. Reuse Boolean strings
Building every search from scratch is a waste of time. Your best boolean strings are reusable.
How:
- Save your 5 best boolean strings in a doc or tool
- For a new vacancy: copy the most comparable string
- Adjust: job title, location, specific skills
Example base string for finance searches:
("Financial Controller" OR "Finance Manager" OR Controller)
AND location:"Netherlands"
NOT (title:"Intern" OR title:"Junior" OR title:"Assistant")Tweak the job titles per vacancy. The rest stays the same. You save 10-15 minutes per search.
7. Sourcing sprint (not constant scrolling)
LinkedIn is always open. You scroll between other tasks. That feels productive. It isn’t.
Sourcing sprint:
- 1x per day, 1 hour of dedicated sourcing
- Notifications off, LinkedIn open
- Focus: exporting profiles and screening, not scrolling
- After 1 hour: done
You accomplish more in 1 focused hour than in 3 hours of scattered scrolling.
8. Personalize outreach with AI
“Dear professional, I saw your profile and immediately thought of an interesting opportunity.” Response rate: 3-5%.
Candidates are immune to generic InMails. They get 10 per week.
What works:
- Mention specific employers and why they’re relevant
- Reference career patterns
- AI-generated templates based on profile analysis
SourceLens generates 3 variants per candidate. Each message references employer context and career trajectory. Response rate: 15-20%.
9. Filter on recency (not just years of experience)
“10 years of sales experience.” Sounds good. But what if those 10 years were between 2005 and 2015? And then 5 years in operations?
Experience from 7+ years ago is less relevant than recent experience.
Filter on:
- Last 3-5 years of career (not entire profile)
- Current role + previous 2 roles
- Recency of the experience you’re looking for
SourceLens automatically factors recency into the matching score.
10. Accept that you need to filter out 90%
800 profiles. 720 are not relevant. 80 are.
That feels like waste. But that IS sourcing. The art isn’t finding 800 profiles. The art is knowing which 80 are relevant.
The fastest recruiters don’t source faster. They filter better. They see in 8 seconds what others google for 5 minutes.
Faster sourcing = not faster scrolling
It’s smarter filtering.
The 10 tips above don’t work because they’re shortcuts. They work because they focus on the real bottleneck: you don’t know 90% of the employers in your search.
With employer context you see at a glance:
- “This company is enterprise B2B SaaS, 12+ month sales cycles — fits.”
- “This is transactional inside sales, SMB focus — doesn’t fit.”
From guessing to knowing. From scrolling to selecting.
Try all 10 tips with SourceLens. 14 days free, no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
Does this work if I use LinkedIn Basic (free)? Yes. SourceLens works with any LinkedIn. Basic, Premium, Recruiter Lite, Recruiter. The Chrome extension exports only URLs (SAFE MODE), so there’s no ban risk.
How much time do I really save? On average 70-80% less screening work. From 3 hours to 45 minutes per search. With 4 searches per week, that’s 8+ hours saved.
Can I combine this with my current tools? Yes. SourceLens doesn’t replace anything. It adds employer context to what you already have. You keep using LinkedIn the way you’re used to.
Is this also useful for corporate recruiters who source for every function? Absolutely. Corporate recruiters are the most context-blind. You’re recruiting for a developer this week, a controller next week, then a sales manager. SourceLens gives you instant context for every vacancy.
Related articles:
- How it works — See how SourceLens analyzes employer context
- Boolean Search LinkedIn Examples — 15 Boolean strings for recruiters
- Pricing — starting at EUR 89/month (launch offer)