There is no doubt that majority of the ideal job candidates are most probably already working somewhere. These candidates are commonly known as the passive candidates. It usually is challenging for the recruiters to attract passive candidates. Most precisely, when they are happy with current jobs, they essentially wouldn’t submit applications against the open positions. Yet, it doesn’t mean that the recruiters shouldn’t reach out to them. According to LinkedIn, passive candidates comprise 75% percent of the existing candidate market, hence, approaching them is totally worth the shot.
What is passive candidate sourcing?
In a traditional recruiting process, you post a job position and wait for the candidates to apply for it. Whereas, passive candidate sourcing specifies the procedure of approaching already hired candidates. After identification, such passive candidates are then matched for their interests. A research study indicates that candidate sourcing is a practical and effective technique to hire the best candidates:
- Sourced candidates are over twice as competent as the candidates who apply
- Compared to 1 in every 152 non-sourced candidates, 1 in every 72 sourced candidates is hired.
Let’s have a look at some of the effective sourcing strategies recruiters can leverage to attract passive candidates:
Take Advantage of the Social Media Platforms
For the last few years, social media recruiting has turned out to be one of the most effective recruiting tools. According to a study, 58% of the employers do social screenings to identify which of the applicants qualify for a particular job. Therefore, wielding big social media platforms is one the most effective sourcing strategies. These platforms that include but are not limited to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. let the recruiters come across top talent to hire.
Use Automation Tools
Advanced technologies have revolutionized every aspect of modern recruiting and candidate sourcing. Nowadays, recruiters can use artificial intelligence (AI) to their advantage for locating passive candidates. Its a more rapid and effective way of recruiting than doing it manually. The AI technology crawls job search engines to gather and evaluate wide variety of candidate databases. It incorporates their resume details to match against the specific jobs. With this set of information, AI-based tools are enabled to predict which passive candidates will take interest in switching the jobs. Consequently, letting the recruiters prioritize and attract passive candidates easily.
Build a Referral Program to Attract Passive Candidates
Current employees are usually one of the best sources of new talent for the recruiters. For a long time, referrals have remained a substantial part of the modern recruiting strategies. As a matter of fact, 78% of the recruiters acknowledge finding their top candidates through referrals. Clearly, every single employee has its own personal connections and networks. These networks most often comprise of many high-quality applicants who can be the right fit for any organization. However, without significant incentives, it can be difficult to attract passive candidates. A study shows that most passive candidates are normally reluctant to respond to a recruiter. Yet, close observation shows that they tend to reply to a recruiter with ease if approached through a personal connection.
Search Through The Job Boards and Candidate Database
Quite often than not, most active candidates use online job boards to search and apply for open positions. They can serve to be a great tool for recruiters in sourcing passive candidates. Recruiters store the resume of the candidates in their data bases during an active recruitment process regardless of their acceptance or rejection. Recruiters can later explore the recruiting databases using different criteria such as industry, skills, experience, and educational qualifications for passive sourcing. Even if the recruiters come across outdated resumes, they should not discard them. Rather, they should take these resumes into consideration in pursuance of the line of their career. If any suitable candidate comes across, there’s no need for any delay.
Market Company Culture and Professional Growth
Many recruiters are equipped with due skills to identify the passive candidates. However, their sourcing strategies prove inadequate when it comes to contacting them. The main problem is that passive candidates have no interests in meeting the pre-requisites of an open position in your organization. You can only get a hold of them if you tell them what makes your organization an exceptional and rewarding place to work. Professional growth and company culture are two of the most important aspects that can inspire prospective passive candidates to join your company. Therefore, when you approach passive candidates, make sure that instead of selling a particular role, you facilitate them in terms of growth opportunities within your organization. Moreover, be very certain about your pitch that must be able to showcase the unique and appealing aspects of your company’s culture and employer branding.
Final Thoughts on Passive Candidate Sourcing
Although it can be bit queasy to approach and appeal them to join your organization, its equally pivotal in the existing competitive and fast-paced hiring landscape. With all the above-mentioned strategies, it is imperative to use all the tools at your disposal, together with your strong applicant tracking system. Developed to automate the recruitment process along with reducing the time-to-hire, your applicant tracking system gives you an added advantage when it comes to sourcing and attracting those hard-to-get passive candidates.
If you’re looking for a best sourcing solution, RecruitBPM is here for you. RecruitBPM offers you all the integrated tools and services to eliminate all your worries regarding your staffing and sourcing processes.
