Passive candidates aren’t actively looking for a job, but they may be one of the best candidates to hire, especially if it’s difficult to fill a position. After all, your ideal candidate probably already works elsewhere and there may be no reason to change the company. According to a survey, only 30% of the world’s workforce is actively looking for new jobs. This means that more than two-thirds of potential candidates are passive. Consequently, they are more unlikely to mark confirmation of the initiation for your job. The best candidates for a particular profession may not be in the 30% or may already be recognized and hired by competitors. Yet, there are sufficient reasons why one should hire passive candidates.
If you’re having a hard time finding the right candidate among the applicants, or if the same candidate continues to apply, it may be time to find new talent to attract and hire passive candidates. Finding passive candidates and discussing the possibility of a transfer to a company is surely not easy. However with due diligence, it can turn out to be very productive. This article describes how to find, engage, and hire passive candidates and find the right strategy to hire them.
Find & Hire Passive Candidates
Searching for passive candidates goes far beyond just finding them, but it’s an important starting point. After all, how are you supposed to hire passive candidates if you don’t know where to look for them? Given that active candidates are likely to come to you, they are an “easier” option. However, there are many benefits to working hard to find passive candidates. Finding a passive candidate means finding the right place. So here are different ways you can use to find the best passive candidate for your team.
Through Employee Referrals
Current employees may be the best contacts. The best additions to a team are often recommended by existing teams. Why? Because they know the inside and outside of the corporate culture. Also, recommending “bad” supplements is really badly reflected in them. In addition, there is already a foundation of trust as some people close the gap between candidates and employers. As a result, these employees have better performance and tend to stay in that role longer. That’s what every recruiter and recruitment manager is aiming for, right? Therefore, take advantage of your current employees and ask for recommendations. Send a well-crafted email.
If you want your team to get the best referrals, consider offering referral rewards. This is often a financial reward, but it doesn’t have to be. You can offer flexible time, half-day breaks, vouchers, whatever you want to offer. People often make recommendations without an extra nudge, but it increases steaks and makes them more competitive. In emails, it’s important to give employees details about the role you’re trying to play. Carefully consider your requirements and list clear hard and soft skills. The better you can be, the better. After all, if you don’t know what they recommend, how can you recommend a perfect fit?
Looking beyond the job boards
It’s time to be creative. Think of a place where you can find candidates outside of traditional online job boards. Consider asking a recently hired employee for a referral. We can also offer referral programs with relevant bonuses and perks. Also, pay attention to social media. But don’t just think about traditional platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Branch and join a social media group where the professionals you are looking for naturally gather.
For example, this could be a forum for IT professionals to share resources. However, be slow when joining these groups. You need to participate as a collaborative expert and take the time to build trust with group members. If you are not an expert in the position you are hiring, encourage the hiring manager to interact with the members instead. Start as a quiet participant, and once you feel the nature of normal group interaction, join a position-independent conversation to share your expertise. If you feel comfortable, you can say that you are an open-position recruiter or recruiter.
Focus on the e-mails
Sending an email to a potential candidate is easy. The hard part is getting them to read it. Long or complex messages often find their way into the Trash. Keep them short and simple so that candidates can read your email. Due to the flood of emails every day, only easy to read messages normally get to the attention of passive candidates. As a rule of thumb when writing an email to a candidate, the subject should be no more than 35 characters and the body of the email should be no more than 4-6 sentences. It can take some time to compose a powerful and concise message. But if you find one that works, save it and use it again when contacting other candidates.
Utilizing Talent Pool
Talent pools are a great resource for recruiters. You can use both passive and failed candidates in your talent pool, so you don’t lose the relationships you’ve built or previously not recruited. This means you don’t have to start from scratch every time you hire. It provides you with the perfect pool of candidates you identified earlier. The best types of talent pools are fresh, so be sure to spend some time on them before entering the hiring phase.
RecruitBPM allows you to transform past references into future opportunities by creating a talent pool. Think of someone who left your company, or who was interviewed but decided not to take on the role. Data can be collected from these potential candidates to reveal the following:
- The role they are ideally looking for in the future
- What are their main strengths
- Where they are currently working
Recruiting passive candidates is creative and patient. It’s about getting the most out of the tools at your disposal and playing long games. As a recruiter, you need multiple variations to win the top talent. Success with a passive candidate depends on the employer’s trust in the brand and communicating it.
