As an employer, how can you attract those elusive passive job candidates? They are the high-performing individuals who are not actively looking for a position, but are likely to be open to the right offer if professionally presented and sold to them. They represent an impressive 75 percent of the total U.S. workforce.
Today’s Candidates
There are four main groups of candidates in today’s job marketplace:
- Active candidates are openly looking for new career opportunities.
- Tiptoeing candidates are thinking about making a move.
- Passive candidates are currently employed but open to new possibilities.
- Super passive candidates are employed and would not consider a new position.
Technically, all but the first category fall under the umbrella of passive job seekers.
How Do You Reach Passive Job Seekers?
When recruiting passive candidates, remember: you found them. You uncovered something that compelled you to reach out to them. Let them know this. Don’t assume that they’re interested in speaking with you. You may be dealing with super passives who are quite content and will be extremely hard to sell, at least on the first contact.
Include these tactics in your passive candidate recruiting strategy:
- Employment branding: Promote your brand in job postings, on your website and on all your social media channels. It starts at home: Be sure that your current employees are brand ambassadors and recruiters in their own right. Research has shown that three quarters of professionals would turn down a job with a company that had a poor reputation, even if they were unemployed.
- Employee referral program: Passive candidates reach out to their friends and social communities first, so make a referral program central to your talent acquisition strategy.
- Positive candidate experience: Give careful consideration to your application and interview steps. Many passive candidates may not have a current resume – and none will want to submit to a long or tedious process. You may want to try an alternative process for passive candidates, such as applying via an online profile.
- Source proactively. A Boolean search will help you to identify candidates at a faster rate and a higher volume than any other method. You can find resumes and cover letters stored within personal websites, job boards and other social media platforms. Commands will tell search engines exactly what you’re looking for and help you drill down results to reveal candidates who truly align with your needs.
An experienced, best-practice recruiting partner can offer the resources, market intelligence and skills to deliver exceptional passive talent. To learn more, contact the team at Contemporary Personnel Staffing & Professionals Incorporated and let us share our knowledge and help realize your vision.