Reaching Passive Candidates:
One of the things that recruitment teams focus on while seeking for unique talent is converting passive prospects into active ones. Everyone knows, however, that reaching out to passive prospects is considerably more difficult than reaching out to those who are actively looking for work. Nonetheless, there is no need to state that chasing passive prospects is worthwhile, and studies show that talent that is already most likely happily employed is more likely to contribute to the company’s success. The difference in motivation between active and passive applicants makes it difficult for recruiters to elicit a reaction from the candidates. That is why, while reaching out to passive applicants, it is critical to follow specific recruitment standards.
Who Are Passive Candidates?
Passive applicants are often individuals who are currently employed by a firm and are not actively seeking new opportunities. According to LinkedIn, just 30% of the present workforce is composed of active applicants, implying that 70% of the workforce are not seeking new opportunities. However, more than half of passive candidates are interested in learning about new opportunities. Tracking down passive candidates is only the very first step within the recruitment process, engaging them to further discuss potential opportunities with you and allowing you to properly screen them is also key within the process.
Why Recruit Passive Candidates?
Not only do passive candidates make up the majority of the workforce, but they are also the people you should be talking to. If someone is happy in their current position and is not searching for a move, it is probable that they are performing well, which implies they are the type of person you want in your business. Here are a few more reasons to recruit passive applicants.
- Passive applicants may not be interviewing with other organizations since they are not actively hunting for another job.
- You increase your applicant pool from 25% to practically the whole workforce.
- In general, passive candidates outperform active candidates. That is, they are generally the ones making an impact.
How to Reach Out?
- Employer Brand: If you want to attract fresh talent, you must make your company culture and work evident. Additionally, a passive applicant is more likely to be enticed by a well-known brand.
– Company culture: Everyone wants to work for a firm that has a great culture. Highlighting certain aspects of your company’s culture will assist you attract passive applications. -Work-life balance: Anyone who has worked in a position where they did not have a good work-life balance understands that money isn’t everything. A position that allows for a healthy work-life balance is completely worth it. Highlighting a positive work-life balance will attract top achievers who feel caught in a negative, imbalanced work-life cycle.-Overall mission: People are more interested in their job when they believe their task is connected to the larger goal of the firm.
-Company benefits: When reaching out to a passive applicant, it is critical to express the whole pay package, not simply the initial wage. Highlighting your company’s perks assists the passive prospect in painting a complete picture of the job you are contacting them about. Knowing the entire picture may attract their attention.
- Events: Even in this day and age of social media, nothing beats meeting someone in person. Being in the same room as passive prospects fosters trust and connection. There are several conferences and events in which you may attend or participate. You may also check who will be there so you can plan accordingly. Knowing more about someone before meeting them might make your talks go more smoothly. It is also an excellent technique to demonstrate what your firm is currently doing as well as your company culture.
- Social media engagement: Social media is an incredibly effective tool for branding and recruiting. It enables you to publicize your name simply and successfully. It enables you to expand your talent pool, contact passive applicants, and establish your employer brand. Although LinkedIn is the obvious first choice, Twitter and Facebook may also be used to reach out to networks of industry professionals. You may use Twitter’s advanced search to locate hashtags that can assist you in researching passive candidates. If you’re searching for a content manager, for example, you can check for hashtags like #contentmarketing or #SEO. Participating in Twitter chats, which are scheduled group talks, can also help you identify intriguing professionals. Similarly, in addition to the ability to advertise jobs, Facebook’s graph search may help you identify people who meet specific criteria. For instance, if you search for “salespeople who have studied in New York,” Facebook would return a huge list of relevant profiles.
- Sourcing tools: The advantage of recruiting talent from online forums is that you can view prospects in places where they are active and engaged. Reaching out to passive applicants is more effective when you can personalize communications. People searches and online communities work hand in hand. Find any candidate profile on Facebook, Angel List, Twitter, GitHub, or Behance. People Search will create a comprehensive profile for your target, which will frequently include an email address, CV, and other social networks where your prospect is active. Search engines such as Monster and Careerbuilder’s resume databases can also assist you in finding individuals who meet your criteria. They may also be able to assist you in locating candidates’ contact information through their social media sites.
- Request employee references: When you integrate an employee recommendation process into your passive sourcing approach, you will be surprised how many staff propose and recommend persons that would be a great asset. Allow your company’s staff to conduct part of the recruitment for you. They are well-connected in their business, are familiar with your company’s culture, and can frequently supply a wealth of quality leads.
Common Rules When Approaching:
- Well-planned and careful: Passive applicants are unlikely to anticipate recruiters approaching them on Facebook or Twitter as they would on LinkedIn. Messages from recruiters on more “personal” sites may look strange or invasive to certain people. A well-crafted message, on the other hand, has a possibility to win people over. The importance of honesty and simplicity cannot be overstated. Before sending cold messages, introduce yourself when you join forums and try to participate in conversations on Twitter or other social media platforms. Just the perfect amount of perseverance may go a long way. If recruiters flood people’s inboxes, they may come off as aggressive or spammy.
- Send out personalized e-mails: Make your outreach messaging special. People can tell whether a message is individualized vs when it is a generic template in a recruitment campaign. Personalizing each outreach message takes extra work, but you will only reach those difficult to reach candidates with a snappy tailored message.
- Look for their interests: It is also necessary to consider their probable desires and interests. Try to find out what they’re interested in by reading their profile. For example, somebody may work as an Android developer yet participate in several Python coding contests. Or they may have recently completed online management courses. If they did, it’s probable they posted a certificate on LinkedIn or Pinterest. These might be hints about their ambitions and desires. If you’re looking to hire them, you might mention that you’ve seen their activities and explain how your position links to them.
- Mention details they want to hear: It is critical that you contact passive candidates with relevant information. It would be ideal if you could send a nice and intriguing email. However, if they have a clear image of what you can give them, passive applicants will consider shifting opportunities. They also want to hear about the demands and workload of your employment, as well as how taking on a new responsibility would affect their career.
- Establish long-term connections: You could be targeting the appropriate individual, but at the wrong moment. Building relationships can help you establish a talent pipeline in the future. Consider your employment efforts in terms aside from your current staffing demands. When you cultivate relationships with prospects, you develop a talent pool from which you may draw in the future.
- Request recommendations from passive applicants who turn you down: When you reach out to passive applicants, you will receive answers from many people who are not seeking for a new job at this moment, which is fine. Just because they aren’t seeking for work right now doesn’t mean they don’t know someone who is. They are most likely better connected to professionals in their sector than you are. Prospects who indicate that they are not interested are an excellent source of recommendations.
The difficult part of sourcing passive candidates is getting in front of them in such a way that you can participate in meaningful dialogue and create connections. As long as you have something better to give than what they currently have, the odds are that they will want to talk with you. You must be prepared to recruit passive candidates when they are ready to advance their careers. It requires organization, strategy, and patience to appeal to passive prospects. It is not necessarily a quick route, but potentially the most rewarding in terms of securing top talent within the industry you are working within. With so many moving elements, recruitment has advanced and isn’t just about recruitment sites, so you must be prepared to put yourself out there on all other unconventional platforms, with caution. Patience and establishing good relationships are two of the most crucial aspects to help you, as a recruiter, find the best talent when the time is right. Have you found it difficult to reach passive candidates? Which way/ways do you think are most effective to you personally?
