In recent years, sourcing and employing passive candidates has become a contentious matter. Some hiring professionals are in support of it, while others are totally against this practice. However, the reality is that, as a recruiter, sometimes when searching for the best hands, you may consider passive candidates.
Before the inception of broad-scale advertising, organizations discovered hidden talents through word of mouth, or referrals, as it is called now. Many of these referrals are not active candidates, and they probably would not have applied for the job if someone they were familiar with had not informed them of the opportunity.
Active Candidates Vs Passive Candidates
Active candidates are the candidates who are actively searching for a job. They have seen your job advertisement and applied for an open position.
Passive candidates are the candidates who are highly qualified but are not actively searching for a job. However, they may consider new job opportunities if they exist.
According to LinkedIn, 70% of candidates are passive candidates. Hence, find candidates who are passive is worth exploring avenues.
Below are some trusted methods to help you find passive candidates:
Social Media
This is an avenue to start. The world of social media is expansive and vast, and it keeps growing daily. With many platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and many more, one could spend the entire day searching on a platform only to realize your best bet is utilizing a different platform. So, there’s no chance of missing out on the most suitable person for the role.
In this case, you choose the platform to utilize based on the qualities you require of the employee. If you search for qualities like modern, creative, and confident, platforms like Facebook might not be the best platform to search from; Youtube might do better here.
In Person
Yes, we live in a tech age, yet nothing beats meeting people in real life. Though this might appear a bit challenging due to these people not actively wanting to be candidates, still, there are certainly some ways to meet these sets of people in person.
For this, an exciting strategy is to attend appropriate events happening near you. You are bound to discover someone big on passion. For example, if you are seeking someone on your sales team, you could attend events revolving around sales technique enhancement. Attending events like this guarantee you find committed passive candidates who aim to enhance and improve their talent.
Your Employee Referrals
Sometimes, in fact, most times, your most excellent port of call is your present employees. Your existing team recommends the most suitable additions to your team. Why is this? It’s because they know and understand the organization’s culture in and out. Plus, they are aware that recommending a not-so-good addition will reflect poorly on them.
Furthermore, there is a pre-existing trust, as a person is bridging the gap between the employer and the potential candidate. When eventually hired, this makes them perform better and remain in the organization longer.
Your Talent Pool
Did you previously reject candidates because you thought they were not suitable for the vacant job position, but you knew they would make an excellent addition to your team? Look through the previous applicants who had applied to your organization previously. Look at your talent pipelines and talent pools, and search for applicants you rejected in the final stage of the hiring process.
The fact that they weren’t the right match for your previous vacant job doesn’t cancel out that they could be the perfect one for your present job opening.
A Recruiter Network
There are recruiting networks specializing in split placement. In such networks, recruiters share candidates and job offers. So, if you can’t find enough in your database, you can look through candidates other recruiters shared using a split recruiting networkโthe more candidates you have at your disposal, the greater your chance to discover passive candidates.
Online Platforms
Passive candidates can be found on online platforms, like LinkedIn. Using AI for recruitment is an efficient and cost-effective solution enabling you to discover the right fit for the vacant job.
Final Thoughts
As a recruiter, if you want to record success in your organization, you should look beyond the active applicants that applied for a job opening. According to Forbes, organizations should not limit themselves to the 30% actively searching for new jobs alone. You should broaden your horizon if you want a higher success rate for your organization. It would be best if you didn’t think you could not offer a job to a unique talent just because they didn’t apply.
