Passive Candidate Recruitment: How To Succeed in 2024
The key to your recruiting challenges could be passive candidates. If the ideal prospect for an open position is not coming to you, try going to them. Finding and engaging candidates who aren’t in the job market yet is a resourceful way to optimize your talent acquisition strategy.
This article will help you understand what a passive candidate is and provide useful information about sourcing and recruiting passive candidates.
Contents
What is a passive candidate?
Passive candidate recruiting vs. active candidate recruiting
How to build your passive candidate pipeline
1. Develop your passive candidate persona
2. Build your employer brand
3. Source passive candidates
4. Recruit passive candidates
What is a passive candidate?
A passive candidate is a person who is not actively looking for a job but has the skills and qualifications that make them a favorable recruiting prospect for a particular role.
Since passive candidates have not joined the applicant pool on their own, they are more challenging to find and engage with. While the extra effort may be worth it, sourcing passive talent is typically reserved for situations when there are fewer people available, or there is stiff competition for their in-demand qualifications. For example, executive leaders or highly specialized positions.
Why are passive candidates important in recruitment?
Passive candidates are a valuable recruitment source. According to LinkedIn, only 30% of the global workforce is actively seeking a job. This implies that the remaining 70% is passive talent. Not tapping into this large group of potential contenders means missing potentially out on opportunities to fill open positions with top-notch performers.
Pursuing passive talent can give your organization the following advantages:
- Proactive recruiting: You can start reaching out to and establishing relationships with passive candidates to enhance your talent pipeline for future openings.
- Staying ahead of the competition: Passive candidates aren’t in an active job search, so you’re not competing with multiple offers. Your organization can be the first to approach people with the skills others will be seeking and allow them to move forward on their career path.
- Acquiring the best talent: Being able to engage with and vet an expanded group of potential job candidates means that you have more people to choose from. Then, you can target the ones who have the exact qualifications and experience your organization needs to reach its goals.
Passive candidate recruiting vs. active candidate recruiting
Active recruitment and passive recruitment involve different types of situations that require distinctive approaches.
Here’s an overview of both:
Active candidate recruitment Passive candidate recruitment • Candidates may be actively searching for employment through online platforms and career sites
• Candidates may advertise on social media that they are looking for work
• Candidates may be casually looking for a more favorable position but not pursuing every available opportunity in their field
• Candidates will come to you by applying for your job posts
• Applicants may be unemployed and hoping to start a new job quickly. • Prospects are not looking for a job
• Prospects are currently employed and won’t be available immediately
• You must discover and initiate contact with prospective applicants
• Prospects need to feel a personal connection and be engaged with your organization before they consider a new position
• Some prospects will be more open to considering new opportunities than others, so many pursuits do not pan out
• The right offer can entice certain prospects to leave their current job.
How to build your passive candidate pipeline
Adding passive candidate recruitment into your talent acquisition strategy requires planning and implementing new methods. Below, we unpack four actions to take, with steps for each action, to help you develop your passive candidate pipeline.
The four actions to take are:
- Develop your passive candidate persona
- Build your employer brand
- Source passive candidates
- Recruit passive candidates
Action 1: Develop your passive candidate persona
A candidate persona is a detailed representation of the qualifications and traits that comprise an ideal candidate for a particular role. This “character” is formed from various attributes of many people and gives you a tangible point to start from and refer to during recruitment.
Here are some steps you can follow to formulate a passive candidate persona:
1. Conduct research on the role
Be sure you know exactly what the responsibilities are for this position and what types of skills and experience are required to handle them well:
- Review the job description and have a strong comprehension of the major responsibilities.
- Explore the desired qualifications for comparable positions in your industry
- Interview others or look at performance reviews from similar roles to learn which qualities are most crucial for success
- Determine the types of positions passive candidates might currently be in that would be applicable.
2. Gather and analyze data for the persona
Collecting data from your recruiting database or other sources regarding the same or similar roles will help you form a more detailed candidate persona. Data to consider include:
- Demographics (age, years of service, income, current job title, etc.)
- Geographical location (when proximity to on-site work is a consideration)
- Professional qualifications and experience
- Education and certifications
- Personality characteristics (strengths and weaknesses)
- Online presence (career sites, job boards, social media)
Once you’ve compiled the data, look for trends and common traits that would shape the ideal candidate. These could include the following:
- Jobs and career experience that stand out as prerequisites for the ideal candidate
- Skills that are non-negotiable requirements
- Where the ideal candidate might search for a job
- The online platforms an ideal candidate participates in
3. Construct the passive candidate persona
With the information you’ve collected, you can now formulate the hypothetical candidate’s persona. Narrow your focus to only the essential qualities someone should have to perform well in this role. This may look similar to a job description, but it will have more dimensions that reflect an actual person.
Here is one example:
Position: Chief Human Resources Officer
Demographics: 45-year-old female with a master’s degree in HR management and 20 years of related experience. Six years at current company.
Present role: Chief HR officer, HR director, people and culture officer, etc.
Responsibilities:
• Align HR strategies with business objectives
• Attract and retain top talent
• Lead with integrity and clear communication
• Inspire a positive and inclusive culture
• Foster innovation and collaboration throughout the organization
Skills:
• Knowledge of employment laws and regulations
• Adept at relationship building
Personality attributes/motivations:
• Passionate about developing employees
• Understands and focuses on organizational effectiveness
• Interested in improving HR processes with new technologies
• Has ambition to progress in her career
Work style: Assertive leader who delegates well and values input from team members
Preferred communication channels:
• Email (official communication)
• Social media (informal interaction)
You can also expand the text format of your candidate persona with a name, image, and graphics.
Action 2: Build your employer brand
An employer brand is how employees, job candidates, and others perceive an organization as an employer. This perception greatly impacts attracting top candidates, especially passive talent. Passive recruitment requires a strong employer brand that you can make evident to help compel potential candidates to consider your organization.
Policies, actions, and communications all affect an organization’s reputation as an employer. While employer branding is rooted in executive-level decisions that influence culture, it is also shaped by many other factors. For instance, HR can emphasize the positive aspects of working for the company.
Showcase your employer brand with engaging content on multiple platforms to relay your culture, values, achievements, and employee satisfaction. For example, post employee testimonials about what they love about their jobs and being a part of the organization. This is the kind of information you want a passive candidate to come across when they’re analyzing the company.
A Careerarc survey revealed that people of all ages are likely to evaluate an employer brand by visiting its social media sites. This included Millennials (68%), Gen-Xers (54%), and Boomers (48%).
Action 3: Source passive candidates
Finding and approaching passive candidates is complex and takes more effort than responding to active candidates. Hunting for the right people and making “cold calls” is a challenge that requires conducting research, leveraging tools and platforms, and applying effective communication efforts.
Passive candidate sourcing strategies
There are various methods for seeking out passive candidates. Although one or two might prove to be the most beneficial, you will probably want to incorporate a combination of options.
Here are four strategies to consider for sourcing passive candidates:
- Revisit your talent pool: There may already be high-quality candidates within your applicant tracking system who withdrew or weren’t the right fit for a previous opening. This type of prospective candidate can work to your advantage because they’ve previously shown interest in the company. Former employees are also an option. Are there alumni who left the company on good terms and went on to other roles that give them the experience you’re looking for? Your leased employees or contract workers are another source of passive candidates. They could have skills that transfer into positions you need to fill and might be interested in a more official employment relationship.
- Explore social media platforms: Because so many people participate in social media, these sites are a vast resource for finding and connecting with eligible job candidates. For example, search options on LinkedIn allow you to input keywords to help you identify people with the right qualifications. Then you can access their profiles to learn about their background and experience and send them a message to make the first contact.
- Implement a referral program: Your current workforce can be a great resource for passive candidates. Offering employees an incentive to recommend talent can spur them to look for potential candidates within their social or professional networks. Furthermore, referred talent will already have a positive outlook on the organization from the people who encouraged them to pursue an employment opportunity.
Ruchi Kulhari, Senior Vice President Human Resources for Coforge Limited, says,
“Start with referrals. Nothing is better than bringing in people who your own people are willing to vouch and take accountability for. What’s even better is to reward your existing staff who refer folks. It always works.”
- Find in-person connection opportunities: Meeting people in person establishes a stronger first connection. It also gives you a more authentic view of what they are like and how open they are to changing jobs. You can create such opportunities and target the type of professionals you’re looking for by attending industry conferences, training and development seminars, professional association meetings, or hosting your own events.
Conducting passive candidate outreach
The objective when you first reach out to a passive candidate is to connect personally. Get to know them and make them feel comfortable with you, so they will be more open to considering a job opportunity.
Here are some methods for contacting and relating to passive candidates:
- Personalized messaging: Whether it’s an email or a message on social media, be concise, be relevant, and tailor it to them specifically. They need to see that you have done your homework on them and realize the value they have to offer. Point out exactly why they are a great match for the job you’re pitching and the company. Overwhelming them with too much information or using generic wording that you could say to anyone will not relay that you are sincere about them as an individual.
- Consistent follow-up: After your initial contact, check in with them periodically but maintain quality over quantity. They shouldn’t feel like they’re being pestered or receiving spam messages. You can also encourage passive candidates to follow your organization’s social media accounts to become familiar with the company.
- Long-term relationship building: Even if a passive candidate is not interested in a current opening, there may be one down the road that they would be. Staying in touch with sought-after professionals via social media or email will help you get to know their career goals and requirements better. Nurturing this relationship will also give you quicker access to them if you spot a more suitable fit in the future.
Below is an email template you can use as a foundation for reaching out to passive candidates:
Subject: Invitation to consider joining [Company]
Dear [Candidate],
My name is [your name], and I’m a [job title] at [company name]. I came across your profile on [social media site], and your skills and experience in [specific skills and experience] are very impressive!
I’m reaching out to you because we’re currently recruiting for a [position], and I believe you have just what we’re looking for. I’m including a brief description of the position for you to look over: [job description]
At [company name], we offer innovative solutions for [industry/product]. We are building a world-class team to ensure we carry out our mission of [company mission]. Our company culture and employee benefits reinforce our effort to bring in high-quality talent like you. This includes: [perks and benefits]
If this is an opportunity you would consider, or you would like more information, I would love to hear from you.
Thank you, [candidate].
I certainly look forward to connecting with you!
[Signature and contact info]
Action 4: Passive candidate recruiting
Once you have identified and engaged with passive candidates, it’s time to transition into the recruiting phase. Since passive recruiting requires more nuanced strategies than active recruiting, there are some alternative techniques to consider.
Here are some suggestions for ensuring a successful passive candidate recruiting process:
- Give passive candidates time to consider your invitation but recognize the clear signs of disinterest. If you have contacted them two or three times and don’t hear back, they aren’t likely to ever respond.
- Keep in mind that you will be more interested in passive candidates than they are in the job, so you will have to sell it. Show enthusiasm for the company and highlight its achievements. Be persuasive about how valuable the candidate is and how they would benefit from being in the role.
- Look for people who deserve a promotion from their current role. Salary and level of responsibility are what the passive candidate will be most interested in. If the job provides advancement for them in these areas, they will be more likely to consider it.
- If a passive candidate expresses interest, you don’t need to start with a formal interview. Suggest a quick, casual first meeting to get acquainted and discuss the position in more detail. Don’t expect them to come to you. Instead, meet somewhere convenient for them. A video call also works if they are pressed for time or not locally based.
- Passive candidates who are currently working may need to be discreet. Offering to accommodate them with after-hours or weekend calls and interviews could be very helpful.
HR tip
Don’t hesitate to include freelancers in your search for passive candidates. Some may be open to considering a more long-term, salaried employment situation.
To sum up
Passive recruiting is a resourceful method of expanding your prospects for filling certain open positions. By tapping into this substantial source of qualified candidates, you won’t miss out on the people who are already performing at a high level in similar roles.
The work it takes to implement methods for sourcing and recruiting passive candidates will be worth it. The payoff comes when you’re able to hire employees with the right skillset who have enough passion and enthusiasm for the new position to leave the one they had been content with.
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