Currently employed but willing to entertain offers from other companies, a passive job seeker could be the perfect candidate for your company’s open position.
Since these individuals are currently employed, they may not need much training to step into a similar role with your organization. In fact, these employees could be gaining experience working in a different environment than your own, and that experience could be used to improve your workflow or boost your productivity.
Because these people are not actively seeking a job, they will be more difficult to recruit than someone who has submitted a resume or filled out an application for an open position.
However, passive candidates are willing to consider a new role under certain circumstances. A candidate, who is not actively seeking another position, could be complimented by being contacted by another company or recruitment firm. It gives them an assurance that they are valuable in the marketplace. Pursuing them could ignite a thought that there could possibly be a better opportunity elsewhere. Money is often not the top motivator. They may be willing to listen or interested as there may be additional training they could benefit from, a better career opportunity, the position could be closer to home or it could provide them with better work-life balance. It depends on what could resonate with their personal needs.
Actively Recruiting a Passive Job Candidate
In order to find qualified passive candidates, you need to start going where they are: Social media. LinkedIn and Twitter are great ways to connect to prospective candidates because they aren’t as walled off as they might be on Facebook. LinkedIn groups or connecting with people in your network for introductions in particular are great resources for locating people with the relevant skill set.
Hiring personnel should also attend industry events where professionals go to network and keep tabs on the latest developments in the industry. People going to these events are attending with a networking frame of mind and this atmosphere makes them more receptive to hearing about an opportunity at another company.
Even if your company isn’t currently trying to fill a position, going to these industry and association events to hand out business cards can be a great way to generate a group of potential passive candidates.
Passively Recruiting a Passive Candidate
Having a so-called ‘backbench’ of passive candidates is a great way to buffer against suddenly losing one of your own employees.
In addition to establishing a social media presence and networking events, companies should get into the mind of passive candidates by making sure your own employees are talking up the company. Each of your employees has his or her own personal network, and leveraging all of these individual networks can be a great way to recruit, but only if your employees are enthusiastic about their jobs.
You can also include recruiting messages in your marketing and sales strategies. These recruitment messages might cause someone who sees them to think of a qualified candidate they know and refer them to you.
Finding and recruiting passive candidates typically takes more energy than active candidates, but their experience, perspective and skill set could make that added effort worthwhile. At CAREERXCHANGE, a talent acquisition firm in Miami, we’re more than happy to take on that extra effort in order to provide you with the best talent you’re looking for.