The Art of Sourcing Passive Candidates
When it comes to recruitment, being proactive isn’t just a strategy—it’s an art.
Getting ahead of recruitment challenges allows you to control the quality of candidates you receive. However, many HR professionals miss out on a crucial proactive recruitment strategy: sourcing passive candidates.
In this blog, we’ll explore what it means to source passive candidates, where you can find them, how to engage them, and why this should be an essential part of your recruitment strategy.
What is a Passive Candidate?
A passive candidate is someone who is not actively looking for a job. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not open to the right opportunity. These candidates are often highly skilled and experienced, and although they may be loyal to their current employer now—with the right approach, they could be your next best hire.
Active vs Passive Candidates
Recruiters often work with active and passive candidates, but each requires a different approach based on the following factors.
Where to Find Passive Candidates
Finding passive candidates requires creativity and persistence. Since they aren’t actively searching for jobs, they won’t be on job boards—but they’re not impossible to reach. Here are some of the best places to connect with them:
Social media
Social media platforms, especially professional platforms, are full of passive candidates. Sites like LinkedIn even allow you to filter for specific skills and experience in your search. Then, once you narrow it down, you can look through a candidate’s profile to find any relevant personal information that will help you tailor your outreach and how you present the opportunity.
How can you get started? Build up your employer branding on social media sites you think make sense for recruitment opportunities!
Conferences and events
Attending networking events, conferences, and industry-specific events is a great way to meet passive candidates and begin building a relationship organically. These events attract candidates who are passionate about their work and excited to expand their knowledge. You can use this to your advantage by personalizing your follow-up message and asking them about their favorite session or sharing some of your highlights.
How can you get started? Look at the attendees of the conferences you’re going to next year. Pick 3 and set goals around making connections!
Employee referrals
If you have an employee referral program, leverage it! Your employees know your industry the best, and many of them have likely worked in similar roles or for other organizations in your industry, meaning their networks are full of relevant candidates.
If you are struggling to get participation in your employee referral program, it’s worth sending out a survey to see if there are any issues you may be unaware of that are preventing employees from referring people. If no issues are reported, encourage participation by offering a special incentive for those who refer candidates who get hired.
How can you get started? Start within your HR department! You know your employees better than anyone else.
Employer branding
You can build awareness by showcasing your company’s culture and values on social media and your website to attract passive candidates. This involves sharing company get-togethers, unique benefits like remote work, or charity work that aligns with your organization’s values. It’s much easier for passive candidates to picture themselves working for your organization if they can see it rather than hear about it.
How can you start? If you aren’t proud of your culture, take proactive steps to fix it!
Candidate databases
You may already have a database of candidates who previously applied for roles, or you can use a tool that already has a resume database available for you to use with passive and active candidates. Either way, this is a great first step to building a list of passive candidates that you can work off of, especially if you are just starting your passive candidate engagement.
How can you start? We have a solution that includes access to a resume database! Click here to request a demo today.
How to Engage with Passive Candidates
Once you have created a list of passive candidates to begin reaching out to, you want to make sure you’re approaching them in the right way.
Be Straightforward
People receive emails and social media messages constantly, so you must stand out to engage passive candidates. The best way to catch their attention is by being honest and straightforward with your intentions. They are not going to leave their current job unless it is for an opportunity that they think will benefit them, whether that is due to increased pay, growth opportunities, work-life balance, etc., so it’s important that you lay out those benefits early on to catch their attention and demonstrate your willingness to work with them.
Be Personable
When you are engaging passive candidates, it’s important to tailor your approach so they feel comfortable exploring a new opportunity with your company. However, it’s also easy to come off as disingenuous, especially if you are in a rush to find a candidate or if you are engaging with too many passive candidates at once. Patience is key. Take your time to explore their professional social pages to find out what they are interested in or to see what their career trajectory has looked like so far. When you reach out to them, share any work your organization has done recently that is relevant to their interests and ask them about their personal career goals.
By being personable and showing your interest in them, you can begin to establish a relationship that is focused on helping them reach their goals and helping you build the right team.
Educate Them on Your Company
Unlike active candidates, passive candidates may have no background on what your company does or how you operate. Educating them about how each piece of your organization comes together is crucial for helping them see their part in it. There are a few ways you can do this, but we suggest one of these:
- Connect them with current employees who are on the teams that they would be working with to answer any questions and build connections that may be key when convincing them to join your company.
- You can also encourage current employees to share their journeys within the company if career growth is an important factor for them.
Putting faces to your organization and hearing stories from current employees will make it easier for them to understand what they can expect in the role and what the day-to-day would look like.
Don’t Overwhelm Them
While active candidates may appreciate communication and even over-communication, passive candidates will run at the first sign of pushiness. Being overly communicative may look like a sign of desperation or stress, which could reflect badly on the organization and how it operates. It’s important to be cautious and respectful of their time, considering that they are likely busy with their current job as well. If you can tell they are pulling away, don’t be afraid to address it and ask them directly if this just isn’t the right time or what part of the role doesn’t appeal to them.
Asking these questions can help you realize if something needs to be adjusted with your approach or with the role itself.
Keep In Touch
If they aren’t looking to switch jobs right now, that doesn’t mean all your work is for nothing! Keep in touch with passive candidates, sending them a message once in a while to check in and see how they are doing or see if they are progressing in their career the way that they imagined. Doing this shows your commitment to them and keeps that relationship strong. Plus, you never know if, down the line, they’ll have other connections they can put you in touch with that will be the perfect fit.
Benefits of Engaging with Passive Candidates
Now, let’s explore some of the benefits you might experience if you take the time to engage with passive candidates.
Access High-Quality Talent
One of the greatest benefits of engaging passive candidates is the ability to tap into high-quality talent. They are typically already employed and actively learning in their current roles, meaning they’ve likely developed the skills, knowledge, and expertise required to succeed. Passive candidate sourcing is also often one of the only ways to acquire highly specialized talent that is hard to find through traditional hiring.
Grow Your Talent Pool
Relying solely on active job seekers can limit the diversity and depth of your talent pool. By engaging passive candidates, you can significantly broaden your reach and connect with professionals who might not otherwise be on your radar. This expanded pool not only increases the number of potential hires but also diversifies the range of experiences and perspectives that candidates bring to the table.
Reduce Time to Hire
Engaging passive candidates proactively can shorten your time-to-hire when an immediate need arises. By building relationships with passive candidates ahead of time, you create a network of potential hires that you can tap into when positions open up.
Build Connections
Even if a passive candidate isn’t ready to make a move immediately, the connections you establish can often lead to future opportunities—whether the candidate eventually joins your organization or refers other talented individuals from their network. A well-maintained relationship with a passive candidate keeps your company top of mind when they’re ready to explore new opportunities.
Competitive Advantage
Top-performing companies recognize that being the best in their industry requires having the best talent on their teams. By attracting top talent, you also reinforce your company’s reputation as an industry leader that values building exceptional teams. In addition, engaging with passive candidates gives you an edge over competitors who rely solely on traditional recruitment methods.
A Database of Passive Candidates is Waiting
Ready to simplify passive candidate sourcing? Mitratech’s talent acquisition solution connects you with a database of 169 million candidates, 60% of whom are passive. Here’s what else you could get:
- Diverse Talent: Our candidates are curated from over 8,500 diverse social organizations and include more than 13 million veterans.
- Make Connections: 90% success rate with contact information from passive candidates.
- Applicant Tracking: Streamline your hiring process from start to finish.
- Employer Branding: Build awareness and engage candidates effectively.
- Job Board Promotions: Amplify your reach and attract the right talent.
Don’t wait for top talent to come to you—be proactive. Schedule a demo of Mitratech’s talent acquisition solution today!
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