How to Connect With the Silent Majority of the Candidate Market
While many employers have passive candidate recruitment strategies in place, many do not and are therefore not taking full advantage of the candidate marketplace – and are missing the chance to connect with this silent majority.
I therefore thought it would be useful to outline several passive candidate recruiting tactics that employers can and should be using to ensure they are fully engaging with candidates in this market.
Talent Communities: “We just want to talk about your career and profession”
The LinkedIn study identified a ‘super-passive’ candidate which accounted for 28 percent of the candidate job market, making this a group of the candidate market that deserves special attention. These candidates were not looking for jobs at all, but would happily have a light engagement with a recruiter/employer for future possibilities, so this is an excellent group to network with.
But, due to their satisfied status, a ‘hard sell’ approach is not going to work and could even irritate the candidate, so a softer approach is needed. It is this group who responds especially well to ‘Talent Communities’ and will be happy to engage with other professionals, candidates and the employer in a no strings attached, light touch, on-line networking environment based around your business. While many of you will have heard about talent communities, most companies don’t offer one.
Another compelling argument for a Talent Communities is the finding from the CareerXRoads source of hire survey which shows that although referrals are the most popular sources of hire, most candidates will visit the company’s career site first. So, having a well advertised Talent Communityon your website is a great way to attract passing passive talent who may not have a specific job or career step in mind, but who just want to have a conversation.
Blog on topics that connect with passive candidates who may soon become more active
Another good technique to engage with passive talent is blogging. Build a following to your branded blog by writing articles not just on hiring, but on career development, conflict management, getting a raise, etc. What is especially good about these kinds of topics is they court passive candidates who may soon become active. For example, the candidate who is looking for a raise may already be thinking about external opportunities for higher pay or will soon be if their raise is refused. Candidates who are interested in reading about career development subjects may soon be in the market for career change or progression. So try to connect with passive candidates by writing on blog topics which suggest they may soon become active.
Entice passive candidates with one of the two key motivators to change jobs
The LinkedIn study identified,Explorers and Tiptoers as two further types of passive candidate who each respond to different types of incentive to move.Explorers who account for 40 percent of the market want a career move, Tiptoers accounting for 15 percent of the market want a better job.
Either prior to calling the candidate and/or during the call, try to establish which type of passive candidate your are dealing with, along with the career level/aspiration of that candidate, and then ensure that the opportunity you are presenting to them addresses their likely key driver of either a career move or a better job. This will encourage the candidate to show interest in your proposition.
Remove the obstacles
As many of you who have tried to approach passive candidates before will realize, they are often happily employed and can show a lack of interest and may even be resistant to talking to you.
In addition to good old fashioned persistence, a good way to engage with passive talent is to woo them by sending them gifts, like Red 5 Studios who sent a ‘personalized’ iPod with artistic package and a personalized message from the CEO to 100 well researched candidates. They received a 90 percent response rate and hired three staff.
Another key obstacle will be time. High performing passive candidates will be busy and will be time pressurized. So, make the application process as easy as possible, which includes things like allowing the candidate to use their LinkedIn profile for first screening (their resume is probably out of date), and promising first round video/telephone interviews outside of work hours etc..
Of course, I realize there is no guaranteed way to attract passive talent, but I hope these strategies can help you to more effectively engage with the silent majority of the candidate job market.