Candidate Recruiting: How to Find Passive Candidates (Easily)

by Siddhesh P June 15, 2023

Today, recruitment has become quite challenging for hiring managers, as it is difficult to attract talent easily. Attracting passive candidates can be quite useful in such cases, as they may help you fill open roles quickly.

There are myriad reasons leading to the delay in time to hire at workplaces, including but not limited to the competitive job market, low visibility, unattractive compensation or benefits, and so on.

In this blog post, we will see what passive candidate recruiting is and how to find passive candidates easily.

What is a passive candidate?

Around 70% of the global workforce consists of passive candidates, indicating a large pool of untapped talent, according to LinkedIn Talent Solutions.

Passive candidates aren't actively seeking new job opportunities but may be open to them if they see the right opportunity. Such candidates already have good domain expertise and can bring more value to the organization.

What is the Difference between an active and passive candidate in recruitment?

Active candidates are individuals acting in pursuit of new opportunities, such as recent graduates or those seeking a career change. Conversely, passive candidates are currently employed, as mentioned earlier.

For organizations seeking long-term commitment and dedication, passive candidates are 120% more likely to want to make an impact and create a positive work environment.

Effective Ways to Find and Recruit Passive Candidates Easily

1. Direct sourcing and headhunting

According to Indeed, by using direct sourcing or headhunting strategies, 73% of employers have successfully hired candidates who weren't actively seeking employment.

Recruiters can leverage LinkedIn, job boards, or other professional networks and reach passive candidates easily. Look out for professionals working in the same industry and reach out to such candidates.

However, with direct sourcing, recruiters need to create personalized messages which can highlight the skills and experience needed for the job roles. This can help candidates understand the position more accurately and help them find an opportunity that could benefit their career growth.

2. Passive candidates recruitment with the help of a talent pool

An organization's talent pool consists of potential candidates who are interested in working for it. These candidates may have applied for open positions in the past and may be interested in working for your organization.

According to Jobvite, 65% of recruiters believe talent pools improve the quality of hires, as they enable them to engage with potential candidates proactively.

Talent pools are thus quite beneficial, and they can help recruiters with access to a pre-screened pool of candidates, reduced time-to-hire, and immense cost savings.

3. Use social media for recruiting passive candidates

According to Statista, recruiters rely on LinkedIn for sourcing candidates 87% of the time, making it an effective platform for engaging passive candidates as of 2021.

Social media is the new norm today, and the same can be said for recruitment through it. Recruiters can leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., to identify potential candidates and reach out to them directly.

You can also improve your company’s presence through social media and leverage it to close positions quickly, reducing the time to hire.

4. Leverage online forums for recruiting passive candidates

Recruiters can also use online professional forums and communities to find candidates who are passive job seekers. Stack Overflow found that 56% of developers are open to new job opportunities, regardless of whether they are actively seeking them.

Recruiters can thus access this pool of highly skilled and in-demand passive candidates by engaging with online communities.

These professional forums and communities are a great way to find passive candidates who are skilled in their industry.

5. Find Passive Candidates by Employee Referrals

Employee referrals often result in higher-quality candidates, as the referred candidates are more likely to align with your company's culture.

Also, personalized recommendations can help with effective hiring for skill-based roles. Other benefits include- better job performance and better employee engagement.

Referrals from employees can significantly reduce the time it takes to fill job vacancies. Employee referrals take organizations less time to hire, according to a study by SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management).

Also, Read

What is RPO? (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) What are its benefits? (tacnique.com)

Outsourcing vs. In-House Recruitment: What to Choose? (tacnique.com)

How Recruiters Can Make the Most Out of Tech Interviews Outsourcing (tacnique.com)

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