HOW TO TARGET ‘PASSIVE’ JOB CANDIDATES

Recruiting quality staff is difficult at the best of times, but throw in a global pandemic and a skills shortage and you’ve got an all ’round recipe for what feels like a disaster!

So where are all the good candidates? The answer to this question in 2021 is, they’re working. 

And if they’re not working? A quality candidate stays available in the market for on average, only 10 days, and this is why it’s important to be tackling the passive candidate market just as hard as the active market.  

But what are the differences between active and passive candidates? Below we give a detailed description of both, and how you can best capture their attention.

1.       Active Candidates. 

These people are actively looking for new opportunities, browsing job boards and they are generally, immediately available for work. Active candidates apply for jobs until they successfully find a position and then they become ‘off-market’ candidates. 

How do I connect with active candidates?

In today’s market, unless you are in a rural or regional area, you are normally up against several other businesses that are also advertising for staff, so you need to ensure you have a competitive offering when it comes to employment. Are you providing a strong wage and incentive structure? Are you providing a fair and reasonable roster? 

And not to mention, is your job advertisement accurately representing your offering? Making sure you’re clearly communicating your benefits and effectively marketing the opportunity is key to ensuring that you’re capturing the candidates’ attention, and best case scenario, their application. 

2.       Passive Candidates. 

Passive candidates are arguably the best quality applicants, but the hardest to attract. Passive candidates are people that are currently employed and working; however they are open to hearing about new opportunities. These candidates are often looking for something ‘more’ than what they are getting from their current employer, or they have reached their limit in terms of promotion opportunities i.e. management or senior positions aren’t available to work toward. 

How do I connect with passive candidates?

At HeadHunter, we are focussed on finding ways to connect employers to the passive candidate market. We provide candidates the option to register on our platform as a passive job seeker and wait for the opportunities to come to them. Passive candidates often are not doing the hard work, they are waiting to be contacted, which is why we encourage business owners and recruiters to be running candidate searches and contacting them when they post an ad with us. 

In our current market, this sometimes isn’t enough though, so how do you reach even MORE passive candidates than those that are registered with us? Social Media. 

Running a creative and targeted, sponsored post across Facebook and/or Instagram means that your opportunity is popping up in the feeds of thousands of people. The goal here is to get the advertisement in front of as many people as possible to attract applicants, or to get in front of others that will then tag a friend or family member that has perhaps talked about looking for a new opportunity. 

Having an effective recruitment strategy that is targeting both active and passive candidates is key to ensuring a successful recruitment drive. At HeadHunter, our Upgrade Packages include a professionally written job ad, and sponsored social media advertising, and access to our full candidate database, all for under $500. Reach out to us if you’d like to learn more.