Filling vacancies is becoming an ever greater challenge, especially for rapidly growing companies. Since 2022 at the latest, we have been talking about a candidate market in which candidates choose their employer and not the other way round. This makes it all the more important for employers to present themselves as an attractive company and get passive candidates into the application process.
There is a significant shortage of skilled labour, particularly in the IT sector, which means that 96 % of employers are having difficulty filling their vacancies.
As a business owner or recruiter, you must therefore utilise every advantage you have to attract candidates. Today's competitive market requires unconventional recruitment methods, including passive candidates. Let's take a look at what recruiting passive candidates can mean for your organisation.
Why are passive candidates so sought after?
Passive candidates are usually people who are in a permanent position and are not actively looking for a job at the moment. However, they may be open to a new challenge. This is in contrast to active candidates who are actively applying.
Recruiting passive candidates - also Active Sourcing called - is aimed at passive candidates and is a long-term networking strategy for when they are ready for a change. 80 % of passive candidates say they would approach a career change if the right opportunity arose. This shows that it's important to build your talent pipeline with passive candidates and make them a core part of your talent acquisition strategy.
Passive candidates are a great way to expand your talent pool instead of only considering candidates who actively apply to job adverts. Let's find out why active sourcing is a tool that every recruiter should have in their recruiting toolbox.
#1 Smarter candidate sourcing
Recruiting works best when you are proactive. Instead of waiting for a position to become vacant, you can start your recruiting activities in advance and work on building your talent pool. Searches for suitable profiles on social media, blogs and forums need to be carried out continuously so that you have a network of candidates to draw on. You will be surprised how many of the passive candidates are open to a change and would be interested in a new challenge. If you are looking for candidates for a specific role, you already have your talent pool instead of starting from scratch. If you're hiring for niche roles, this is especially true.
2# Skills, skills and more skills
A passive candidate currently working in a similar organisation is likely to have the skills and expertise required for the role you are looking for. You can also check their skills by speaking to colleagues who may know your targeted candidates from previous projects, for example.
Passive candidates have a better chance of meeting your requirements. For example, if you are looking for an experienced Java developer and they are currently employed as such, you can assume that they have exactly the skills you are looking for. You can use the targeted search to identify and approach candidates who are working for your competitors.
#3 Be ahead of your competitors
It's no secret that top candidates who are actively looking for a job are off the market in 10 days. When you "target" passive candidates, your success rate of hiring them in the end is significantly higher. There is also a great chance that you will find candidates that your competition may not even be looking for.
They can spend their time building a relationship with the candidates, which can not only be beneficial for the future employee, but can also serve as a great referral source for future potential candidates.
#4 Strengthen your employer brand
Credibility and authenticity are key. If you focus on building a strong relationship with your passive candidates and present a robust employer brand, they will turn to you first when they are looking for a new challenge.
What if a passive candidate decides against your company at the end of the application process? Even then, your efforts will not have been in vain. If you have made a good impression and ensured that the candidates had a positive candidate experience, the passive candidates will remember it favourably, tell their friends about it and possibly recommend you as a potential employer to interested people in their own circle.
#5 An important number
Our experience shows that passive candidates make up the majority of our client's hires. 82 % of passive candidates are ready to make a move when a good opportunity arises. So why wait?
Active sourcing focuses on the long term, with the aim of staying in continuous contact with passive candidates and hiring them when the opportunity arises. It is time-consuming and requires a great deal of sensitivity.
Passive candidates: Your future talent pipeline
At indivHR, we have 20 years of experience in recruiting passive candidates. We are in constant contact with thousands of IT specialists in German-speaking countries to introduce them to the right employer at the right time. To do this, we spend a lot of time talking to passive candidates to get to know them and understand what a potential next step could be for them.
In this way, we help our customers to continuously fill their candidate pipeline for their IT vacancies so that the positions can be filled quickly. If you would also like to have a continuously filled talent pipeline despite limited recruiting capacities, we would be happy to support you.
