Filling vacancies is becoming an ever greater challenge, especially for fast-growing companies. Since 2022 at the latest, we have been talking about a candidate market in which candidates choose their employer and not vice versa. This makes it all the more important for employers to present themselves as an attractive company and to get passive candidates into the application process.
There is a notable skills shortage in the IT industry in particular, resulting in 96 % of employers having difficulty filling their vacancies.
Therefore, as a business owner or recruiter, you need to take advantage of every edge you can to attract candidates to you. Today's competitive marketplace requires unconventional recruiting methods, even toward passive candidates. Let's take a look at what recruiting passive candidates can mean for your business.
Why are passive candidates so desirable?
Passive candidates are usually those individuals who are in a permanent position and are not actively looking for a job at this time. However, you might be open to a new challenge. This is in contrast to active candidates who are currently actively applying.
Recruiting passive candidates - also Active sourcing called - targets passive candidates and is a long-term strategy of networking at the moment they are ready for a change. 80 % of passive candidates say they would approach a career change if the right opportunity presented itself. This shows the importance of building their talent pipeline with passive candidates and making it a core part of their talent acquisition strategy.
Passive candidates offer a great way to expand their talent pool, rather than only considering candidates who are actively applying for jobs. Let's find out why Active Sourcing is a tool 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 appropriate profiles on social media, blogs and forums need to be ongoing so you have a candidate network to draw on. You will be surprised how many of the passive candidates are open to a change after all and would be interested in a new challenge. If you're looking for candidates for a specific position, you already have their talent pool instead of starting from scratch. If you are hiring for niche roles, this is especially true.
2# Skills, skills and more skills
A passive candidate currently working in a similar organization will likely have the skills and expertise required for the role you are seeking. You can also verify their skills by speaking with colleagues who may know your targeted candidates from previous projects, for example.
Passive candidates have a greater chance of meeting their 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 the exact skills you are looking for. Using targeted search, you can identify and target candidates who are employed by their peers.
#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 ending up hiring them is appreciably 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 candidates, which can not only benefit the prospective employee, but also serve as a great referral source for future potential candidates.
#4 Strengthen your employer brand
Credibility and authenticity are the name of the game. If you focus on building a strong relationship with your passive candidates and presenting a robust employer brand, they will turn to you first when looking for a new challenge.
What if a passive candidate still decides against your company at the end of the application process? Even then, their efforts were not in vain. If you've made a good impression and ensured they had a positive candidate experience, passive candidates will remember it positively, speak well of it to their circle of acquaintances, and possibly recommend you as a potential employer to interested parties in their own circle.
#5 An important number
Our experience shows that passive candidates make up a majority of our client's hires. 82 % of passive candidates are ready to make a switch when a good opportunity arises. So why wait?
Active sourcing focuses on the long term, with the goal of staying in continuous contact with passive candidates and hiring them when the opportunity arises. It is time-intensive and requires a lot of tact.
Passive candidates: Your future talent pipeline
At indivHR we have 20 years of experience in recruiting passive candidates. We are continuously in contact with thousands of IT specialists in German-speaking countries to introduce them at the right time to the right employer that suits you. 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 also want to have a continuously filled talent pipeline despite limited recruiting capacities, we will be happy to support you.
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