5 effective ways for sourcing passive candidates
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Table of contents:
- Introduction
- What is a passive candidate?
- Why passive candidates?
- 5 effective ways for sourcing passive candidates
Introduction
Finding quality candidates is one of the main challenges for talent acquisition professionals.
While there are plenty of active job seekers out there, sometimes the best candidates are the ones who aren’t necessarily looking for a new position.
Sourcing passive candidates can be a great way to fill vacancies, but it can also be difficult to find the right people if you don’t know where to look. Here are 5 effective strategies for sourcing passive candidates and getting them to consider your job posting.
What is a passive candidate?
The traditional way of recruitment is to create and upload a job description to which candidates are applying for the role. Passive candidates are people who have already been hired and aren’t actively looking for a new position but are open to learning more about a new role. Sourcing for passive candidates requires a lot of time and effort since you need to actively seek out new connections and encourage them to apply for the open position.
Why passive candidates?
Sourcing passive candidates is one of the most efficient ways to identify relevant talent. Studies found that sourcing passive candidates for an open position is two times more successful than only receiving active applications, with one out of every 72 sourced candidates being hired, on average.
Moreover, in a market where only 30% of the candidates are actively applying for a job, it is essential to include passive candidate sourcing in your hiring strategy. Chances are, the ideal candidate is already taken, but most likely willing to learn more about the opportunity.
5 effective ways for sourcing passive candidates
1. Use social media
It's no surprise that one of the most common methods for sourcing passive candidates is through social media. After all, over 4.6 million people are active on social media, equating to 58.4% of the population.
LinkedIn is a popular social networking site for connecting with and contacting potential applicants, but you don't have to stop there. Your ideal candidates may frequent other online platforms.
These statistics show the number of active users of some of the most popular social media platforms:
- Facebook has 2.9 billion monthly active users
- Instagram has roughly one billion active users monthly
- TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users
- LinkedIn has 774 million users
- Twitter currently has 396.5 million users
If you are looking for candidates on other platforms than just LinkedIn, Twitter might be your solution. Twitter’s advanced feature helps you look into specific skills and competencies you are looking for in a candidate.
For example, if you are looking for people in digital marketing, you can screen candidates on the platform by looking for skills such as “SEO”, “e-mail marketing”, or “google analytics”. Identify those profiles that answer questions or are active in their industry and who could become a possible fit for the role.
You can also use targeted ads to identify and reach out to relevant candidates that fit your required profile. If you are uncertain where to begin, you can team up with your marketing team to create a profile of the ideal candidate, identify the networks the candidate uses, and establish a sourcing strategy.
2. Identify relevant candidates from your database
If you are looking for a candidate to fill a certain position, chances are you already have the relevant talent in your own ATS or database.
Although spending time and effort in searching for new talent is necessary to succeed with your hiring strategies, you can shift some of the efforts to identifying relevant candidates directly into your database instead.
After all, so many people have already shown interest in your company. They are familiar with the recruitment process and are most likely to apply again if they had a positive experience during a previous hiring process.
If you have a difficult time looking through the database or if you don’t have the necessary tools to filter out the desired skills and roles, you can use automated solutions that can do it for you.
3. Share employer branding
Employer branding might not be a fast or direct solution to your sourcing challenges, but it is a rewarding long-term strategy for attracting new talent.
Potential candidates are curious about you and your organisation. There is no one else who can lift your organisation's reputation than your current co-workers. Spending time on employer branding and showing potential candidates what it's like to be part of the organisation is a great way to attract both passive and active applicants.
Some examples of relevant ways to show candidates what it’s like to work with your organisation are by showing behind the scenes, enhancing your co-workers’ voices, and highlighting their own experiences.
If you are uncertain of what the best practices for employer branding are or how to get started, you can team up with the marketing department to develop a thorough strategy and highlight the values candidates can earn by joining your team and your organisation.
4. Use a recruitment software
We know that candidate sourcing is not easy. Depending on the role, recruiters can spend between 6 and 12 hours each week on sourcing alone. This time can be critical for tasks that add more value to you, your company, and your candidates.
Technology plays a significant role in the recruitment process, specifically during the initial hiring stages. You can use artificial intelligence to automate certain administrative tasks and spend more time creating better relationships with possible candidates.
There are different ways artificial intelligence can help you source candidates. You can use certain tools that automatically crawl the web to collect and analyse various data about the candidate, such as resumes or social media activity.
You can also use automation to source and identify relevant candidates directly from your database. Use an AI-based solution like Layke Analytics to get a clear view of what talent exists in your database through a monthly report that offers all the relevant information you need to screen relevant candidates.
This way, you can source candidates based on their experience, relevant skills, and industry match. You can also identify candidates by inserting one relevant job title and one or more skills, and then identify which candidates are in your database.
5. Check out portfolios and work examples online
Portfolios and work samples are a great way to learn more about the candidate and their work even before contacting them. Depending on the role you are looking for, there are numerous websites where people showcase their latest projects.
Looking at the candidates' online portfolios and work examples can help you understand their skillset and fit within the position.
This doesn’t mean you should only source passive candidates with a great online presence, but it’s a good way to start the conversation and get a feel for their personalities. You can even reach out to them and ask if they would be open to discussing their work and skills. This way, you can get a feel for their personality and even gauge their interest.
If you are sourcing for candidates specialising in programming, you can look into websites like GitHub, GitLab, or BitBucket. For more creative roles, Behance and Dribble introduce you to designers and creatives through online portfolios.
Conclusion
The traditional way of recruitment is to create and upload a job description to which candidates are applying for the role. Passive candidates are people who have already been hired and aren’t actively looking for a new position but are open to learning more about a new role.
Sourcing passive candidates is one of the most efficient ways to identify relevant talent:
- Sourcing passive candidates for an open position is two times more successful than only receiving active applications.
- With only 30% of the candidates actively applying for a job, the ideal candidate may be already taken but is likely willing to learn more about the opportunity.
You can source passive candidates by:
- Using social media;
- Identifying relevant candidates from your database;
- Sharing employer branding;
- Using a recruitment software;
- Checking out portfolios and work examples online.
