How to attract passive candidates in recruitment?

Recruiters often tend to focus on active candidates looking for work, thus neglecting the potential of 80% of qualified candidates: passive candidates. Although they are not looking for a job, these candidates are open to opportunities if they present themselves. Passive candidates generally bring valuable skills and experience to a business, but recruiting them is difficult, as you will have to convince them that your opportunity is greater than their current stability. In this article, we'll look at the strategies for attracting and engaging passive candidates, as well as theimportance of employer branding in the recruitment of these candidates.

Passive candidates: definition and importance for recruitment

Passive candidates are people who are not actively looking for a job, but who can be open to new opportunities if they show up. They represent a major talent pool, since it is composed of people who have already shown sufficient know-how and knowledge to be hired. Recruiting them is therefore a challenge, due to their difficulty of access (because they will not go to your job offers by themselves), but also because of the difficulty of convincing them to abandon their stability and their current advantages for the uncertain benefits that you offer them. You So you have to be creative and convincing in your approach to attracting and engaging these candidates.

Attraction strategies to attract and engage passive candidates

Passive candidates are an attractive source of recruitment for businesses, as they are not actively looking for a new job, but may be interested if the opportunity arises. The fact that they are already in office also reveals their qualifications. However, attracting these candidates can be a challenge. Here are strategies for attracting passive candidates:

Identify the profiles of passive candidates

The first step in attracting passive candidates is to identify the profiles that best fit the positions to be filled. It can be useful to draw up a list of criteria based on experience, skills, and preferences to determine the ideal profile.

The channels to use to reach them

Passive candidates are not actively looking for a job, so it is important to find channels where they are likely to be present. Professional networks like LinkedIn are a good starting point, but it is also important to explore other channels such as social networks or online discussion forums (Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, etc.). La HR programmatic is then the perfect tool for this, since it is able to target these candidates at any time on the entire web.

The content to be created

Creating quality content is a great way to attract passive candidates. Businesses can publish blog posts, case studies, or videos that highlight their corporate culture, achievements, current projects, etc. The aim is to arouse the interest of potential candidates and encourage them to apply.

The speech to give to convince them

Delivering a relevant and convincing speech is the core of the strategy for recruiting passive candidates. Indeed, since they are already in place, they will not make additional efforts to come back to you, unless you provide them with certain added value. Therefore, it is important not to hesitate to contact them several times, even without a response from them.

The commitment to convince passive candidates

Passive candidates are often inclined to stay in their current job and are not actively looking for new positions. To attract them, it is essential to actively engage them and encourage them to apply and respond to you. Commitment is the key to attracting the interest of passive candidates and convincing them to consider new opportunities. You could then almost compare this commitment to a commercial approach, where you are looking to “sell” your business to these talents.

How to present the company and career opportunities in a convincing way

To engage passive candidates, it's important to present the company and career opportunities in a compelling way. Passive candidates will logically be more receptive to opportunities that offer them a career development perspective, interesting projects, training or even additional benefits. It is therefore essential to present clear information and specific about the company, culture, values, development prospects and the benefits of working for the company.

How to create a positive experience for passive candidates

To engage passive candidates, it's also important to create a positive experience for them. Passive candidates are often more demanding in terms of the recruitment process, communication, and company transparency, since they don't really need to find a job. As a result, they will be less likely to submit to non-optimized processes. To make them want to apply, it is important to offer a smooth and personalized recruitment experience, to respond quickly to their questions and to offer them a transparent and efficient process.

The important elements of a career page to attract passive candidates

An attractive career page is also a key element in attracting passive candidates. Passive candidates can visit the company's career page to learn more about career opportunities, company culture, benefits, and development opportunities. It is therefore important to optimize this page with clear information, employee testimonies, photos and videos to give an idea of what it could be like to work for the company.

Passive candidates are definitely an important source of talent for your business. By using the right attraction and engagement strategies, you can successfully convince them to apply for your business. The benefits of working with passive candidates include access to highly qualified talent, candidates who are not actively looking for a job, and a better match between candidate skills and business needs.

Reach all the candidates in your audience with our HR programmatic technology. Try our free analysis tool which will give you the size of your audience detected on the entire web as well as the number of candidates you will receive.

If you've learned anything useful, we're counting on you to share this article with ❤️!

PS: Don't miss our news and events 👉 Follow us on LinkedIn

‍