Passive Candidates Meaning | How to Convince Passive Candidates | HRMantra

Passive Candidates Meaning | How to Convince Passive Candidates | HRMantra

5-6 minutes

What is a Passive Candidate

Any person who is not actively seeking employment but falls into the eyes of recruiters due to his/her qualifications and skills is a passive candidate.

Passive candidates would mostly be people having the skill set and experience(s) that recruiters look for in a candidate. Such candidates would normally be working and not actively seeking employment (or even thinking of switching jobs).

They are difficult to find, and passive candidates are to be persuaded by the recruiter by presenting a better and attractive offer to switch their job. This is normally because of neck-and-neck competition in a particular area or lack of employees.

Table of Content

• Passive Candidates: Importance in Recruitment
• Passive Candidate VS Active Candidate
• Sourcing Candidates: Recruiting Passive Candidates
• Key Takeaways
• Frequently Asked Questions

Passive Candidates: Importance in Recruitment

""Many employers target passive job seekers because they are looking for candidates who have positive employment records and who are satisfied with and successful in their work. Employers often target passive job seekers due to the lack of qualified job candidates to fill critical roles."" — SHRM.

Why It Matters: Passive candidates have earned their reputation in their current field and are highly qualified.

Some reasons why the passive candidates are important for a company:

Better Workforce

Hiring passive candidates can be very beneficial for the company since they have excellent skills. This helps in building a better quality of workforce.

Less Competition

Since these candidates are head-hunted, there is hardly any competition given that they are not job searching. You can easily attract them as a recruiter by offering something exciting and challenging.

More Efficiency

Such passive candidates have the capabilities and credentials to be very useful in making the company reach new dimensions.

Passive Candidate VS Active Candidate

Sourcing Candidates: Recruiting Passive Candidates

Since passive candidates are not looking for a job, and since they are highly talented in their line of work, it takes a very strategic and personalized approach for a recruiter to get in touch with the candidates.

Referrals

Recruiters may take references and recommendations from their employees themselves or other industrial connections.

Online Platforms

As a recruiter, you can search for candidates on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. It''s quite easy to search for talent on social media since people do update their CVs regularly and not to mention, you even have the option of searching by hashtags. You may even personalize your communication as per your media.

Recruitment Strategies

To approach passive candidates, as a recruiter, you would primarily need to know precisely the description of the job and who you are calling. After that, accordingly, you will be able to plan and approach your strategy.

Employer Brand

How the brand is perceived by its employees, candidates, clients, and others depends upon the employer''s brand. While recruiting a passive candidate, this perception about the brand will matter significantly.

Key Takeaways

• A passive candidate is someone who is not actively searching for a job, yet he will still be considered by the recruiters due to his qualification and skill.
• Passive candidates are usually individuals possessing the skill(s) and/or experience(s) being looked for by the recruiters. Most of these candidates are employed and are usually not searching for employment or considering switching jobs.
• Unlike passive candidates, active candidates are available and actively seeking employment.
• To source passive candidates, employers use sources such as referral programs, online platforms, and recruitment strategies.

FAQs

How to convince passive candidates

The passive candidates are very difficult to find and to be persuaded by the recruiters by presenting a better and attractive offer to switch their job.

How to engage passive candidates

Passive candidates can be engaged when they feel valued. The recruiter can initiate it by doing some homework on their background, experience, highlighting the benefits of the position, and presenting a better offer.

How to find a passive candidate

You can source a passive candidate through referral programs, employer branding, and online platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.

Conclusion

Basically, you don''t have to restrict yourself to people who are actively looking for a job in pursuit of finding the right candidate. You could approach those people who might be satisfied at their current job but are in possession of the quality and skills that would make them a perfect candidate.

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