Passive recruitment involves recruiting passive candidates who are not actively searching for a job. The idea behind passive recruitment is to give yourself the freedom to find the perfect candidate for a role within your organization.

This form of recruitment also requires that employers reach out to currently employed candidates to bring them over to their organization. In this way, the employer is more active while the candidate is passive.

Currently, employed candidates may be a better fit for your organization. This is not to say, however, that active candidates are not a good fit. It’s more about increasing your pool of candidates. With competitive hiring markets, it can be difficult to find the right fit among the current list of candidates.

There is also the risk that if you chose poorly, a candidate may realize they are not the right fit and seek different employment soon after. If a candidate is already employed they will likely already have a good idea of what they are looking for in a new position. When they make the move to your organization they are doing so because it offers a better opportunity for them than their current job. This can impact your overall retention.

By reaching out to passive candidates, you can also expand your talent pool significantly. Most organizations have some form of active recruitment strategy, but the active talent pool is limited—with so many organizations fighting for the best candidates. When you seek out employees who are already employed, you open yourself to a whole host of talent that may be a great fit for your organization.

If your organization chooses to pursue passive candidates, you must be strategic in your approach. The best way to approach this is to build a candidate persona. Candidate personas will help you pinpoint the type of candidate you are searching for and narrow your results. Use a passive candidate database to track your pool of candidates based on their experience, skills, and education. Some examples of this would be Careerbuilder’s resume database, Indeed, LinkedIn, Jobsite, and Glassdoor. There are countless options for sourcing and organizing candidates and persona profiles. Research to discern which offering will best meet your needs and align with your strategy. 

Once you have a pool of candidates, engaging them in a friendly and direct manner is essential. This process of sourcing candidates from outside employers may not always be quick, but by reaching out, you set up the opportunity for a second conversation. 

Related Terms: Recruitment