Recruiting

Attracting Passive Candidates?


Jun 27

Bill Humbert, Recruitment Consultant

 

 

When I attend recruiting conferences and human resource meetings nationwide, inevitably the conversation works its way to attracting the Holy Grail of recruitment – the passive candidate.

It is valuable to listen carefully to that person’s definition of who the passive candidate is. Generally companies define the passive candidate as someone who is doing a job at a high level within another company, and is perfectly content to remain there.

Then go to the website of the company seeking to attract the passive candidate. Does the company put up roadblocks while trying to attract the passive candidate? Beware of conflicting goals. If the company truly wants to attract the passive candidate, do they make it easy for them? Obviously if they are just looking around, they will not fill out an application prior to a conversation. How many companies are being sold by their applicant tracking system vendors that requiring candidates to complete an application prior to the company’s demonstrated interest in the candidate is best practice? It appears that many companies have bought into this practice. This practice runs directly counter to the sales process.

Successful recruiting is a sales process – pure and simple. The processes match perfectly.

Sales Process

  1. Identify need
  2. Develop service or product to fill need
  3. Source potential clients
  4. Perform needs analysis
  5. Proposal
  6. Negotiation
  7. Close
  8. Delivery of product/service

Recruitment Process

  1. Identify need – new or replacement
  2. Create job description
  3. Source potential candidates
  4. Interview – needs analysis
  5. Offer
  6. Compensation negotiation
  7. Close
  8. Delivery of candidate

In the recruitment sales process, the application should be completed after the interview is set and prior to the interview. Now you have sufficient interest from the passive candidate to motivate them to complete the application prior to the interview.

Requiring passive candidates to complete an application while surfing your website will cause them to continue surfing to another company that understands that recruiting is sales.

Bill Humbert is an expert nationally based Recruitment Consultant and the author of “RecruiterGuy’s Guide to Finding a Job.” His business, RecruiterGuy.com, specializes in recruitment continuous process improvement, employment branding, creative candidate sourcing, interview training, and how these tie together to attract Impact Performers.

 

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Bill Humbert is an expert nationally based Recruitment Consultant and the author of “RecruiterGuy’s Guide to Finding a Job.” His business, RecruiterGuy.com, specializes in recruitment continuous process improvement, employment branding, creative candidate sourcing, interview training, and how these tie together to attract Impact Performers. He then helps his clients attract those Impact Performers. Bill Humbert is an expert nationally based Recruitment Consultant and the author of “RecruiterGuy’s Guide to Finding a Job.” His business, RecruiterGuy.com, specializes in recruitment continuous process improvement, employment branding, creative candidate sourcing, interview training, and how these tie together to attract Impact Performers. He then helps his clients attract those Impact Performers. Bill Humbert is an expert nationally based Recruitment Consultant and the author of “RecruiterGuy’s Guide to Finding a Job.” His business, RecruiterGuy.com, specializes in recruitment continuous process improvement, employment branding, creative candidate sourcing, interview training, and how these tie together to attract Impact Performers. He then helps his clients attract those Impact Performers. To network with Bill Humbert: E-Mail: recruiterguy@msn.com | Web Site: http://www.recruiterguy.com | Blog: http://humbertgroup.blogspot.com/ | LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/recruiterguy | Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/RecruiterGuy81

2 Responses for Attracting Passive Candidates?

  1. Jenny Voigt :
    June 28, 2011 at 10:38 am

    I definitely see your point, Bill. My question is this – how do you implement your concept using an applicant tracking system? We don’t accept unsolicited resumes. Would you allow interested parties to just submit their resume via the ATS in response to a posting? And then how does that segue into actually completing an application?

  2. Bill Humbert :
    July 10, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    Jenny, Generally the ATS allows you to determine the process a candidate follows in order to become a candidate. My ATS, SmartSearch by aps2k.com, allows me to set up a different process for each client that follows their process. I suggest that your process becomes (oversimplified) candidate you are interested in replies to job posting, then is phone screened by recruiter, at the time the onsite interview is set require them to complete the application prior to interview, then onsite interview. That process encourages the completion of an application because there is mutual interest.

    Regarding unsolicited resumes, it depends on if your company desires passive candidates – possibly not. If so, beware of conflicting goals. If you change policy, simply follow process above.