INFOGRAPHIC: How do you lure passive candidates in the US?
“My job is OK, but I’d definitely look at a new opportunity if they had ______.” Passive candidates who say this may not be actively looking – but they definitely have that ‘wandering eye’.
When 37.1% of the eligible workforce in the United States are passive candidates according to our Great Discontent survey, this is a great opportunity when you’re starved for candidates.
But how do you get them to apply to your open roles? As anyone in sales knows, getting someone’s attention is easy enough. But getting them actively interested is another thing altogether.
Before interacting with them, you need to understand what would excite them about a job in your company. We’ve already done that research for you. Let’s dive in!
Want to see all the data in one place? Check out the full infographic below or download it for your own files.
The law of attraction
Think about passive candidate attraction in terms of magnets. For them to move to you, your company’s “magnet” needs to be stronger than their existing company’s magnet.
So, what are the primary properties of a company magnet that would pull a passive candidate into a new direction? Let’s take a look.
Job attractors
Passive candidates would be very attracted to jobs that offer work flexibility and have plenty of day-to-day logistical support. Oh, and compensation is big as well. They don’t care as much about training – if they do, they’re likely already actively looking.
Employer attractors
And what about companies themselves? Passive candidates can be attracted if your company is transparent with employees, possesses a healthy company culture, and has great leadership.
The law of retention
Now, let’s look at their existing company’s magnetic qualities. Not everyone wants to move to a new job. They’re fine with where they are, but there are some “nice to haves” that would make a difference in their loyalty to a company.
You do have an opportunity here: when talking with passive candidates, target those “nice to haves” and promote them as already existing in your own company, and you might attract them to your open roles.
So what are those “nice to haves”? Let’s have a look:
Job retainers
If your company actively supports its employees at work and offers job security and advancement potential, that’s a positive attractor as many passive candidates wish they had those in their existing role. Salary, perks and benefits are of course big as well.
Employer retainers
Passive candidates aren’t loving their current company’s social and environmental positioning, or even reputation. They’d also like to see better leadership, transparency and overall company culture where they currently work.
We hope these insights are helpful to you. You can also read more about passive candidates and how to source them. Personalizing your outreach is very important as well.
Also consider updating your careers page and fine-tuning your job descriptions so they engage a potential candidate’s best interests.
Check out our other infographic to understand who these candidates are and where they’re actually working. And what about passive candidate attraction in the UK? We have that covered too.
In the meantime, you can save time and resources using powerful AI-driven tools to source the best candidates for your company. For instance, Workable’s AI Recruiter automatically sources the best 50 candidates for every job from a diverse pool of 400 million-plus potential jobseekers worldwide.
