They say that everyone is a passive candidate nowadays and no matter how happy you are in your job, you’ll always be open to a new opportunity. After all we’ve constructed a culture in which job hopping is now deemed a good thing, and it’s always wise to be ‘open’ to new opportunities. With all that open mentality, that leaves recruiters with a healthy pool of talent to tap into. Yet workers today are far more savvy and particular about how they’re approached and who they engage with. That makes it more difficult for recruitment agencies who must engage with passive candidates in the right way. We asked around and found out some of the best ways to catch these candidates.
CRM
Okay, we know we’re always banging on about recruitment software and how much we love it, but when you’re looking to recruit passive candidates, normally the best talent in the market, it’s imperative that you use your recruitment database to do it. Your CRM is essentially the biggest butterfly net you’ll ever have.
With the Access Recruitment CRM you can curate a highly personal communication process between you and candidates that keeps you primed in their lives for when they become dissatisfied and want to leave. Setting email and SMS alerts will keep you on track with reaching out, calling and meeting up with candidates. There is nothing worse than a recruiter you haven’t heard from for months and months suddenly calling you out of the blue and pretending to be your best friend. It’s annoying and it makes you never want to talk to them ever again. Use your database to avoid this.
Your CRM also holds every single nugget of information about your candidates, including their long term career goals. Using this to segment and search through your database will reveal which candidates are primed and ready to engage with you. All you have to do is make the call at the right moment.
Be a mate not a recruiter
When it comes to passive candidates the typical transactional recruiting process doesn’t work. It’s a subtler dance that needs a lighter touch. Form genuine relationships with your candidates and create spaces for personal interaction. Go for a drink. Chill over a coffee. Grab a Nandos. Create situations that are informal and relaxed and watch as your candidates start to unfold. You’ll find out more about them over a pint in the pub than you ever will in your conference room as you interview them. Understanding their personal stories will give you insights into the things they really want and their current circumstances. Personal reasons are often the cause for leaving jobs, even if those jobs were happy ones.
Get personal
Candidates today have no time or patience for a standard email, or LinkedIn template in their inbox. It doesn’t matter how good the opportunity is, it’s impersonal in a world that craves a personal connection. They want phone calls and meet ups. They want interaction with their recruiters that go beyond business. They want emails that are exclusively for them. Naturally we talk to each one of our candidates in different tones and styles and it’s important to make sure all your communication reflects this. One size does not fit all. Which is why being able to set alerts on Access Recruitment CRM helps consultants reach out at the right times, while also curating bespoke engagements.
The thing that nobody in recruitment really talks about is that most candidates want one recruiter they can have a personal relationship with, and always call on every time they need to move jobs. Dealing with multiple recruiters, having the same conversation over and over again and continually regurgitating your career history is a complete nuisance. You don’t want to have to see a new doctor every time you go, and recruiters are exactly the same. Forge personal relationships and use the tools at your disposal so that when passive candidates decide to make the leap, you know about it before they do.
Hear from our CRM specialist on why Access Recruitment CRM software can place more candidates quicker:
