Attracting Passive Candidates – How Can Recruitment Software Help?

With evidence that the UK skills shortage is deepening, recruiters need to cast the net for new talent as widely as possible. Increasingly this means finding passive candidates, as well as those who are actively looking for a new job. Choosing sophisticated recruitment software which streamlines the candidate experience as much as possible is key to attracting these candidates.

There are high numbers of passive candidates among UK staff. According to the 2017 employee sentiment survey by Investors in People, 59% of staff in the UK are considering moving job this year. However, despite this high level of dissatisfaction with their current roles and a willingness to consider a move, only 25% said they were actively job seeking.

At a time of historically low unemployment, it’s likely that many of the individuals who would fit vacancies on your books are already in a job – so the task for recruiters is to find these people and encourage them to apply.

Making it Easy to Apply

Candidates who are already in a job will not have a lot of time to spend looking for a new one. This means that filling out over-complicated forms or jumping through too many hoops is likely to put them off. On the plus side, this very lack of time can make passive candidates keen to use a recruiter rather than applying direct to individual employers. But they will need to be assured that the recruiter will save them time and effort.

There are a number of ways in which recruitment software can help streamline the process of applying for a new post. For instance, web portals can make it far simpler for candidates to upload their details. Making it possible for candidates to search your vacancies and log in from multiple devices while on the move will also encourage a wider range of applicants.

Sourcing Passive Candidates

Approaching passive candidates can be difficult, but social media, especially LinkedIn, is increasingly important for this. Joining groups and giving information as an authority can build relationships and awareness. This will mean that, even if someone is not looking for a new job now, they are more likely to bear you in mind when the time is right for a move.

When you contact candidates, you need to make a good impression. This means being friendly without being pushy, and not spamming them with a lot of irrelevant jobs or opportunities in the wrong geographical areas. They need to feel that they can rely on you to alert them only to positions which could genuinely be right for them.

Today’s advanced recruitment software can be integrated with social media and record the information you need, for instance enabling people to apply by using their existing LinkedIn profile.

Your existing database will also contain valuable details of possible passive candidates; the people who have contacted you in the recent past. A good recruitment CRM makes it easy to search for candidates with the skills needed to find the best matches for a specific vacancy.

Monitoring Candidate Experience

It’s important for all recruiters to keep monitoring the candidate experience, and ensure candidates are happy with your services and their interaction with you. This includes not only the types of job you may approach them with and the channels available for applying, but also how quickly you respond to requests for information.

Having details instantly accessible, for instance via mobile software, can impress applicants and save them time. The quality of feedback you provide after applications and interviews is another key element here.

Providing a quality recruitment service is of course essential for all applicants, but even more so for passive candidates. These individuals don’t have the same urgency about searching for a new job because they are already employed, so they can easily be put off at any stage of the application process.

The danger is also that applicants who are dissatisfied will spread the word to others and so lose you more passive candidates in the future. This is one of the reasons why it is essential to get honest feedback from candidates who have used your service, so that you can make any changes needed to improve the application experience and attract both passive and active candidates to your agency.

Adapt recruitment software enables all the functionality needed for recruiters to source passive candidates and give them a good candidate experience. For example, vacancies can be posted on multiple job boards and social media platforms at once, and candidates can be enabled to respond via diverse devices, including mobile phones and tablets.