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Waking the Sleeping Giant - Passive Candidates Won't be Passive for Long!

By Bryan Johanson, May 31, 2007

Life in recruiting used to be simple. Recruiters had exclusive jobs to offer to passive candidates who weren't looking for a job. Recruiters were the only ones who knew about these jobs, which gave them some element of control. The internet didn't exist and passive candidates stayed passive. Today the line between passive candidates and active candidates is crossed regularly.

Read more articles by this author.

Related Topics:

Newsletter, Recruiting, Sourcing

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Here's the scenario. A great recruiter can uncover a high-quality passive candidate through networking - someone who is not currently looking for a job, fully employed, and generally happy. The skilled recruiter convinces said candidate that the opportunity he/she represents is worthy of consideration. At this point the candidate is still truly semi-passive. The candidate doesn't need another job, but is willing to explore an opportunity if the recruiter can demonstrate that it is clearly better than the job the person is doing today. An interview is scheduled and the candidate agrees to meet with the hiring manager. Once the recruiter has done all the work to find the candidate, convince the candidate that the opportunity is worthy, and gets the candidate to come in for an interview, then the shift happens. Almost instantaneously the candidate moves from passive all the way to extremely active. Here's what happens next:

1. The candidate starts re-evaluating his current position. Maybe his company isn't paying him what he's worth. He thinks, "At the very least I can use this new job possibility as a way to wake up my current employer to my real value. I might even get a raise or a counter-offer, and I don't have to disrupt my life, uproot my family, or move." Recruiters report that counter-offers are on the increase.
2. The candidate starts to wonder what he's really worth on the open market. He thinks, "Even though this job sounds great, it wouldn't be good to take it without considering what else is available." This candidate goes to Google, Monster, HotJobs, CareerBuilder, and Indeed.com - not to mention company websites that are in his field - and actively looks for new opportunities. This candidate is not going to take your job unless he is convinced it's better that the other opportunities out there. If a job posting online really catches that candidate's attention he'll act quickly to set up an interview with 2-4 other companies to use as comparison points.
3. If there are significant hurdles to accepting your position, such as relocation, long commute, compensation, or scope of work issues, candidates quickly step up their efforts to find comparable, but more desirable, jobs that meet all of their needs. What does the recruiter hear from these candidates? "I need more time," "I'm not sure this is the right fit for me," or "I'm not ready to make a final decision yet."

All the work and effort that went into sourcing, convincing, and prepping that candidate is now at risk. The sleeping giant is wide awake and all bets are off. In the pre-internet world, the candidate would not have had access to all these other jobs. It would have been difficult, time consuming, and would have required a significant amount of effort to get real competitive information about other opportunities. Today it's almost instantaneous. The hidden job market is no more. Why? Companies, before they will engage an outside recruiting agency, will try their luck with their jobs online first. They will post to Monster, CareerBuilder, and Craigslist hoping for a quick hit. Only when that fails will they engage an outside resource. That means that most jobs are available to everyone. We actually had one high-level candidate - for a high six-figure CFO position - accept the job only to decide the week before starting that the he didn't want to move. He found three other similar jobs online and snagged one of them within a week.

So what are the implications? The nature of recruiting has to change.

• Speed is of the essence. Recruiters have to accelerate the process so candidates don't have as much time to shop around and get cold feet. Recruiters report that search assignments are much easier to get lately, but it's harder to maintain candidate control.
• Job knowledge is critical. Top candidates will only take a job if there is a real opportunity and demonstrable career growth. The ability to articulate that opportunity, as compared to all the other possible opportunities, is a critical skill. In-depth job knowledge has never been more important.
• If you have a good candidate, hiring managers need to be ready to act now. Hiring Managers often want to see a whole slate of candidates. Since candidates come and go more quickly as they gain more information, hiring managers don't have the luxury of seeing a slate of 3-6 candidates and waiting to make a decision.
• Hiring managers and the team must be completely involved in recruiting from the start. The recruiter will not be able to attract top talent alone. It is essential that the hiring manager and other team members proactively engage in helping to recruit the candidate. At the end of the day, the new employee isn't working for the recruiter; he/she will be working for the manager and the team. Closing top talent is a team effort.
• Managers and recruiters must become expert interviewers. Speed requires that recruiters be absolutely clear on their assessments of candidates. There is no room for error

If your current recruiting process doesn't take these things into account, you're likely to be losing some real top talent. Sleeping Giants won't remain passive for long. Once awakened, you have to quickly change your process to accommodate their needs. Unprepared recruiters may get stepped on and the result is not a pretty sight! (See more articles on recruiting passive candidates.)

Happy Recruiting.