The problem with top talent is that there are fewer of them than there are open positions. Any employer would love to fill their team with the best of the best (and perhaps replace Tardy Tom while they’re at it) so when a highly skilled, highly driven candidate enters the job market, they aren’t there for long. Even more frustrating for hiring managers, many never even enter the job market at all, hopping directly from one job to the next without pause.

The companies that pursued those candidates before they had decided to start looking are doing what all smart recruiters need to do in today’s talent-hungry market. They zeroed in on their ideal passive candidates and laid the groundwork for them to make the move when they were ready.

The most successful recruiters know that candidates are consumers, and understand that waiting to woo talent until you need to fill a position is suboptimal strategy. According to a Hubspot collection of sales statistics, 63% of people requesting information from your company today will not purchase for at least 3 months (Tweet it!) and 20% are even slower moving, taking more than 12 months to buy. “A company should watch out for talent before a job opportunity might arise,” says Karin Schroek-Singh, career specialist. “Building good relationships in advance would make it easier to persuade a passive candidate to consider a new challenge at a later stage.” 

Getting in touch with passive candidates can be difficult, but they are willing to listen once you make the connection. “Passive candidates are not really as passive as they say they are,” said Steve Guine, National Director of Staffing at IIT. “Like active candidates, they are more than willing to listen. The big difference being, they are more selective.”

Learning something? Read the full article on the Happie blog!