Forget ‘passive’. Everyone is a candidate. All the time
Guess what?
Not everyone is actively looking for a job.
Yes, recruiters know that. But we often do not behave as though we know that. Research (and common sense) tells us that less than 10% of relevant talent are actively looking for a role at any given moment in time.
That means that 90% of candidates suitable for your roles are not engaged in job searches. They have not registered with recruiters, they are not perusing job boards, and they are not applying for roles. They are not even particularly unhappy where they are.
But they ARE willing to move!
So, crazy as it is, the global war for the best talent is being fought out among 10% of active job seekers, ignoring a huge pool of talent, where often the very best are to be found.
That is seriously ‘old skool’, and you need to rethink it.
The fact is that most recruitment agencies are failing to be creative in attracting unique talent to their databases.
We are fishing in an ever-shrinking pond.
Our talent pool is becoming a talent puddle.
Here is the thing I believe. Everything that is scary about the future of recruitment is in the change in the ways we find, attract and recruit talent. Not so much the client side. It’s on the candidate front that the battle will be fought. Mark my words.
So, the key to success in the future of recruitment is we have to change our definition of a candidate.
Most recruiters only register (mentally and physically) a person as a ‘candidate’ when that person has “opted in” to be assessed for a job, or seeks help on a job search. In other words they apply for a job. They send in their resume. Then we consider them a ‘candidate’.
But in the brave new world of recruiting, as talent shortages bite and set in for the long term, is it not time to have a fresh look?
When exactly does a talented person become a ‘candidate’ in our eyes?
When they see your ad? When they accept your headhunt call? When they apply to your ad on the phone? When you get their resume? When you interview them? When you submit their details to a client? When they follow you on Twitter? When they subscribe to your blog?
Think about it. If they are not a candidate until they ‘opt in’, (i.e. ‘apply’) what are they before that?
Someone connects to you on LinkedIn. They have not actively ‘applied’ for anything. Are they a ‘candidate’?
In the vast majority of cases, direct employers and recruiters alike are still doing it ‘old skool’ style. We set up our stall and we wait for candidates to come. We sell our jobs like a fruiterer. “Look at my nice cherries, would you like to buy?”
That will no longer do. The future of recruitment is that everyone is a candidate – all the time. And it is up to us to convert them into active candidates, not wait for them to amble up to our ‘fruit stall’ and ask for a punnet of cherries.
And so that means we have to leave ‘just in time’ recruitment behind. Running ads on job boards. Relying on the database. Even relying on referrals, as crucial as that is. Don’t get me wrong. We must still do these things. And depending on your market they will still work… to a degree. But increasingly they will not work. And they will not tap into the best talent. And eventually you will be so ‘old skool’ you will go out of business.
Because you will have nothing to offer clients that they can’t get themselves. Clients have LinkedIn, they have in-house recruiters, and they can build databases of talent.
And that means we must build relationships with talent, and communities of people, who we may only place in months and years in the future.
That is a key facet of modern recruiting. Identifying, connecting and building relationship with the vast passive pool of potential placements. Then converting them to active job seekers when the time is right.
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- Posted by Greg Savage
- On September 14, 2011
- 18 Comments
18 Comments