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VIEWPOINT
Passive job seekers do it quietly
Do you have the right strategies to attract passive job seekers? Is your company able to attract those employees who would look happy in their jobs but would not say no for a better opportunity? While recruiting companies should also look for passive job seekers apart from the active ones, who usually post their resumes on all the job sites and the job boards and eagerly await the calls of the recruiters. Passive job seekers are often those t
op talented professionals, highly equipped and holding better positions in an organisation and do not see the necessity of going around looking for a job.
Passive job seekers remain passive in their job search, not that they are not interested in better opportunities but just that they do not take special efforts to job-hunt and avoid to be seen by others as a job seeker. The reasons for their passivity can be many- no enthusiasm to look for new opportunities, do not want to get out of the comfort zone or may be lack of time and energy to ponder over the issue of job-hunt. Provided a company is ready to give them a better offer they wouldn’t mind shifting their job.
One of the online surveys reveals that 23 per cent of the employees have admitted that they would not continue their job search if they have to let their identity be known on line. Some job seekers would want to remain unidentified during the job hunt for they do not want to face any kind of resistance from their management.
Nicki Gilmour, vice president of jobsinthemoney.com, says, “Passive job seekers – those not actively seeking work - won’t usually check job ads but they might visit websites that regularly provide interesting stories and research. This increases the likelihood that they may look into work opportunities that they might not have considered”.
Online sites like Linkedin, Jobster are offering special services for the recruiters to advertise and target the potential passive job seekers. Special softwares are available in the market only to target passive job seekers. They are adapted to suit the job seekers needs and they do not ask for all the details like candidate’s address or phone number which other sites do. Passive job seekers find it extremely convenient to deal with these sites as they could go on with their job-hunt in spite of remaining anonymous.
Companies need to advertise well regarding the vacancies available. Most of the job seekers think of a job change only when they happen to see an advertisement related to it. Remember that these people already have a job, so there should be something more enticing in the offer you are making.
Online niche boards should be launched by the companies to attract the passive job seekers. Describing the advertised position in detail along with all the future prospects that company holds for its employees will enable those passive job seekers to consider the offer. Such job boards maintain strict confidentiality regarding the identity of the seeker and will correspond with him in a discreet manner.
Initiatives taken by the company pertaining to corporate social responsibility and the image created by the media in this regard also play a great role in enticing the passive job seekers.
Head hunters use the tool of networking to trap the passive job seekers. Let the grapevine carry the good tidings about the company. Some of the hurdles a headhunter faces in convincing a passive job seeker are inadequate job description, inability to give a clear picture of the role and responsibilities associated with that particular position.
A head hunter might have to don the role of a consultant and counsel the candidate about how his profile fits the job description or how that job will pave for a better career. Such passive job seekers should be asked questions about their work, how satisfied are they with it, what is it that they are gaining from that particular job. Gathering all this information will help the recruiter in deciding if the candidate is actually a passive job seeker or not.
Recruiters should be concerned with a single issue – the talent of the particular candidate. If the candidate happens to be a talented one recruiters should go after him with a good job profile and talk him into accepting the offer.
It is believed that more than 40 per cent of the current work force is waiting for the right opportunities to come by. Its high time for the recruiters to identify such employees and target them.
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SANDHYA. U
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