Can’t find the right candidate? Maybe they’re not looking?
At Employment Office, we often are tasked with attracting candidates to seemingly impossible vacancies. The challenges might be a remote location, a rare skill set or even a combination of the two but the results are often the same; we deliver a qualified talent pool to our clients and give them the transparency and choice they need to fill the role.
Our clients often remark that we’re using the same media they use (generalist job boards, local newspapers, etc.) but our results regularly surpass their own efforts. One of Employment Office’s key points of difference is our ability to attract Passive Candidates. This article will focus on the Passive Candidate attraction strategies Employment Office’s Recruitment Advertising and Marketing Specialists use regularly to deliver superior results.
What’s a Passive Candidate?
A passive candidate is not currently in the market for a new opportunity, either because they are already employed or because they aren’t looking for work. It is estimated that between 75% and 90% of candidates consider themselves “passive” which means that, at best, an advertisement on a generalist job board or in the positions vacant section of the local newspaper will only be visible to 25% of the total market while the remaining 75% are currently not looking for work and won’t ever know about your opportunity.
How do we do it?
Employment Office has a number or strategies we regularly use including LinkedIn targeted candidate searches, creative uses of newspaper advertising space such as advertorials and recruitment advertising in the news sections instead of the careers section and Eshots which is a product only available through Employment Office.
LinkedIn Targeted Candidate Searches
An upgraded LinkedIn account (monthly charges apply) will give you access to the world’s largest professional network. With extremely powerful search tools, you are able to narrow down your candidate results via current and former employers, current and former job titles, location by postcode or town/city. Once you’ve decided upon candidates you would be interested in hearing from, you can send them a personalised InMail message alerting them to your opportunity.
Creative Newspaper Advertising Options
While newspaper job vacancy advertising has consistently been dropping in terms of volume and return on investment over the past decade, many companies including Employment Office have employed print advertising in new or creative ways. Advertorials in particular can be very effective. A recent example of Employment Office employing this strategy included a paid article written by one of the newspaper’s journalists that focused on the career highlights of an employee and directly adjacent to the glowing article was a position vacant advertisement that directed prospective candidates to our client’s opportunity.
Advertising within the main news sections including Business or Sports is also a fantastic way to complement your active candidate attraction. While only a portion of newspaper readers will peruse the Careers section, most or all will read the EGN and, when they do, they’ll see your opportunity.
Eshots – Employment Office’s Ace in the Hole
Through an exclusive partnership with the generalist job board, www.applynow.com.au, Employment Office has access to a database of registered candidates who have expressed their interest in future career opportunities that suit their requirements for employment. The database includes candidates of all skill sets, everything from general labourers and retail professionals to CEOs and General Practitioners. Employment Office will create a customised employer branded email template that highlights our client’s opportunity. A key point of difference between this product and other recruitment alerts is that the message is very specific to your opportunity where the majority of other email alerts feature a large number of positions lumped together which forces you to compete for candidate attention.
If you’d like to learn more about Passive Candidate attraction, Employment Office has a team of dedicated recruitment specialists who are able to answer any questions you might have. Don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call your Account Manager on 1300 366 573.
