Active candidate is someone who is proactively searching for a job and open to new opportunities. Typically 25% of fully qualified employees can be assumed to be in this category.
Active Candidate meaning and definition
Active candidates are proactively looking for work. They are different from passive candidates who are employed but not in search for a job today. There are multiple reasons for a candidate to become active:
- future of the company is uncertain
- future of their role is uncertain
- trying to switch careers
- they have been let go due to performance or other reasons
- their employer went under
According to different sources, about 1/4th of all fully-employed workforce is in this category. They are an important source of filling your open positions as they are much more open to taking interviews and closing out the process.
How to recruit active candidates?
Although recruiting active candidates is easier and faster compared to working with passive candidates, it still requires dedicated effort and strategy. Here are a few steps you can adopt:
Job Postings:
Job postings still remain the most effective way of finding active candidates. You can post your job on job boards like Indeed and Monster and even on Linkedin. Make sure to add the right keywords in your job descriptions and try to share them as widely as possible. Be on the lookout for niche job boards for your industry as well.
The only problem is job postings that you'll get a lot of unqualified candidates as well and you might have to cut through the noise to find the ideal candidate for you job.
Active Sourcing:
Active sourcing is an alternate approach to job posting. In this approach, instead of waiting for candidates to come and apply to your job postings, you search for active candidates. Most job boards and Linkedin have the option to search for active candidates. They automatically boost candidates are recently active on the platform.
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Employee Referrals:
Referrals are an underused channel. Having a good employee referral program helps in spreading the word about the open positions and makes your current employees champions in front of the candidates. Its a great source because most active candidates ask their friends for open roles and this could get the word out.
Employer Branding:
Having a killer job posting is of no use if no one wants to work at your company :) According to recent staffing industry report, 3/4th of the workforce wont take a job if they dont like the company. So get the word out on social media about your employer brand, your values and mission statement and most importantly keep your current employees happy.
Social media presence:
Your social channels are a great way to share your brand and your job postings. Active candidates today check and utilize social media channels like Linkedin and Twitter to research more about the company before applying.
Active vs Passive candidates
Passive candidates on other hand are employed but not currently looking for a new opportunity. This group accounts for 75% of the workforce.
Passive candidates typically require more convincing to interview (which also means that they are not interviewing anywhere else). According to multiple reports, while passive candidates become active for the right opportunity and you will never know whether they are truly active untill you speak to them.
