Make your candidate sourcing active, not passive

If you have spent any time at all listening to the advice of a recruitment agency like webrecruit (http://www.webrecruit.co.uk), chances are that you're pretty bored by constant talk of "active" and "passive" candidates - and in any case, it isn't necessarily such an important distinction. After all, even the most passive people are often open to the offer of a great job. Instead, it needs to be asked whether your business has an active or passive approach to candidate sourcing.

For all too many companies, their approach to recruiting staff is a passive one. These are the firms that simply post fairly standard recruitment advertising on the most predictable online job boards and LinkedIn, simply waiting for candidates to reply.

Are you always sifting through hundreds of average CVs, leaving you with no time for the building of more meaningful talent pipelines? Or maybe you tweet a job only occasionally, not following it up with further advertising if you get no response? Perhaps you never review your existing recruitment database?

If you can respond with a "yes" to questions like those above, then it's possible that you, too, are being too passive in your staff recruitment. For as long as this continues, you will never consistently attract the very best talent out there, instead only drawing those candidates who happened to see your advert.

There are, however, ways to be more active when you recruit staff. You could start by recognising that people work for companies rather than jobs. Active and passive candidates alike tend to choose the firm, manager, working environment and future promotion opportunities. And yet... job adverts often overly emphasise a list of bullet pointed skills and little else. 

So, successful online recruitment depends on you using the Internet to really promote your organisation, its brand values and strengths and what exactly awaits the prospective employee. Both active and passive candidates should notice your company and be able to identify with its goals, environment, culture and vision. This increases the chances of them applying to your company, whether speculatively or for a particular role. 

Such candidates will be much more likely to be employees who refer your jobs within their own networks. Top talent tends to know other top talent, and if your employees view your business positively, they can be much more effective brand advocates. You should also ensure that your business is interesting and interactive online, making the most of social media as well as your main website and blog so that your talent pools and communities have reason to keep engaging with and listening to you.

An active candidate sourcing strategy certainly places the greatest emphasis on the 'social' aspect of social media, with the best clients of recruitment firms like webrecruit (http://www.webrecruit.co.uk) constantly meeting, engaging and conversing with people. By doing all of this with passion, creativity and a genuine belief in your organisation's values, you stand the best chance of attracting the best quality candidates with similar qualities.

Editor’s Note: webrecruit (http://www.webrecruit.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.