​Passive VS Active Candidates, who should you be searching for?

You may have heard candidates described as being ‘passive’ or ‘active’ somewhere in your recruitment journey, so what exactly do they refer to and which do you need for your next hire?

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Active Candidates

As the name implies, active candidates are actively hunting for their next job opportunity. You may not have been aware that two-thirds of active candidates are already employed and are the easiest of candidates to find because they are submitting applications and resumes regularly. Active candidates make up roughly 30% of the market so although they may be the easiest to find, they are the minority.

Did you know? Between the two main types of candidates, there are also a small group of people in the middle often labelled “tiptoers” who are not actively searching for a new position but are in the preparation stage. At Fuse, these hidden gem candidates are often referred to us through our referral program .

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Passive Candidates

Passive candidates account for up 70% of the global workforce, making them necessary to source as part of the recruitment process but they are much more difficult to find and connect with. Passive candidates are harder to source as they are not actively applying on job websites, which means strategies need to be implemented to reach them. When filling positions that could be considered ‘niche’ or highly skilled, it pays to search in both passive and active candidate pools to access 100% of potential matches. Passive candidates will generally only be interested in positions that offer them more opportunity than their current employment and building relationships to understand their needs better is crucial to winning them over.

At Fuse, we have access to third-party databases such as SEEK, LinkedIn and Indeed. This means we can use recruitment-specific searching techniques to find suitable matches based on a range of variables, including keywords, industry, skill set, location, experience, previous employment, and much more. Although a candidate may not have updated their resume or been active in the market for the past three years, we are able to use our expertise in sourcing to engage passive candidates in a new opportunity.

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Want to know more about how to take advantage of the passive candidate market to engage the best talent for your business? Ask us here!

Whether actively searching or not, what might surprise some is that 87% of the market is open to hearing about new opportunities. Maintaining ongoing relationships with all candidate types allows us to provide you with the best talent your industry has to offer.

Ready to find your next hire? Reach out to us now or check out our hire talent page to find out how Fuse can provide your business with a tailored recruitment solution!