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Have You Developed a Passive IT Job Seeker Strategy?

on October 18, 2019 in IT Clients

 

If you hire for IT roles, you’ve probably experienced the recruiting and hiring challenges that have plagued the industry for years (and that will continue for the foreseeable future). If you are relying on traditional, reactive recruiting where you wait for job seekers to come to you after you post an opening, recruiting will continue to be a struggle. To fill critical positions in today’s market, it’s time to develop a passive IT job seeker strategy.

Understand Passive Job Seeker Motivations

Passive candidates are currently employed, and though they are open to new opportunities, they are not regularly scouring job boards looking for jobs. Their current job meets their needs, so to attract attention, you must understand what will motivate passive job seekers to connect with you.

While every person’s motivations are unique, most are driven by one or more of the following factors:

  • Higher pay
  • Exciting projects
  • A clear path for advancement
  • Better work-life balance
  • Great employer brand recognition

When reaching out to passive candidates, try to incorporate language that speaks to these motivations. However, be ready to engage in a lengthy process. It can take months – or longer – to attract top passive candidates.

Focus on Employee Referrals

Talented IT professionals know other talented IT professionals. Your best recruiting tactic could be the people you are employing today. Every happy team member is a potential source of leads for passive talent and employee referrals can be a recruiting goldmine:

  • Employee referrals reduce time-to-hire by 50%
  • Companies with referral programs have a 46% retention rate compared to 33% for companies that do not.
  • It only takes an average of 30 days to onboard a referred employee, compared to 55 days for a cold hire.
  • Employers save as much as $3,000 per hire for a referred candidate.

If you don’t have a formal referral program in place, now is the time to develop one.

Partner With Expert IT Recruiters

Building a successful passive recruiting strategy takes time and resources. When your team is already stretched thin, it can be impossible to devote the necessary time and attention to developing a program. Fortunately, there is an alternative.

An IT recruiting firm comes to the table with a pipeline of passive candidates ready to explore great new opportunities. Forming a recruiting partnership allows you to instantly tap into that well-established network and quickly access the exact talent you need when you need it.

The key to success is to choose an IT recruiting firm with a proven track record of success. At PEAK Technical Consulting, we have over 5 decades of experience helping employers build a STEM talent pipeline. Contact us today to learn more about the ways we can help you find the skilled IT professionals you need.