“When at First You Don’t Succeed…” The Key to Passive Candidate Recruiting

If you are a recruiter or hiring manager or you are involved at all in the hiring process, you know that there will be times when it seems like you’re not making any progress searching for a particular role. The inbound resumes are not a match at all for what you are looking for, and your passive candidate recruiting and sourcing efforts aren’t getting any responses.
It can be frustrating, but the key thing to remember is not to give up. As with most things in life —“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”.  Don’t reach out just once and think that it’s a lost cause if passive candidates don’t answer you. What if they don’t check that email often? What if they deleted the email because they thought it was spam? Or what if they never got that voicemail you left them?

The 3 Attempt Rule for Passive Candidate Recruiting

I generally have a “3 attempt” rule — I’ll try reaching out using three different methods (if possible) to passive candidates before I move on. This will increase the chances that passive candidates actually receive and read one of the messages, while also making it clear that I am very interested in them for the role, hopefully thereby flattering them and piquing their interest.
Here are some examples of outreach methods to try:

1) Connecting on LinkedIn

Send passive candidates a connection and in the message explain that you were impressed by their background and were interested in networking about a potential opportunity.

• Pros: A connection will open you up to more methods of contact and will also grant you access to their network. If they are not interested, someone in their network might also be a fit.
• Cons: Some people rarely check their LinkedIn accounts and may not accept the connection for a long time. Additionally, there are people who will not accept because they don’t know you. Lastly, the odds of them taking the time to read the personalized message you wrote are slim.

2) Messaging or “Inmailing” via LinkedIn

Especially if they accept your connection but don’t respond, you should follow up with a message explaining in more detail what attracted you to them and what the opportunity entails. If they don’t accept your connection, send an “inmail” (if you have an upgraded account).

• Pros: This message is not limited to a certain number of characters, so you can explain more about the role and make the message more personal to grab their attention.
• Cons: Again, unless they have their LinkedIn account synced up to their email they may not see the message.

3) Emailing

Obviously you would need a way of getting their email, but if they accepted your LinkedIn connection you will have it. Otherwise, some Google searching or finding the email construct of the company they work for may be helpful. Send an email similar to the LinkedIn message explaining the role and your interest in their background and attach the job description.

• Pros: Out of these first three options, an email is most likely to reach and be read by them. You can also attach the job description, which can come in handy.
• Cons: You may not have the email address, and if you are guessing or searching for it you may come up with the wrong one. Also, your email may be seem as spam and may get deleted before it’s read.

4) Calling

Again, you will need a way of getting their number (maybe your found their resume on Monster or Dice instead of using LinkedIn). Otherwise, you would need to call into the company (which I am not a fan of). Calling could go either way — you could have a great conversation and the person could be a great match, or they can hang up on you.

• Pros: A phone call is much more personal than an email and allows for back and forth so you can assess whether there is interest and a match.
• Cons: Some people will find it very rude that you are calling them out of the blue and may be turned off from the opportunity right then. You also may simply have trouble getting the right number or reaching them at their office.

Regardless of which communication route you choose, it is important to remember that trying once is not enough. If you really want to attract these passive candidates, you need to make sure they get the message and recognize the effort you are putting in just to get their attention.
Which of these four outreach options have you had the most success with connecting with passive candidates?