Cold-pitching candidates on social media sites, liked LinkedIn®, is common practice for many recruiters. You do a quick search, find candidates that seem like they’d be a good fit for the role, and then message them via InMail. Seems easy enough, but what if the candidate isn’t currently looking for a job or is content with the one he or she is currently in?
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We call these candidates “passive,” and while they may not actively be looking at the moment, reaching out and building a relationship with these candidates is a great way to build your pipeline for future needs.
Using information parsed from talent acquisition platform Yello’s latest report, “How to Improve Your Passive Candidate Pipeline,” we outline three ways to improve your passive candidate communications using artificial intelligence (AI).
1. Streamline and Automate Communication
As we know, communication is key to a successful candidate experience, and this sentiment holds true for passive candidates as well. By reaching out to potential candidates and showcasing the value and benefits of working at the company you’re recruiting for, you can prepare them for what lies ahead if they choose to go down the path of seeking out a new job.
Yello suggests sending passive candidates regular communication that might include updates on company awards or accolades, open positions, industry events, or networking opportunities. You should also regularly update your career page to ensure it reflects your current recruitment marketing efforts.
2. Support Mobile-First Recruiting
If you’re still having your candidates apply via paper applications, you’re missing out! Most people these days always have their cell phones or tablets glued to their hands, which means they’re more inclined to apply on the spot if the application process is easy to access and mobile-friendly.
However, if you do decide to go the mobile application route, you want to make sure that your applications are easy to fill out and compatible with all devices. If you’re asking candidates open-ended questions that require a lot of “texting,” good luck getting the candidate to finish the application.
As Yello points out, sites that aren’t optimized for mobile give job searchers the impression your company’s technology and processes are antiquated. Yello suggests using Google’s Mobile-Friendly test tool to see how mobile-friendly your site really is.
3. Lure Potential Candidates with Video
Video is a great place to showcase what it’s like to work for the company you are recruiting for. Video can show candidates and jobseekers what the workforce looks like, how the company operates, and the overall vibe a company has better than any written text can.
Yello suggests filming employees discussing work life, hiring managers explaining their open roles and, if positions are highly collaborative, different team members explaining what goes on during a typical day to create a day-in-the-life style video.
You can then post these short videos to your social networks in lieu of a written job description. As Lindsay Stanton, Chief Client Officer at Digi Me, recently pointed out, 45% of people watch more than 1 hour of Facebook or YouTube videos per week. Furthermore, she notes that 100 million hours of video are viewed on Facebook each day. With these kinds of numbers, you can see the power video has over consumers and jobseekers, alike. So, what’s holding you back from utilizing this strategy to recruit top talent?
Whether it’s understanding where jobseekers learn about your company, interview process speed, or candidate communication preferences, the 2018 Yello Recruiting Study: Demographic Deep Dive shares supplemental data to shape best-in-class talent acquisition strategies. To learn more about this report, click here.