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Why passive candidates make the best hires

As soon as companies have a new job opening, they can expect to be inundated with applications. For all of the dozens, or even hundreds, of applications a company receives, however, depending on its visibility, the best hires often come from outside this pool of resumes.

While we use the term "active candidates" to describe people who are proactively seeking and applying for new jobs, "passive candidates" are those who are satisfied at their current place of employment but might be open to making a change if the right opportunity were to come along. Here are some of the advantages companies may find in hiring passive candidates over their more active counterparts:

  • Long term: Passive candidates have typically been employed at the same place for a number of years, so companies can expect them to seriously consider only roles they could see themselves holding for an equally long time.
  • Less competition: Unlike active candidates, who may send their resumes out to dozens of organizations in your industry, passive candidates are usually not entertaining any other offers than your own. This makes it far less likely that they will end up rejecting you.
  • Less likely to "stretch the truth": Because they are under no pressure to find a job in a hurry, passive candidates are far less likely to lie about their skills or experience in an effort to land a job at your company than urgent job seekers.

With all of these benefits, it may seem like finding these individuals would be next to impossible. However, as much as 85 percent of the global workforce is comprised of passive candidates, according to LinkedIn's 2015 Talent Trends report. Here's how that number breaks down, according to LinkedIn:

  • 12 percent are actively (but quietly) looking,
  • 13 percent are casually looking for a better opportunity,
  • 15 percent are thinking about changing jobs,
  • and 45 percent are not actively thinking about changing companies, but report being willing to discuss new opportunities if contacted by a recruiter.

They are certainly out there, but figuring out how to connect with these hidden gems can be a challenge. Global executive search firms offer businesses the best opportunity, leveraging their extensive networks and industry knowledge to identify and attract top-performing passive candidates. YES Partners has successfully placed plenty of such candidates — see them here!

Finding people is easy, but finding the RIGHT people is not. YES Partners helps companies FIND the right people for all company functions, across many industries and globally.

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