Are You An Active Or Passive Candidate?

So, you’re on the lookout for a new job. But how serious, important and imminent is your quest to land a new position? The urgency around your job search is essentially what defines you as either an active or passive candidate.

Active or Passive Candidate – What’s the Difference?

As the name suggests, active job seekers purposefully set out looking for a new job. They might not necessarily be out of work but may have decided they are going to leave your current job and are looking for new roles with a definitive game plan.

If you are an active candidate you are likely to be highly motivated in your job search and execute the following steps in your quest to find a new job:

• Update and send out your CV to recruiters
• Register with multiple job boards and sign up for job alerts
• Apply for currently advertised positions
• Network with contacts and prospective employers
• Use social media to their competitive advantage by following leading recruitment consultants
• Practice and perfect interviewing techniques

Research shows that approximately 25% of the full-time workforce fall into the active candidate category.

Reasons Active Candidates are Searching for a Job

Whilst people leave their jobs for all kinds of reasons, some of the most common reasons for resigning from a position in favour of another role include:

• The commute has become unbearable
• Their current role is not allowing them to achieve their long-term goals
• There is a lack of progression/training in their current role
• Their employer is adamant about using old technologies and practices and is failing to keep up with the times
• They feel little job satisfaction
• Their salary is not enough

What is an Inactive or Passive Candidate?

Unlike active candidates, passive candidates are less proactive in their job search. Rather than actively seeking new job opportunities and applying for jobs, passive candidates might just have ‘one eye’ on the job market.

If you’re an inactive candidate, you might take certain steps towards finding new employment such as:

• Updating your CV online
• Searching job postings on job boards but avoid making an application
• Following companies and brands on social media

Inactive candidates might be thinking about getting a new job but are hesitant to leave their current job for a number of reasons. Such reasons may include:

• Worry about Brexit but are hesitant to ‘take the plunge’ and move on
• Are not convinced by the company culture of their current employer
• Aren’t entirely happy about their salary and would like to find a position with better pay or renegotiate their salary with their employer
• Feel they are not receiving adequate training and progression but are hesitant to resign
• Their workload feels so overwhelming, they don’t have any spare time to apply for open positions

Is it Possible to Achieve Success as a Passive Candidate?

Luckily for passive candidates, we are currently experiencing a candidate-led jobs market. Meaning there are more jobs available than there are candidates to fill them. Therefore, candidates can get away with adopting a passive stance.

If any of the above gripes sound familiar to you. A recruitment consultant can help take some of the stress out of your job search. In fact, recruiting passive candidates at times like this is their main recruitment strategy.

How a Recruitment Consultant Can Accelerate Your Passive Efforts

Recruitment consultants have a network of hiring managers they work with on a regular basis and have a constant stream of jobs coming in. So once a candidate is registered in their applicant tracking system, it will match their skills against all available job descriptions.

What this means for candidates is that they only need to submit one application to one recruitment consultant and they will do the job hunting for you. Not only that but consultants are aware of the culture within each employment brand.

After getting to know you and the kind of job you’re looking for, they will only submit your details to jobs they know you will be a good fit for. The result is that you multiply your efforts whilst doing less work. The best bit is, a recruitment consultant’s service is completely free for candidates.

A Few Final Thoughts on Active or Passive Candidates

After reading this article, we hope you have a better idea of whether you are an active or passive candidate. If you’re a passive candidate looking to accelerate your job search, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!