In this extended period of economic growth, the unemployment rate has continued to steadily drop. There are a number of ways to look at the amount of people who are unemployed as it gets classified into a number of categories. In August 2015, high school graduates with no college experience have a 5.5 percent unemployment rate while people with an associate’s degree or some college experience are at 4.4 percent. Narrowing it down even further, the unemployment rate for people with at least a bachelor’s degree is at 2.5 percent.
With those numbers, finding qualified job candidates becomes challenging. However, the growth of the economy leads to more open positions. Simple supply and demand shows that it’s a candidate-driven market.
So what can companies do? Increase the size of their candidate pool, and one way to accomplish that is by contacting passive job candidates. It’s much easier to contact passive job candidates than to actually get responses from them. Here are a number of tips to have your efforts become successful.
It Takes More Than One Contact
Don’t get frustrated when your first attempt goes without a response. People get a lot of email and may just brush off your contact as noise. Going in with a plan will lead to more success.
Before your first attempt, have a plan for your schedule of contacting the passive job candidate. Is it all through email? Did you find them on Facebook or Twitter? Have you asked for a connection through a social media outlet? What do you know about them that can make the message seem personalized? Is there a common connection that can help with the networking?
Having a plan for all your contact attempts, and modifying them by seeing what is successful, will lead to more conversions in getting a response.
What to Talk About
When you’re able to make that connection and set up a phone call, now you need a plan on what to talk about during the initial conversation. Most people aren’t going to make a move for compensation (unless it’s an enormous increase.) Discuss with the candidate about how this position will be a great move for their career path.
Has their current career gotten stale? Are they stuck in their path without a promotion in sight? Some people might not want to embark on a job search because it takes time and can be difficult to undertake while still employed. Once they hear the possibility and see how a move will have a positive impact on their career, then you’ve been successful and can move on to getting them to seriously consider your open position.
Work with One of the Top Pittsburgh Staffing Agencies
Tight deadlines – and a tight employment market. Complex hiring requirements. Constantly evolving projects and business needs. Factors like these make recruiting specialized talent more challenging than ever. We understand, and we are here to help. Contact JH Technical Services today to get started!