How do you build and maintain relationships with passive candidates and talent pools through talent scouting?

Talent scouting is a process through which we get into market data for talent availability, talent landscape, talent mapping to identify the potential talents across the industry and the effective ways to reach out to them. I use to segregate the criteria specifically like target companies, designation, skills, experience, location, academic background, etc through various channels like LinkedIn talent insights, LinkedIn Talent pool report, Naukri insights, Instahyre, etc. These insights and data will help us to reach out to the targeted set of potential candidates where we further need to do our research and intelligence to connect and engage them.

Recruiting is all about getting as much information about the candidate as possible. This helps to create common interests between a recruiter and the candidate, which strengthens your relationship. By adopting this approach a recruiter can effectively engage, encourage and build a strong relationship with the candidate. The last thing a candidate wants to be is left in the dark, especially if they’ve already met with you and are waiting to hear back from you. Even if you don’t have any news for them, keep in contact and communicate with them. So the key takeaway are - 1. Be transparent 2. Know your Candidate 3. Share feedback 4. Be personable

dentify your target audience. -Create personalized messages and keep them warm. -Provide value and insights about the organization and it's benefits. -Build rapport and trust with right communication. -Nurture and engage with empathy -Convert and retain for longer duration.

Regular communication is vital in maintaining relationships with passive candidates. Stay in touch through various channels such as email, LinkedIn, or phone calls. Share industry news, job opportunities, and updates on your company’s growth and achievements. This helps to keep passive candidates engaged & informed about your organization. Keep track of the skills, interests, and goals of passive candidates & talent pools. Regularly review the relationships you’ve established with passive candidates & talent pools. Assess their level of engagement, responsiveness, & interest in your organization. Use this information to refine your strategies & ensure that you’re effectively maintaining relationships with these valuable candidates.

LinkedIn has emerged as the undisputed major player. Unlike traditional CRMs, LinkedIn provides a dynamic and constantly updated database, as professionals regularly update their profiles with their latest information. The platform's comprehensive profiles, complete with endorsements and activity updates, offer deep insights into candidates, facilitating more informed decisions. Additionally, LinkedIn's robust communication tools allow direct engagement with potential hires.

Sending a personalized message can pull a potential passive candidate's attention. Personalization starts with as small thing as using the name of person you are addressing. Also, it should not sound like a sales pitch but more as a possibility of collaboration. In doing that, one can highlight the strengths and traits of the person and how it can align with a probable future. Even if the person cannot actively contribute the time and efforts, they will always keep a radar ON for their field of interest.

Every candidate is different and they come with different backgrounds. We cannot use generalised structure of sending messages to attract and engage with them. One of the most important part of talent scouting is to create personalised messages that will engage the target audience and build interest. The best practice what I have experienced is understand the candidate profile and craft the message accordingly calling out their key skills, uniqueness of their work, show why we are interested to connect with them and how we are impressed by their projects and contributions. We need to relate their aspirations to the role which we are offering and project how the role is going to help them grow in their career to the next level.

By sending personalized messages that are tailored to their interests and skills, passive candidates are more likely to feel valued and respected. This approach demonstrates that you have taken the time to understand their individual qualities and are genuinely interested in engaging with them. As a result, it can help to maintain and improve your relationship with passive candidates, making them more open to considering opportunities with your organization in the future.

Not only is personalizing messaging critical for success, it is also important to keep it brief. These days people are inundated with information every direction they turn. Additionally, candidates are most often reading your messages on a mobile device. If your initial message is too long, it will likely get ignored.

One cool idea we use is to add a link that generates a personalized thumbnail with the candidate's name or their title. Additionally, incorporating a video from one of the hiring managers creates an incredibly personalized candidate experience, driving more candidates to apply.

As a recruiter, you are not just matching jobs with candidates. You can help both firms and candidates make informed decisions by 'aggregating' insights from the market. Understand a candidate, their individual journeys and goals and help them figure out a way to get the maximum satisfaction. That's your job.

To make a positive impact in a specific industry, it's crucial to offer valuable resources and insights that can help professionals in that field succeed. Consider creating informative blog posts, industry reports, and invitations to webinars and networking events. By providing this type of content, you can establish yourself as a knowledgeable contributor and build valuable relationships within the industry.tworking events. By doing so, you can establish yourself as a valuable contributor to their industry and build meaningful relationships.

Providing value and insights to passive candidates requires strategic approaches such as: Tailor communication to showcase how their skills align with opportunities. Share industry trends, company updates, and market insights. Offer resources for skill development. Provide insights into potential career paths within the organization. Facilitate introductions and networking opportunities. Maintain open and clear communication about the hiring process. Provide constructive feedback, fostering growth and improvement. Regularly check-in, nurturing long-term relationships for future opportunities.

Important step in talent scouting is about making things simple and engaging. Instead of just talking about your organization or the role, focus on being helpful. Be a source of useful information, not just a salesperson. Share easy-to-digest content like articles, podcasts, webinars, or reports that can teach something new, solve a problem, or improve skills. Also, let your candidates get to know your organization in a user-friendly way. Share insights about your culture, vision, values, or ongoing projects, and explain how these align with what your candidates care about. It's all about making the process easy, interesting, and beneficial for everyone involved.

When we speak to a candidate, we are building relationships and trust. It's very important to follow up with the candidates. If they start within two weeks, follow up at least twice a week. Additionally, if the candidate was not selected, it's crucial not to ghost them. Always send out rejection messages to ensure a great candidate experience.

Like any relationship, you have to continuously make "deposits" to build trust - not just reach out when you need something. Celebrating, commenting on their content, sharing relevant info, making additonal connections for their benefit, checking in on something they've mentioned in conversation - these are all important when building a relationship. For me personally, 95% of my business relationships turn into real friendships for this very reason. And any friendship must have trust.

Trust and rapport are key pillars to any relationship. Also, I would include honesty in there as well. Connecting with folks outside of just the one message email in LinkedIn. Connect with folks' content online, updates and stay in touch outside of just when job openings are available.

Building rapport and trust goes both ways, as in any good relationship. The times where company-candidate relationships were on sided are long gone. But we therefore have now an opportunity to build meaningful and long lasting professional relationships with future candidates, engaging with each other, eye to eye.

You need to get deep into knowing your prospects, and that cannot be done in a 10 minutes and sales oriented phone call. Listen, understand and target your prospect needs to be able to present only valuable and relevant opportunities to your prospects. Understanding motivations comes from detailed qualifications and asking the right questions: You need to know everything about your potential candidate.

When working with passive talent, it is crucial to create strong nurture campaigns and dedicated check-in communications to ensure the candidate remains fully engaged. The more you can engage a candidate and provide them with resources and feedback throughout the process, the better the rapport between you and the candidate, leading to an improved overall experience.

In today's fast-paced world, nurturing talent isn't just about finding the right fit; it's about creating an environment where everyone can thrive and grow. Thus, maintaining regular and personalized communication will keep candidates engaged and informed about the progress of their application.

Make it simple by regularly providing updates and news, extending invitations to events or webinars, and introducing them to team members or leaders. Share testimonials and success stories to showcase the positive experiences within your organization. Consider offering referrals or incentives to keep the connection alive. Additionally, make the engagement two-way by seeking their feedback, opinions, or suggestions. Involve them in the hiring process or talent pool activities, making the entire experience interactive and ensuring that staying connected is effortless and mutually beneficial.

In my experience it has been a rule to stay in touch. Let them know the opportunity and if they are not interested in that one I always go back to them with another. I talk about job fairs and the various companies surrounding them. Give them the option of looking around and arm them with knowledge of what I have to offer to what other companies are doing or not doing. Trust and Respect is being built one layer at a time. In the end they know I am not selling a job-I am selling “The Job”.

Real-life simple tricks: Send occasional personalized messages with industry updates or relevant content. Invite them to virtual or in-person company events to experience your culture. Encourage them to share their insights and feedback on industry trends or emerging technologies

As a Headhunter, when it comes to building a long lasting relationship with your prospect, the most important aspect is going to be transparency: You need to be clear about your intentions and expectations. As headhunters we are constantly in contact with the market: Sharing valuable insights with the prospects is very important. You have to see it as a collaboration, it goes both ways. The best way to build a long lasting relationship is to meet your collaborators and set clear periodic check-ups and stick to it (Monthly, Weekly or Bi-Weekly check-ups). A hire, will eventually happen.

When the time is right, leverage your relationship with passive candidates to convert them into active applicants. Provide a seamless application process, personalized support, and a positive candidate experience to encourage them to join your organization. Once they're on board, continue to nurture the relationship to promote long-term retention and loyalty.

Maintaining the candidate network, you've established can be challenging. Regularly revisiting and engaging with them is crucial to keep them in the loop. Ensure your pipeline stays current with candidates willing to collaborate and maintain open communication. This is especially important when sourcing for freelance roles, as it allows candidates to reach out even during breaks.

Something very important that I see missing here: - Consent from candidates: Though we consider candidates to be passive, check with them if they are interested in future openings with your organization. If they say YES, engage them and Do Not Spam. - Engagement: Insist candidates to stay connected to your organization's career site & LinkedIn page for hiring updates & new stuff. - Quick Connects: Many passive candidates prefer staying in touch through WhatsApp rather than email or LinkedIn. Sharing your business contact number can help build a closer connection with prospects. Thoughts?

Recruiting often gets bogged down in rigid frameworks, unintentionally overlooking hidden gems of talent. The key to breaking free from this mold lies in curiosity, a quality often underappreciated in talent scouts. This openness to exploring candidates' unique strengths, even through seemingly "weird" passions, unlocks a rich potential often missed by checklist-driven approaches.

Regularly check in with your talent pool, even when there are no immediate opportunities. This shows genuine interest in their career progression and helps keep the relationship warm.

Monitoring metrics such as response rates to outreach, attendance at events or conversion rates to job applications is also important especially if you're targeting passive and diverse talent pools. Ensuring alignment between recruitment efforts and the organization's diversity and inclusion goals can effectively build and maintain relationships with passive candidates from diverse talent pools, fostering a more inclusive and productive workforce in the organization

Continuously evaluate and refine your talent scouting strategies based on feedback, performance metrics, and changes in the market landscape. Stay agile and adaptable to effectively engage with passive candidates and talent pools in a competitive hiring environment.