Recently we stumbled on terms to describe job seekers and we decided to do more investigation into matter to make others aware so they can have the upper hand when recruiting or searching for a job.

A passive job seeker is someone who is not actively looking for work but are open to new opportunities. They are already in the game!

Job seekers who are currently employed are at an advantage, due both to their own resourcefulness as well as existing stereotypes of them already being qualified. Passive candidates are likely to be headhunted, poached or currently employees may recommend them for vacancy. They are often likely to be comfortable in their current jobs so a new opportunity would have to be very attractive. And more often than not that they would want to find a new job before leaving their current position.

Passive

With passive candidates it is not about if they are looking for a job but we need to identify quickly if they would be great at the job we are trying to fill and get them interested.

Active

An active candidate is someone who is currently seeking a new employment opportunity. They can be seen as someone who is making the necessary effort to search and get a job. Such efforts as going to job agencies, searching for a job through websites, newspapers and magazines that have job advertisements on them, filling application forms as well as attending interviews that would result in the success of landing a job.

There is a noticeable trend of increasing passive job searches by recruiters due to the rise in social media technologies bringing HR departments and workers together on the same plane. But passive candidates are not necessarily superior to active candidates-like most things it is about perception. At times we forget that it takes a very determined person to persistently keep looking for jobs, especially when they have been rejected several times for various reasons; some of which may not have been valid.

But with that said there are still candidates who remain unaccounted for because they are neither passive but they are not active. They can be described as ‘actively passive candidates’ or ‘semi active candidates’. This group are not actually applying for jobs but are preparing to move, actively looking and asking their networks about opportunities. This group makes up about 14% of the workforce at any given time. And an important point these candidates may not even have an up to date resume so social networking sites like Recruit-Drive are the best way to get to know them and peak their interest before inviting them for an interview.

So when you see a vacancy on Recruit-Drive we advise you to ask yourself the questions below:

• As a passive jobseeker; is this the job you have been waiting for (your dream job)? This may be the opportunity that will change everything for you.


• As an active job seeker; do you meet all the requirements? If the answer is ‘Yes’ then you need to make a move and get in the game and never lose confidence.


• As an actively passive jobseeker, it is a mixture of both of the above; do you have a solid interest and are you the right person to do the job? When it comes right down to it, it’s about the person accepting the offer and employers feeling they made the best choice.

Personally we feel that no candidate is truly passive. If you already have the best job for you then that’s great! We all want to be successful and happy doing what we love so if the right company, recruiter, head-hunter approaches us we can become active. So job seekers do not limit yourself, to paraphrase from Steve Jobs ‘Stay hungry’ and take a chance.