For talent teams and hiring managers, sharing open roles through job boards like Seek, LinkedIn and Indeed is second nature. But as the talent landscape has shifted in recent years, does the traditional approach still bring the best results?

As every aspect of our lives has moved online, we've seen greater connection. But this also means that audiences are far more fragmented than they have historically been. Where job boards used to be the only stop you needed to make on your journey to hiring, they are now simply the first step in building out a holistic recruitment marketing campaign. Communities are now popping up across various social networks, both public and private, and reaching talent in these networks takes a more targeted approach.

Understanding active and passive talent

When recruiting for a role, talent teams often focus on active talent, however passive talent, those not currently seeking a new position, can be an equally valuable resource. 

Active talent refers to job seekers who are actively pursuing new opportunities, submitting applications, and attending interviews. They're typically easy to find, as they're registered on job boards, have updated resumes, and maintain a strong presence on professional networking sites like LinkedIn.

Passive talent, on the other hand, captures pretty much the entire remainder of the workforce who are currently employed and not actively searching for new opportunities. But this doesn’t mean they’re not open to considering new roles if the right opportunity comes up. 

A recent study found that approximately 70% of the global workforce is made up of passive talent, while only 30% are active job seekers. However, 87% percent of all active and passive candidates are open to new opportunities.

The benefits of recruiting passive candidates

Passive candidates give access to a larger talent pool

When you target passive candidates, your talent pool expands significantly. This improvement increases the likelihood of finding a candidate with the right skills, experience, and cultural fit for your organisation.

Passive talent can produce higher-quality candidates

In many situations, passive candidates possess stronger resumes and a wealth of experience compared to active job seekers. They have a proven track record of success in their current roles, making them a valuable addition to your team.

Reduced competition

Since passive candidates are not actively seeking new opportunities, you're likely to face less competition from other employers. This can lead to a smoother (and faster!) hiring process. All important factors in giving your organisation a higher likelihood of securing top talent.

Getting the best results out of job boards in today’s hiring landscape

While job boards long held a special place in the recruitment process, the current talent acquisition landscape has seen a significant shift in best approach to using job boards.

Changing behaviour patterns of job seekers

You can almost guess what we’ll say here, but one of the greatest changes in job seeker behaviours is of course social media. Job seekers are increasingly leveraging social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter in their job search. The importance of professional networks and referrals from friends and colleagues is growing, as job seekers lean on these networks to source open job opportunities.

With more and more professionals heading online, there has been a growth in professional communities and networks on platforms like Slack and Discord. These communities bring together professionals of different skill sets and professions. The popularity of professional networks on Slack and Discord highlights the changing landscape of professional networking, where professionals seek more interactive, informal, and collaborative experiences. These platforms cater to this demand by providing versatile communication tools, community-building features, and opportunities for learning and development.

In many situations, traditional job boards like Seek or Indeed may never be accessed by a job seeker in the process of finding a new job.

‍

What are targeted talent campaigns?

With all the limitations of the traditional job board approach, a new, more strategic, approach to talent sourcing has risen in popularity. These are known as targeted talent campaigns.

So, what is a targeted talent campaign?

Targeted talent campaigns are a new approach to recruiting that looks to take a strategic view towards identifying, engaging and attracting a specific group of candidates.

These candidates are targeted based on their skills, experiences and backgrounds. In much the same way that we have seen a shift in digital marketing towards micro-targeting and micro-influencers, these targeted talent campaigns take a similar philosophy towards their creation.

At the end of the day, massive numbers of impressions, clicks and engagement may look great, but when you dive into the detail, it is far more important that you reach the right people, not just a lot of people.

Quality over quantity.

A targeted talent campaign is carefully crafted. From defining the target audience, including both technical expertise and soft skills, but also diving deeper into characteristics and diversity factors. To then developing a compelling employer value proposition and finding the right channels to reach that target talent audience, and perfecting the messaging of the campaign. Every step of the way, a clear and strategic approach is essential.

Creating targeted talent campaigns with Outhire

Outhire is the marketing platform for talent teams. Our AI talent-matching engine helps you find and reach the best talent for your roles. We help you create your campaign in minutes, and push your job ad to the right people across Twitter and our network of professional communities on Slack and Discord.

Getting started is easy, launch your first campaign on Outhire today!

‍