Cadient has the solution with our guide on how to re-engage dormant candidates in your applicant pool. No candidate should be left dormant for too long because it could lead to missed opportunities with onboarding higher-quality talent.
Do you hear the sound of crickets in some parts of your applicant pool? Those crickets are dormant candidates that have lost engagement with your brand somewhere along the way. They applied, interviewed, and engaged throughout the recruitment process, but then they eventually disappeared for whatever reason.
What Are Dormant Candidates In An Applicant Pool?
Dormant candidates are applicants who applied, interviewed, and interacted throughout the recruitment process, but now they have disappeared and have not yet completed the applicant lifecycle. These qualified candidates portrayed an interest in one of your business’s open requisitions an “x” amount of time ago. However, they, for whatever reason, become inactive due to possibly finding another job opportunity or simply not answering engagement texts or emails.
Creating an applicant pool for recruitment involves connecting with dormant candidates to capture possible re-engagement with them or removing them entirely from the applicant pool to make room for new interested candidates.
Effectively managing the candidate experience through each step of the recruitment process can reduce the number of dormant candidates within your applicant pool. Let’s visit the drawing board to get started!
Key Applicant Pool Engagement Strategies
On the journey to re-engage dormant candidates, it’s best to implement sound strategies to recapture their attention to your brand. Rather than starting from scratch with a new applicant pool, it’s best to draw from the current one you already have for time’s sake.
Personalized Communication
One-on-one personalized communications is the first and foremost strategy for engaging with dormant candidates. Addressing candidates by their names within correspondence and referring to when they last applied or interviewed for a position with your company shows you value their initial interest in working for your brand.
The best engagement tactic for implementing personalized communication is sending a quick text with your ATS technology to reconnect with a dormant candidate. Something as simple as this example message can open the doors for the candidate to reconnect with a recruiter.
Hi, Aria Jones,
This is Tucker Smith, the Recruitment Specialist with Journeys. We noticed you applied on April 11th, 2024, and interviewed at our Vineland, NJ Journeys location on April 24, 2024. I came across your application again and I believe you would be a great fit for a newly opened position as a Loss Prevention Associate. What would be a great time for us to connect to discuss this opportunity for you?
Sincerely,
Tucker Smith
Recruitment Specialist at Journeys
Updated Job Alerts
Candidates who applied for one or more positions months back could be discouraged if they did not find a role ideal for them. Sometimes, individuals apply to jobs that might not be the best fit for their liking as backup plans to secure employment.
Showcase New Employer Branding
Recruitment marketing tactics prioritizing structuring a strong employer brand will institute improved hiring outcomes over time.
Exclusive Webinars or Virtual Events
According to Jobvite’s 2018 Recruiter Nation Survey, about 77% of recruiters utilize LinkedIn to source candidates. Host product webinars for customers and candidates to learn more about your brand. This strategy will not only help enhance employer branding but also institute strong customer and candidate engagement.
For interested job candidates, you can host an exclusive virtual event on LinkedIn that could be titled “10 Things You Should Know Before Working for (Insert Company Name)”. Have a new webinar topic for interested candidates at least once a month so they have some kind of content to engage with during the recruitment process.
Revisit Dormant Candidates’ Application History
Try to discover why certain dormant candidates did not move on with the application process. For example, they could have interviewed but a recruiter may have noted that this dormant candidate was not selected for the position because someone else was chosen. Other reasons candidates may have not moved on with the recruitment process include:
- Other competing job opportunities.
- Job misalignment.
- Personal life changes affect their job search.
- Lack of engagement with the employer.
- A change in the candidate’s career path.
Did you know that about 75% of resumes do not make it beyond a company’s applicant tracking system? This means that recruiters may not see these candidates’ resumes because they are in a folder within the ATS technology labeled as those who were designated as lesser qualified applicants. Some resumes may not correlate to the job description or not contain specific keywords the ATS technology is looking for as a sign that the candidate is better qualified.
The Role of Recruitment Marketing Tactics in Re-engagement
How does recruitment marketing contribute to candidate re-engagement? Instituting various strategies to build and connect with candidates harvests a continuous relationship. Nurturing dormant candidates with information about company culture, integrating employer brand awareness with updates to social media, and sending out newsletters are just a couple of the ways to recapture a candidate’s interest in working for your company.
Continuous Communication
Achieving the goal of re-engaging dormant clients takes continuous communication. Reaching out with personalized emails and texts, targeted ads, and consistent updates about company progress and changes will turn dormant candidates into active candidates.
Invite candidates to follow your company’s social media page. Release a weekly or monthly newsletter the candidates can read so they don’t forget about the possible job opportunities with your company. These newsletters can showcase company news, statistics about your industry, and at least one employee testimonial for candidates to read to stay interested in active candidateship.
Gamification
Keep candidate engagement fun with quizzes and polls. Gamification tactics like these can bring dormant candidates back to the recruitment funnel. Ask a poll question about what year your company opened. Have the candidates select one of four options. Let them know the right answer after they submit their response.
Linking to your “About Us” page after this kind of poll can be a great call-to-action for candidates to learn more about the company to maintain their interest in employment. This is one of the many tips to follow for onboarding employees effectively.
Create Talent Pools
Managing one large applicant pool can be overwhelming for the recruitment team. One of the best ways to re-engage dormant candidates is to segment them into various talent pools based on skill sets, location, and past work experience. Recruiters can draw from these talent pools when a corresponding position opens up. Each pool can be nurtured with targeted content (blogs and social media posts), personalized outreach, and updated job alerts.
