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Home Talent Acquisition & Recruitment
Rethinking Recruitment in a Competitive Market: A Framework for Building Relationships with Passive Talent

Rethinking Recruitment in a Competitive Market: A Framework for Building Relationships with Passive Talent

Sasha Brown by Sasha Brown
July 5, 2025
in Talent Acquisition & Recruitment, Research & Insights
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In today’s hyper-competitive job market, it’s no longer enough to post a job and wait. The best candidates the ones with proven track records, deep expertise, and leadership potential are already working elsewhere. They’re not browsing job boards or submitting resumes. They’re passive.

And in 2025, the companies that win the talent war are the ones who’ve figured out how to engage them.

Welcome to the Era of Recruitment Marketing

Recruitment is no longer just a process; it’s a product. That product needs packaging, promotion, and a persuasive pitch. Enter recruitment marketing: the practice of treating candidates like customers and your employer brand like a service.

Passive candidates aren’t applying; they’re observing. They’re watching how your company treats its people. They’re reading Glassdoor reviews. They’re scrolling LinkedIn and noting who gets promoted, who leaves, and who celebrates being part of your team.

You’re not just hiring, you’re marketing an experience. And in this experience economy, the perception of your brand often determines who you can attract.

Why Passive Candidates Matter More Than Ever

Let’s start with the numbers:

  • According to LinkedIn, 70% of the global workforce comprises passive talent.
  • Passive candidates are 120% more likely to want to make an impact at work.
  • They often come with stronger retention rates because they were persuaded—not pressured—to join.

These candidates are often:

  • In roles with measurable success
  • Referred by trusted contacts
  • Culturally aligned through shared values
  • Selective, not desperate—which means your value proposition needs to resonate

Crafting a Compelling Employer Brand

Think of employer branding as the foundation of your passive candidate strategy. It answers a simple question: “Why should someone who’s not job hunting want to work for you?”

This isn’t about perks or paychecks. It’s about purpose, progression, and people. Your brand should communicate:

  • Purpose: What impact are you making? Why does your work matter?
  • Progression: How do employees grow? What’s the path forward?
  • People: Who works there, and what do they say about the culture?

Great employer branding is transparent, consistent, and employee-driven. The most effective content comes from real voices—employee stories, behind-the-scenes posts, team wins, and culture moments. It’s not a brochure; it’s a documentary.

Building a Passive Talent Engine

Engaging passive talent isn’t a campaign—it’s a continuous cycle. Here’s how progressive companies are doing it:

1. Create Audience-Specific Content

Not all passive candidates are the same. The CTO you want to hire won’t respond to the same message as the senior designer you’re courting. Build segmented content:

  • Thought leadership blogs for engineers
  • Career growth stories for mid-level managers
  • DEI commitments for underrepresented groups

2. Leverage Employee Advocacy

Employees are your best brand ambassadors. Encourage them to share their authentic experiences. Launch employee spotlight features, create easy-to-share job links, and incentivize referral programs.

3. Use Smart CRM Tools

Modern recruiting tools function like marketing CRMs. They let you:

  • Track interactions with potential candidates
  • Segment audiences by role, interest, and location
  • Send personalized drip campaigns
  • Re-engage with past candidates at the right time

4. Host Micro-Events and Meetups

Passive candidates may not attend a job fair, but they’ll join a niche panel or an invite-only leadership breakfast. Host virtual roundtables, in-person salons, and casual coffee chats. It’s about building relationships, not making pitches.

5. Deploy Targeted Ads with Real People

Generic job ads won’t cut it. Invest in paid campaigns on LinkedIn, Instagram, and industry-specific platforms. Feature real employees and real stories—not stock photos and jargon.

Personalization: The New Standard

Mass emails are dead. Cold outreach doesn’t work if it feels cold. If you want to reach passive talent, your message needs to be:

  • Personalized to their achievements
  • Relevant to their current role or aspirations
  • Tied to a mission they care about

Example: “Hi Maya, I saw your piece on AI in healthcare. At [Company], we’re building a product that could benefit from your insight. We’re not hiring for this yet, but I’d love to connect and learn what you’re seeing in this space.”

That’s engagement—not solicitation.

Metrics That Matter

If you’re serious about engaging passive talent, track:

  • Brand impressions from candidate-facing campaigns
  • Talent pipeline conversion (view to apply to offer rate)
  • Time to engage (how long it takes to get a response)
  • Quality of hire from passive vs. active sources

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. The best teams treat passive hiring like a growth funnel, optimizing with each interaction.

From Cold to Curious to Converted

The journey of a passive candidate often looks like this:

  1. Discovery – They hear about your company or see content.
  2. Awareness – They start following you or engage with your brand.
  3. Consideration – They read your blog, listen to a podcast, or join an event.
  4. Interest – They connect with a recruiter or employee.
  5. Engagement – They open up to a conversation about opportunities.

This isn’t about speed—it’s about depth. Passive talent joins when they feel aligned, respected, and inspired.

Build, Don’t Chase

The best talent doesn’t need a job—they need a reason. If your employer brand, team experience, and growth opportunities are clear and compelling, you won’t need to chase candidates. They’ll come to you.

In the age of AI, automation, and abundance, human connection is your differentiator. Build it intentionally. Build it continuously. Build it well.

Because the next great hire? They’re not looking. But they are watching.

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