3 Prong Approach to Keeping Candidates Warm

Time to read: 3 minutes

Keeping Candidates Warm Summary:

• Talent Pool Readiness: Maintaining a pool of “warm” candidates ensures that companies have readily available talent during hiring surges or when sudden vacancies occur.
• Continuous Engagement: Regular communication and engagement with potential candidates keep them interested and available, reducing the risk of losing top talent to competitors.
• Strategic Hiring: Keeping candidates warm supports long-term recruitment strategies by building a network of qualified candidates who are familiar with the company and its culture​.

Hiring comes in peaks and lulls.

The importance of keeping candidates warm is to build and nurture a talent pool. Companies benefit from keeping candidates happy even if they are not a fit for a position. Why? There will be more opportunities. A candidate might not be a fit for this position, but maybe for that position. A bad experience will certainly deter a candidate from applying to future positions – ones they might be the right fit. Having a talent pool of silver medalists is a great asset for any company.

With a deep talent pool, the stress of filling a position is lessened significantly. A database full of qualified candidates for the positions you tend to recruit for will lead to faster fills.

Top Reasons Companies Stall on Hiring a Candidate

Making a hiring decision is huge. At Profiles, we are always consulting on the cost of a bad hire. It is easy to lose candidates during the hiring process in today’s market. However, on the company end, the search does not always go as planned once the recruitment dives into the candidate search. Here are reasons why companies tend to stall on hiring candidates right away:

• Companies stall to ensure they are talking to the best candidates.
• Hiring decision makers are waiting for next month’s budget approval.
• Recruitment teams found right candidate faster than anticipated.
• The position ends up being filled Internally.
• Hiring leaders awaiting final approval from other decision-makers.
• The work slated for a new position is no longer on deck or fell through.

3 Prong Approach to Keeping Candidates Warm

Now that we understand the top reasons companies stall on hiring candidates right away, we can prescribe a plan to alleviate the blow and keep the candidates warm to come back and apply in the future. By implementing the below three-prong approach, you stand to beef up your talent pool for upcoming positions:

1. Act Fast: Candidates are not in the business of staying on the market for long. In fact, with a possible impending recession, candidates feel it might be better to stay at their current position. As best as possible, act fast. Be sure the company and the team is ready to hire. Get all approvals before starting the candidate search. Enlist a team member to help with interviews as a second opinion.
2. Candidate Nurturing: Transparency and communication go a long way. Over-communicate to candidates where they are in the hiring process. Keeping in touch with candidates every step of the way will land well for candidate relationship management. Think application confirmation emails, communicate when they are being considered, and rejection communications. Our motto: No is better than no response. Even then, if the candidate is not a fit, be gentle and offer a solution-like tone and suggest alternative positions to apply for to retain interest in the company.
3. Employer Brand: Candidates are hooked enough to apply to one position, but is your company image enough to hold their attention? A positive employer brand and company reputation is a huge deciding factor for applicants. The industry is constantly talking about employer brand management to attract candidates. In the case of keeping candidates warm, employer branding is important.

Keeping Candidates Warm with Profiles’ Help

Profiles has an expansive talent pool for creative, marketing, and technology candidates. We take the time to understand your business and its needs while having a pulse on the candidate market. It is with the knowledge of both that Profiles can offer a smooth, successful candidate search. Let’s talk more about how we can help fill your digital roles.