{"id":999881466,"date":"2024-07-11T17:07:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T17:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dice.com\/?p=326405935"},"modified":"2025-04-01T10:03:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T14:03:52","slug":"5-keys-to-engage-passives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dice.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/5-keys-to-engage-passives","title":{"rendered":"5 Keys to Engage Passives by Email and Phone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here’s my number, call me maybe?<\/strong> In this three-part series on engaging passive technology talent <\/em>from tech recruiting guru John Vlastelica, learn how to prepare for that first email or call, how to write emails and connect with tech professionals in a way that gets them interested, and finally, how to overcome common objections you\u2019re likely to hear.<\/em> Download your printable PDF of this post here.<\/a> Part 2 of 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In our first article, we discussed the importance of researching tech candidates\u2019 backgrounds, interests and motivators before sending emails or picking up the phone. Now, we\u2019ll discuss the hard part. How do you craft messages that will get their attention, engage them, and \u2013 ideally \u2013 get them to reply to learn more? Hint: Sending spammy, generic emails with attached job descriptions, or leaving general voicemails, like \u201cHi, my name is John, and I\u2019m a tech recruiter with XYZ looking to network for a rock star Ruby on Rails developer in LA\u201d does not<\/em> work. Not for passive tech talent. So, what does work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the Secret Sauce?<\/u> <\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, there is no secret sauce<\/em> \u2013 there is not one email phrase or set of key words that guarantees a response. Anyone that tells you there is<\/em> a secret phrase is selling you something. Second, you may have found something that worked really well a few times \u2013 awesome. But let\u2019s acknowledge that, while many tech professionals share similar motivators, not all will respond to the same message. So, we have to experiment and have multiple tools in our toolbox. Third \u2013 and this is good news \u2013 many tech recruiters don\u2019t invest the time (or have the knowledge) to customize their messaging, so it\u2019s relatively easy to stand out in the mind of a passive tech candidate. You just have to do a few things differently than your colleagues, who probably rely on messaging that sounds like, \u201cLet me tell you about me, <\/em>what I need<\/em>, my company<\/em> and my job.<\/em> Then you can read my (crappy) job description<\/em> and let me know if you\u2019re interested in applying.\u201d Me, me, me equals no response or no thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Improve Your Response Rate<\/u> <\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, how do you get a passive tech candidate to reply to that email or call you back?.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Pique Their Interest <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Software engineers are generally smart, curious people, who like to build (and break) stuff. They are naturally driven to solve challenging problems. And the best engineers see the tools and technology they use to solve interesting problems as just that \u2013 tools. Not as something that should define them, or define a job. So, if you\u2019re describing your opportunity by sharing the buzzwords from your job description \u2013 simply highlighting the technologies you need and specialized skills you want (like Java Programmer or iOS Guru) \u2013 you will not<\/em> attract top tech talent. Why? The best engineers know that technologies and tools change all the time. Getting stuck using one language or working with one type of technology can be death to their long-term marketability, and can be quite boring over time. And frankly, Java programming just isn\u2019t that interesting. It\u2019s a means to an end. So, what do<\/em> you highlight when you\u2019re describing your opportunity? It\u2019s best to highlight specific examples of the work \u2013 the actual projects they\u2019d work on \u2013 not responsibilities from the job posting. What would they build and what kind of impact would that make on the customer, marketplace or world? Then, pique their interest by referencing something (maybe even something you can\u2019t talk about now \u2013 future, cool stuff) that\u2019s bigger than a job. Paint a picture that shows them where they can take this \u2013 maybe it\u2019s the role they could play in building a new, disruptive, game-changing product for your industry. Maybe it\u2019s something that\u2019s never been done at this scale before. Or, maybe it\u2019s just a really hard technical problem that hasn\u2019t been solved yet. Focus on the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Drop Names and Leverage Specific Connections <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Please don\u2019t say, \u201cYour name came up in a meeting we had this morning, and I\u2019d like to talk to you about a unique opportunity.\u201d That\u2019s way too general, and it just sounds salesy. However, if you actually know someone they know, use that connection. \u201cMy name is John, and we both worked with Ketan back at [company]. Ketan\u2019s told me a lot about you, and suggested we connect live. I read that [post\/article\/blog\/answer] you wrote on [site]. You\u2019ve got an impressive background in [technology\/problem space]. We\u2019re in the early phase of development, working on something in that space that\u2019s never been built before. Ketan thought you\u2019d be really interested in learning more. Can you talk for 10 minutes?\u201d The key, of course, is if they say \u201cYes,\u201d you have to be able to do more than read the job description to keep them interested. You must really understand the challenging work and be able to go relatively deep when the candidate starts to ask questions. Do not \u2013 under any circumstance \u2013 refer them to your careers site to learn more. You will never hear from them again, and they will not apply. Do not send them a job description. It\u2019s too early in the process for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Don’t Ask for a Resume Yet <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Passive candidates \u2013 by definition \u2013 are not actively looking for a job. They likely don\u2019t have a prepared resume, and won\u2019t be interested in applying to your open job. If you define success for your direct sourcing work as getting a resume 50% or more of the times you contact passive candidates, you will feel like a failure. Your goal can and should be to move them along the interest scale. Get them from \u201cNo thank you\u201d to \u201cTell me more\u201d to \u201cSure, I\u2019d be willing to talk to a tech leader.\u201d Your goal is to make a human connection, start a two-way conversation and build the relationship. Not to close the deal after one email or call. You can and should be able to very quickly get the tech hiring manager, a VP level leader, or even your resident tech expert on the phone to have a conversation. Now, most of you are saying, \u201cBut my tech leaders won\u2019t get on the phone with a passive candidate \u2013 they want only qualified and interested candidates, with their resume in-hand!\u201d Here\u2019s the deal, though. Moving them along the interest scale usually requires<\/em> that you can get the hiring manager to have this exploratory chat. To be honest, if your hiring manager will never talk to a (pre-resume) passive tech candidate, then you will likely not have a lot of success recruiting passive tech talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Get Them Talking About Their Interests <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you do get to have that conversation (or coach a tech leader on how to prep for that conversation), plan on listening 80% of the time, and talking 20% of the time. Your goal is not<\/em> to interview them. But, you do want to prepare questions that will help you understand if this is a good match. For example, \u201cBased on what I learned about you on your [blog\/white paper\/bio\/Quora answer\/Stack Overflow contribution], you clearly have expertise in XYZ. I\u2019d like to learn a little more about what you enjoy about that kind of work, and the sort of problems you\u2019re passionate about solving. And then I can answer some questions about the challenging work we\u2019re doing with XYZ, to give us both an idea as to whether or not this opportunity would be something you\u2019d like to learn more about. Sound good? Great. Can you start off by telling me a little more about the ABC project you\u2019re working on now? I read about it online, but would like to learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Pimp Your Ride <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s become trivially easy for a passive tech candidate to check you out online before they decide to reply to your email, or call you back. So, be sure that your online profiles don\u2019t suck. One recruiter I\u2019ve worked with shared that about 75% of the all passive candidates who replied to her emails looked her up online first. Demonstrate your tech recruiting credibility online by:<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n