Glossary
What is passive candidate?
A passive candidate is someone who is employed and not actively looking for a job, but who would consider the right role if approached.
In technology the strongest engineers and leaders are almost always passive. They are not on job boards and they do not apply, so a search that relies on applications never sees them. Reaching them takes a network, a credible approach and a role worth leaving for.
Passive candidates also move more slowly and weigh counter-offers more seriously, so a process built for applicants, with long gaps and many stages, loses them.
Why do recruitment agencies focus on passive candidates?
Because that is where the scarce talent is. Anyone actively applying is visible to every employer at once; the passive market is where a search adds value the hiring team could not get from a job advert.