The Myth of The Passive Job Candidate Exposed
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
I worked as a recruiter for more than 40 years. Many years ago, helped to create the myth of the superiority of the passive job applicant. The myth was created to combat the huge advertising advantage that larger search firms had by inferring that the people they were representing were inferior.
The myth suggests that passive job applicants (meaning someone I recruited who had not applied to a job) were superior to someone who had applied for a
position because active job hunters are the ones who are a failure at their current firm or were cut by a company for inferior performance.
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While those points may be true of some, most people who are looking for work were laid off because of economic circumstances, not because of incompetence and, if they are working and looking for work, because they are seeking a better opportunity elsewhere, not because they are losers.
And, if you are someone who found a position by answering an ad, how do you feel hearing that others think less of your qualifications based upon the medium you were located by rather than through an evaluation of your skill and ability relative to others?
In addition, if someone found you and recruited you for a position, but you were actually looking for a job and had your resume on one or two job sites, which one are you? The passive applicant who was recruited (superior) or the active person (inferior)?
So, the next time a recruiter tries that little speech with you, I hope you stand up proudly and tell them that you found your job through an ad (or found the recruiter who referred you to the job through an ad) and put this nonsense away once and for all.
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