How to Source Passive Technical Candidates

Passive sourcing means identifying and approaching people who have not applied for a vacancy. It can help an Australian hiring team reach engineers whose experience fits a specific need, but a public profile or a list of matching keywords is only a starting point. The aim is a relevant, respectful conversation, not a larger contact list.

Define the evidence before searching

Write a short search brief with the hiring manager before choosing keywords. Include:

• The work the person is expected to own in their first months.
• Two or three essential capabilities and examples of evidence for each.
• Skills that are useful but can be learned after joining.
• Location, working arrangement, salary basis, employment type and any on-call expectations.
• Which adjacent backgrounds are worth considering.

For example, an Australian SaaS team hiring a platform engineer might look for evidence of infrastructure as code, deployment pipelines and production incident work. Relevant people may use titles such as site reliability engineer, cloud engineer or platform developer. Search for the work and systems they describe, not just one title or certification. Our guide to defining a full-stack role uses the same distinction between essential work and nearby skills.

Build and refine a focused search

Combine role titles with technologies and outcomes. A first search for a cloud role might pair “platform engineer” or “site reliability engineer” with Terraform, Kubernetes or production operations. Treat each term as a clue, not a pass/fail test: titles vary between employers, and a candidate may describe equivalent work using different language.

Review a small set of profiles against the brief. Note which terms find relevant experience and which create noise, then adjust one part of the search at a time. Consider Australian location and work arrangement only where they are genuine requirements. If a role is open to applicants across Sydney, Melbourne or regional Australia, do not narrow a search to one city by habit.

Referrals can extend a search, but they are one channel rather than a substitute for reaching beyond familiar networks. For programme design and safeguards, see our guide to employee referral programmes.

Make outreach specific, honest and easy to decline

A useful first message explains why the person’s public experience appears relevant, what the role actually involves, and the practical constraints they may care about. For example, mention the product area, the balance of hands-on platform work and on-call support, the location expectations, and whether salary is stated inclusive or exclusive of superannuation.

Do not imply a referral or personal familiarity that does not exist. Do not assume someone is looking to move, eligible to work in Australia, or available for a particular arrangement based on their profile. Ask whether they are open to a short conversation, and make it simple to decline or ask that you not contact them again. Record the source and outcome in the approved recruitment system, with access and retention managed under the organisation’s policy.

For organisations covered by the Australian Privacy Principles, the OAIC’s guidance on collecting personal information includes information gathered from public sources and employment applications. Applicability and obligations depend on the organisation and activity; ask your privacy adviser when uncertain.

Turn a reply into a useful first conversation

If the candidate is interested, share the same accurate role brief you would give an applicant. Ask about relevant work and preferences, then explain the interview stages and decision timing. Do not treat interest in a conversation as consent to circulate a CV indefinitely or to send details to an employer without the candidate’s agreement.

Track whether the search is producing relevant conversations, not just profile views or messages sent. If the results are consistently off-target, revisit the role requirements with the hiring manager before expanding the search. Clear criteria and specific outreach make it easier for both the recruiter and the candidate to decide whether a next step is worthwhile.