# Active candidates

Active candidates are people currently and openly looking for a new job, applying to postings and moving through interview processes on their own, as opposed to passive candidates, who aren't searching and have to be found and approached first.

Most job boards and inbound applications are built around this group.

**Active candidates** — Active candidates are people actively searching for a new role right now: applying to job postings, updating a resume and LinkedIn profile, and often interviewing at more than one company at the same time. Because they're already motivated to move, active candidates are the group a job posting or job board is designed to reach directly, without a recruiter needing to find and contact them first. This also means active candidates tend to move fast, since they're comparing timelines across multiple processes and a slow employer risks losing them to a company that moves quicker. Some active candidates are searching by choice, wanting a change; others are searching out of necessity, following a layoff or a contract ending. Either way, the defining trait is the same: they're taking visible action on their own, rather than waiting to be reached out to.

Employers generally treat active and passive candidates differently in how they're found, but the evaluation once someone is in a process is the same either way; an active candidate doesn't get an easier bar just because they applied on their own. One real tradeoff comes up in competitive fields: a popular posting can draw a lot of active-candidate volume, which is part of why some employers pair job postings with an automatic screening step, so a large volume of applicants doesn't slow down getting to the strongest few.

## Frequently asked questions

### How is an active candidate different from a passive candidate?

An active candidate is applying and interviewing on their own. A passive candidate isn't searching and has to be reached out to directly before they'd consider a move.

### Do active candidates get evaluated differently than sourced candidates?

No. Once someone is in a hiring process, the evaluation is generally the same regardless of whether they applied on their own or were sourced directly by a recruiter.

### Why do active candidates often move through interviews quickly?

Many are interviewing at more than one company at once, so a slow process risks losing them to an employer who can move to an offer faster.

## Related pages

- [Passive candidates](/glossary/passive-candidates)
- [Candidate pipeline](/glossary/candidate-pipeline)
- [Browse open roles](/jobs)

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