Unlocking the power of community-led recruitment

Unlock the Power of Community-Led Recruitment

Are you tired of the traditional recruitment methods that require constant selling and searching for both candidates and clients? It's time to embrace a new approach that brings top-quality candidates and clients to your doorstep effortlessly. Welcome to community-led recruitment, where building an online or offline community around a specific job function can revolutionise your recruitment game.

So, what exactly is community-led recruitment? It's all about creating a community where you add value to both candidates and clients. You become the go-to specialist in your field by offering a platform for discussion, learning, and connection. This community can take various forms, such as online/offline events, webinars, courses, newsletters, forums, and jobboards. By nurturing this community, you establish yourself as a trusted resource and attract top talent and clients.

Now, you may be wondering why community-led recruitment is relevant for recruiters. The answer is simple: when you provide a platform for discussion and learning that adds value to candidates and clients, you naturally fill the top of your recruitment funnel. Instead of tirelessly searching for candidates and selling job opportunities, good candidates and clients come to you because you are the specialist in your field. It's a shift from chasing opportunities to having them come to you through the power of communities.

But community-led recruitment goes beyond just recruitment itself; it opens up new business models and revenue streams. Here are some examples:

• Paid membership (gated content): Offer exclusive content or resources to community members for a subscription fee.

• Sponsorships: Collaborate with relevant brands and companies to sponsor your community and events.

• Freelance recruitment: Extend your services to include freelance placements, catering to the needs of both candidates and clients.

• Perm recruitment: Offer permanent job placements as part of your recruitment services.

• Job board placements by clients: Allow clients to advertise their job openings on your platform for a fee, creating a passive income stream.

• (Online) Events: Organize events, both online and offline, where attendees and sponsors pay for participation.

• Share a job/rev share: Candidates can also share jobs amongst themselves. This is the true magic of the community. You get jobs you usually wouldn’t get because they are shared in posts on the platform. You can earn a % of the job when community members find each other through the tool.

What you will see is that by hosting events, and offering several possibilities for clients and candidates alike, as soon as they think about finding a new job or hiring a new candidate, they come to you.

Practical examples of successful community-led recruitment initiatives include CS Snack, which organises international offline events in Europe, runs an online community, and offers coaching services and a job board. Another example is Qommunity, a Dutch freelance creative community that encompasses all the aforementioned business models.

Ready to get started with community-led recruitment? Here's how you can begin:

• Identify your target audience and the specific job function you want to focus on.

• Approach 50 candidates and 10 clients and discuss with them the benefits of connecting with like-minded professionals in their field.

• Organize your first event, whether it's an online webinar, an offline meetup, or a combination of both.

Leverage the power of community to attract top talent and clients effortlessly.

It's time to harness the power of community and revolutionize the way you recruit!