When It Comes to Recruiting, Think Like a Consumer

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fruitSay the words “consumer marketplace,” and most people will think of Amazon — with good reason. The convenience of being able to shop for products curated from a multitude of sites in one single place is something that resonates with consumers. So much so, in fact, that experts estimate that almost 40 percent of the online retail market in 2020 will come from global marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and disruptive new companies including Uber.

The adoptability and functionality of such marketplaces has already started to spill over to B2B and to talent acquisition, specifically, according to a survey we conducted at Scout Exchange.

The results: Two-thirds of enterprise customers say they are familiar with marketplaces as consumers, and while only 33 percent currently use marketplaces for recruitment, more than 66 percent think marketplaces are the future of recruiting.

Respondents went on to say that they could envision their recruitment marketplace experiences unfolding very much like their consumer marketplace journeys: An employer puts a job on a recruitment marketplace, exposing the position to a wide set of candidates. The recruitment marketplace applies filters (like the rating system used on the consumer side), and the company gets an inflow of candidates from recruiters in the marketplace. Then, the company makes the ultimate decision on whom to hire.

With time and cost savings, greater exposure, and the ability to attract a different set of candidates as just a few of the benefits, respondents agreed: Recruitment marketplaces are growing, they are disruptive, and they are here to stay.

Cost Savings

Shrinking HR budgets have required that in-house recruiters get creative. More and more companies are turning to recruitment marketplaces because they allow already-stretched staff members to centralize recruitment and save. For example, at Scout, we can help companies save up to 25 percent on recruiting fees.

Speed to Hire

If you have a slow hiring process, you may lose many of your candidates to competing offers. Recruitment marketplaces can help you cut your hiring time dramatically and hire top talent before other companies swoop in. At our recruitment marketplace, companies can fill jobs in an average of 32 days, vs. overall averages of 73 days to fill a job.

Ease and Control

pineapplesRecruitment marketplaces allow you to view candidates and fees before choosing which search firm to use. Some marketplaces even give you the ability to manage all third-party recruiters with one contract.

Greater Exposure

Recruitment marketplaces can give greater visibility to an employer’s open jobs and increased exposure to search firms. On our marketplace, for example, job openings can be seen by as many as 14,000 recruiters from more than 3,000 search firms at any given time.

A different Breed of Candidates

Harder-to-fill positions are just one of the tricky problems that recruitment marketplaces help to solve. When you couple greater exposure with expert niche recruiters, you have access to an untapped pool of top talent.

In our survey, one exec at Alliance Building Services described how his recruitment marketplace of choice has helped: “The response and clarity of resumes was outstanding. I’ve been introduced to candidates that I would have never found through my preferred agency list.”

Accountability

Recruitment marketplaces that allow companies to rate recruiters based on performance give companies added peace of mind. By placing more emphasis on accountability, you know that you’re working with the best of the best.

Dawn McMahon, a talent acquisition specialist with construction giant DLZ sums the appeal of recruitment marketplaces in general — and her experience with Scout in particular — like so: “It offers me a great way to work with multiple recruiters and gain access to candidates I wouldn’t have otherwise without all the work of vetting new recruiters from all across the country.”

Given the popularity and functionality of marketplaces, one thing is clear: Today, when it comes to recruiting, it’s no longer just business as usual. Employers are looking for disruptive, innovative, and efficient ways to connect with recruiters who can source the talent their companies need to succeed.

By Sean Bisceglia