October 22, 2023
Pandemic or no pandemic, launching a recruitment agency start-up is challenging. Yes, the sector has a low barrier to entry, and a recruitment agency start-up can be launched from any place, even from a bedroom or a lounge.
However, unlike every business, even a recruitment agency start-up needs funding. It is equipping the company with the most relevant tools, such as applicant tracking system, marketing tools, etc. The most imperative for every recruitment agency to operate is an internal candidate database.
Now, in case of the recruitment agency start-up, the simplest way to start generating is an internal database is by subscribing to the industry-specific job boards. Job boards approximately cost anywhere from £350 per month and upwards, some of them even costing beyond £1,000 per month.
The cost of subscribing to just a couple of job boards can rake up over £1,000 per month. Job board subscription is a recurring monthly cost. A thousand pounds is a significant amount of money for any recruiter that is bootstrapping the recruitment agency start-up without any external funding.
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How can the recruitment agency start-ups develop a CV database with minimal investment? Well, here are seven hacks that recruitment agency start-ups can implement to generate internal candidate database while reducing the spend.
Job boards want business and recruitment agencies are one of their target sectors. Many job boards provide free trials. The trials range from several days to having access to a specified number of views, downloads, etc.
Recruitment agency start-ups must explore this avenue before signing up to a job board. The approach serves two objectives.
I know it is a cheap trick. Most companies large, mid-sized and small, all take advantage of the free trials. Then, why not a recruitment agency start-up? Let us accept the reality and move on to the next steps.
Sharing of resources happens all the times, especially in small business settings. Solo recruiters, small-sized recruitment agencies and even smaller companies share tools of the trade. Job boards are no exceptions.
Where can you find someone ready to share job boards? Well, reach out to your close contacts within the industry, and you will be surprised how many of them are prepared to share the job board and split the cost.
Another place one can find people is on Facebook forums. Numerous discussions on industry sector, tools of the trade, etc. take place here. You might want to explore the most relevant groups and online forums related to your industry sector.
Job boards do not like this. IP addresses are always monitored, and anything odd is flagged on their systems. Many times, access is blocked. I do not endorse this practise; it is one of the many hacks practised by recruitment business owners globally.
I assume you have been in the recruitment industry for at least a couple of years before launching the recruitment agency start-up. Considering this experience, you will have developed a network of candidates and be connected to them on LinkedIn.
There are two ways to explore this vast resource. If you already have an applicant tracking system which has LinkedIn integration, your job is done.
Alternatively, you export and download LinkedIn contacts into Microsoft excel? LinkedIn gives you an option of choosing the contacts you want to download how fascinating!
RELATED: EXPORTING CONNECTIONS FROM LINKEDIN
Your company website is the first place to be utilised for posting the job as it costs you nothing.
Ever checked websites where you can post jobs for free?
Several sites allow jobs posting for free. Some of them listed below. Writing a good copy and adverting across respective platforms attracts a good number of applicants enabling the recruitment agency start-up to get relevant candidates and develop an internal candidate database.
Posting jobs for free on business and social media sites is a no brainer. Some of the well-known sites listed below.
RELATED: HOW TO POST A JOB ON FACEBOOK?
Many recruitment agencies cease operations for various reasons. Having invested in multiple resources and tools, recruitment business owners will want to recover as much investment as possible.
When they are not selling their recruitment business, they end up trading the client and candidate database. Given the laws and regulations surrounding GDPR, these transactions never happen openly for obvious reasons. But they do happen—the dark side of the recruitment sector.
Again, I do not endorse this approach. However, this is one of the modes of developing an internal database capitalised by recruitment business owners.
This practice, although not ethical, is practised across many recruitment industries sectors with supply-demand gaps. We have all heard of horror stories of an “XYZ” Healthcare Recruiter joining a competitor and placing candidates they once “owned” as part of their bank. Especially in situations where the new employer wants to develop a speciality, i.e. new desk within healthcare recruitment.
It is incredibly critical to be aware of the source of the candidate database before making the decision. I would not follow this approach as it is not legal, tread caution and think through before going down this route.
You read it right. Crowdsourcing is an option. There are many online recruitment companies and crowdsourcing platforms that not only advertise jobs across multiple websites but also match CVs and send them to your inbox for a minimal fee.
Some guarantee placements as well. These models are mainly targeted towards businesses; however, many recruitment agencies utilise these services as well.
This is an alternate avenue for recruitment agency start-ups to save on job board and resourcing costs. Of course, it depends on what best works for your business: some online recruitment companies and crowdsourcing platforms listed below.
Outsourcing CV sourcing function to an offshore recruitment company is one of the best hacks. Many offshore recruitment companies offer free trials ranging from sourcing CVs for a couple of vacancies to trials lasting for days and weeks.
Several offshore recruitment companies have access to multiple job boards. The numbers range anywhere from having access to 2 to 20, depending on the size of the offshore recruitment services company.
Partnering with an offshore recruitment service provider enables the recruitment agency start-up not only to save costs of subscribing to the job boards but also saves on time and resource costs. Offshore recruitment companies deploy experienced Resourcers that source CVs matching the vacancy and share the most relevant profiles over to you.
Depending on the volume of jobs you need sourcing to several days per month, many offshore recruitment companies provide CV sourcing services range anywhere from £50 to £1,000 per month.
Now imagine how much money can it cost you to have access to at least three job boards and a part-time Resourcer? Nothing less than £1,200 to £1,800 a month.
Why not partner with an offshore recruitment company and utilise that budget on developing new business, marketing, etc.?
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CONCLUSION
Recruitment agency start-ups have several free and cost-effective ways to generate internal candidate database. Finding out the most relevant and the one that works for the business is imperative. One of the best ways is by trialling the source that delivers as per your requirement.
Closing the blog with the most well-known phrase, “A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned.”
