The job market is a moving target. It’s also a changing one, with new technologies and new methodologies emerging as the way forward for candidate job-seekers to CONNECT with employers. One of these new, rising trends is for candidates to take the bull by the horns in what is known as reverse recruitment – turning the time-honoured tradition of job-hunting on its head. But how does it work, and does it really hold out the promise for upending and changing the recruitment process in a profitable way? Let’s look a little more deeply into the practice of reverse recruitment.
Traditionally, the job search has been passive – a candidate waits for the job posting to come along to spring into action. By contrast, reverse recruiting is active. Unlike reaching out to a cold lead, here you are highlighting your excellence and your professional wishlist in hopes of attracting organisations seeking the professional qualities you advertise. If your skills are particularly unique, or your expertise much sought after, you might find this a new and useful route to the jobs market.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of reverse recruiting is that it gives you, the jobseeker, more control over your career. You can put the power squarely on your side by targeting the companies and roles that align with your goals and values.
In a standard job search, you spend countless hours perusing postings and crafting applications, trying to figure out where you might fit. Reverse recruiting circumvents this by linking you directly to the employers who are a good match for you, saving lots of time and effort.
The clearer you are about the skills you bring to the workplace and the kinds of jobs you’re interested in, the easier you make it for employers to catch on to whether you’re the piece that fits in the puzzle. You’ll be more likely to match up with openings that suit your qualifications and engage your interests.
And one of the best ways to persuade potential employers to get in touch with you is to create yourself a professional-looking website or blog. It’s your digital portfolio – your chance to link your personal brand directly to companies everywhere.
With LinkedIn becoming an essential part of the job search, it’s important to join the network to keep abreast of industry professionals, listen to online chatter and weigh in on discussions of interest, and, more importantly, to get noticed by your potential employers.
Think about flipping the script and sending companies a ‘reverse’ application, in which you articulate what you can offer to the company, what kind of position would make sense, and telling them to call you if they see something of interest. That might just differentiate you from the flotsam clogging up the job-search engine.
Despite its allure, reverse recruiting can be controversial. Some see it as an alternative to conventional recruitment that could lead to mismatched expectations, especially if third-party services fail to deliver. The question is: which strategy is more suited to your job-hunting needs? Career coaching or traditional job applications?
Reverse recruiting is a more proactive, targeted form of job-hunting than the passive process of being serendipitously or randomly spotted. Picture flipping the dynamic of the job search, infusing it with healthy competition, and tapping your own potential at last – and that might just be the kind of golden ticket you need to catch your dream job. From UNESCO Science Report (2015) by UNESCO.
The essence of reverse recruiting is the desire to connect: connecting with opportunities, connecting with companies, connecting with futures that satisfy your own personal and professional goals, and, in doing so, strengthen your understanding and connection with the employers you choose to target. As the nature of the jobs market continues to evolve, it’s a skill that will no doubt become an even more vital element to the future of jobseeking and recruitment.
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