Talent Communities: Fact or Fiction?

When it comes to social recruiting and employer branding, there are few terms more commonplace – or controversial – than “talent communities.”  There seems to be little consensus about defining this term, and even less about its efficacy as a scalable, sustainable recruitment tool.

Beyond the buzzword, however, lies the fact that 82% of passive candidates reported in a recent Talemetry survey that they would, or have, joined a company’s talent network – yet only 19.4% of companies have one in place.

So if top talent is looking to join talent communities, why aren’t more companies building them?  The primary obstacles seem to come down to lack of resources and budget.

The Freeman Company,  the industry leader in convention and trade show solutions, has not only overcome these obstacles to establish a talent network, but also, grown it into a successful, and essential, component of their recruitment strategy.

Join special guest Michael Goldberg (@SuperRecruiter), Freeman’s Director of Talent Acquisition, who will share his insights and experience with #TalentNet as we take on talent communities.

Here are the questions we’ll be covering: 

Q1. What, exactly, is a “talent community?”  Is there a better term we should be using?

Q2. What does it take for a talent community to be successful?  How do you quantify that success?

Q3. What is the ultimate goal of talent communities for employers?  Candidates?

Q4. What advice do you have for employers thinking about starting a talent community?

Q5. How have talent communities evolved – and what role will they play in the future of recruiting?