It’s not often I come across interesting new products but now seems the time for innovation. The latest is a product which was established in Australia in 2011 and is now established in the US too – and is now making its way to these shores. RecruitLoop is “a platform for employers to automate and outsource the recruitment process, on-demand”. What that means for corporates is that they can buy-in recruitment resource as and when they need it and just pay for the amount of time the recruiter works on that element of the project. What it means for recruiters is that you can still work with corporates who wish to hold much of the recruitment process inhouse.
When I first looked at the product I thought it was a type of recruitment franchise where they had all the technology and back office support and you pay them a cut of your profits. However, it’s not the case and this is very much a way for a recruiter to sell their skills in a new way. Think of the model of solicitors who basically will do whatever you want (in legal terms) and bill you for that time in increments of 15 minutes. Unlike a franchise model where it can often by an attractive proposition to someone wishing to set up on their own Recruit Loop are primarily selling this concept to existing recruiters as an add on to their current model/revenue stream as a way to work with clients who they would otherwise have lost. There is a referral system as part of the model (you pay a higher percentage of your fee to Recruit Loop if you take referrals) but if you prefer you can just work with your own clients.
There are some funky features within the project including the online video system.
The average project fee is currently c$2000 dollars (c£1200) and on that you’d pay a 15% ‘commission’ to Recruit Loop.
At first I thought the idea was a bit mad but as recruiters have to be more imaginative and flexible to fit in with the hiring company’s needs I can see how this will appeal. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on the platform and hope to entice the guys along to one of our showcase events in 2014.
