Sarah Lee shared a link from www.thetalentmanager.com on the TM Hub

Dear all
If I can get you to read just two things about The Talent Manager please look at Why applying for jobs should be free and accessible to all (https://www.thetalentmanager.com/blog/481/why-jobs-should-be-free-to-apply-to-open-and-accessible-to-all) and https://www.thetalentmanager.com/blog/480/lovely-messages-from-you-our-supportive-community.
These show how the recruitment landscape that we inherited when I left production to launch The TM over 13yrs ago was indeed the Wild West.
Now it is most definitely not.
From the outset, our USP was to professionalise recruitment in TV. We've made great headway. We've also continually innovated. From building our real-time RateChecker (which helps freelancers negotiate pay and has over 39,000 rates added), launching our suite of diversity tools (to ensure behind the scenes talent become more representative of the audiences we serve) and most recently delivering our soon to be released mobile app (to help ALL of our members network and connect). This approach, imbedded in the needs of the production community we serve, has meant we are now the centralised Industry system with over 120.000 freelancers and 5000 companies using us (the overwhelming majority of freelancers doing so for free!)
Since we started we have said that FB is an unprofessional and problematic platform, unsuitable for recruitment. (With the caveat that most of the groups are run by hard working moderators who do a brilliant job.) 1/3

Nadya Mahdi

Thanks @SarahLee I have to say i think the rate checker is great thing addition to help people get the right rate and I remember how difficult to penetrate the TV jobs market used to be for editorial jobs pre the creation of Talent Manager, you could deposit your paper CV with the research register and hope they might put you forward for a job but you would never know whether they had unless you got an interview, Talent Manager makes it so much easier way to apply and be found by those searching

2 years ago

Simon Brant

Hi @SarahLee - overall I think TM does a great job. I pay for the Pro service when I can but yes being able to apply for jobs should definitely be free. I have one criticism some production companies don't even bother to open covering letters when they advertise roles with you. From a wellbeing perspective that can be pretty demoralising - this happened before there where more folk chasing less jobs by the way. Will you consider taking to task the serial offenders? Granted TM does acknowledge.

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Sarah Lee

Hi @SimonBrant The issue is complex. Over half of the recruiters opt to have applications forwarded to their inboxes. ( Rather than reviewing applicants on our platform.) Increasingly email privacy settings prevent detection of whether an email has been opened. As we cant know, we show no view. But the reality is they may have viewed. We are talking as a team about ways to encourage them to manage applications on the site( As this way we can categorically detect a 'view')

Thanks very much for the context @SarahLee I’m sure it’s a very complex setup but I do feel strongly that if someone has invested time in taking an interest in a production company the least they can do is acknowledge an application even if it’s a standard automated response with a positive message. I’m a tad older so maybe have an old fashioned approach to these things but an industry that talks about wellbeing so much still has much more to do when it comes to freelancers and their wellbeing.

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Beth Harding

@SimonBrant I don't think acknowledgement, even if automated, is old-fashioned! As you say, could do wonders for well-being.

Thanks @BethHarding I think some things need to improve for sure. Hope all's well x

@SimonBrant keeping on keeping on! Temping to pay the bills and hopefully got some other stuff coming up closer to Christmas. Miss my golf buggy fleet though...! 😆 hope you're well xx

We also provide recruiters with tools to mass reject at the click of a button and/or send personalised rejections. We dont let them post another job if a current job has expired without feedback. All of this said there is still much more that we can do. Thankyou for your honesty sharing this. Ill keep you posted re what else we decide to do. Penalising serial offenders is a great idea.

I think anything TM can do to improve the process for Freelancers would be greatly appreciated. I’m sure many production companies are under resourced and perhaps don’t even have a Talent Manger that being said you’ve streamlined the process for them. Anyhow here’ s for a better 2024 for many people and thanks for all you do at TM.

The Talent Manager

Sarah Lee shared a link from www.thetalentmanager.com

Creative Director @ The Talent Manager

Why jobs should be free to apply to , open and accessible to all | The Talent Manager