The Path to a Remote Lifestyle!
In September 2021 I started as an entrepreneur within the Recruitment industry. After working for about 4 years as a recruiter within a Recruitment Agency in the Achterhoek, I decided to start my own business in this wonderful profession after studying Strategic Entrepreneurship in Jönköping, Sweden. Recruitment has always suited me well, the combination of listening to and helping people make an important choice in their lives, with the commercial and emotional satisfaction that comes with a successful placement, means that I still enjoy this work every day.
Before I went back to university in 2019, my dream was to work remotely. I thought: this must be possible, right? I worked mostly on my own, and did all my intakes via Skype (we still used Skype back then) and over the phone. Why couldn’t I do this remotely? Of course, I could not have known that such a great opportunity would arise during my two years of study. Of course, it could have been done without Covid, but Covid has made it a lot easier for me. Suddenly working remotely became “normal”, people found out that working remotely also works. There was no compulsory fysical attendance anymore. Obviously this has come back in part after Covid became less serious, but it has normalized nonetheless. There couldn’t be a more ideal time to enter the recruitment world as an entrepreneur!
Initially, I had the idea to start a green recruitment company together with a co-founder I had met in Sweden. We wanted to fill sustainable vacancies in the Netherlands and spend part of the fee on charities (mainly forest protection). Although it seemed like a nice idea, it quickly went south. We couldn’t both give the commitment needed for this. My co-founder left and I continued on my own. I decided to abandon the green recruitment idea and “just” start working as a freelance recruiter. I started with a job for my former employer, for which I am still active. I recruit international candidates for technical vacancies in the Achterhoek and Liemers region. We arrange the administration, accommodation, and all other matters involved. Where I still had to be present a lot in the beginning due to start-up, customer visits, etc. Is that no longer necessary (partly/mainly because of hiring a colleague). The first job that can be done completely remotely is therefore a fact!
In the meantime, I had already moved to Budapest, Hungary. My girlfriend is from here and started her Ph.D. She would be bound to Budapest for 2 years and we would therefore live here for a maximum of 2 years. In November 2021 we found a nice place in the center of Budapest, where we still live. We will be leaving here at the end of August, more about this later!
Unfortunately, I soon found out that the earnings from my one job were not enough to support myself. In addition, I wanted to do something on the side, something that is of course also a requirement as an entrepreneur. In the spring of 2022, I decided that I wanted to try it as a Corporate Recruiter. In the summer I found a job as Interim Corporate Recruiter at a factory active in non-woven fabrics in Cuijk, near Nijmegen. This job was a hybrid, I came to the Netherlands from Hungary about 1 week every 4 weeks, this was not a must, but it was important for me. It was my first Corporate Recruitment assignment, and sometimes it was very nice to be able to speak to colleagues and especially hiring managers in person. After about 2 months this job started to go well, and we filled our first vacancies. In the end, I filled all the vacancies that were initially assigned to me. Unfortunately, I heard afterward that one candidate didn’t start after all, but that’s also part of being a recruiter :).
Almost immediately I started working for a company that produces machines for industrial bakeries, located in Nieuwkuijk (near Den Bosch). I am still working here. This started as a mainly sourcing-related job, in which the goal was to generate more inflow in terms of candidates. During the months my position changed more and more. I started handling all applications and managing the processes more and more. We received a large bump in vacancies, which also caused and continues to provide a lot of work. In addition, I have recently started become active in communicating with external agencies. I was involved in an Employer Branding campaign, although it has been suspended for a while. We are currently in the middle of a Recruitment Marketing campaign on Social Media to fill our most urgent vacancies. This job was a hybrid, I came back to the Netherlands every last Thursday of the month. From September it seems that this is moving more towards fully remote, something that can also be done well in my opinion.
I wasn’t necessarily looking for a job besides this, but something came my way that I found very interesting. A connection of mine is active in Recruitment Marketing and has found an innovative way to use social media to generate more leads for difficult vacancies. She was looking for someone to pick up on these leads, and that sounded like music to my ears. We are still in the early phase of the collaboration, but I think this could be a good match. This assignment is already completely remote. This is also one of the reasons that I found (and find) this interesting. Ultimately, I want to start working completely remotely (preferably from September).
I’m close. Something that was a dream in 2018-2019 seems very likely to come true in 2023. And it will certainly come true in 2024 because we will live in Iceland for six months due to a Research Exchange from my girlfriend. I’m proud of where I stand and how I managed to build an online service that works and puts bread on the table. It certainly hasn’t been easy – and it still isn’t – but the time of sowing seems to be giving way to a time of reaping.
Now of course comes the next point, how should it actually work remotely? I have no idea, I’m going to find out! I have been a member of Remote Business Club for several months now, a business club full of recruiters, some of whom also work or have worked remotely/hybrid. I have already had a number of very valuable conversations from which I have learned a lot. I think the most important thing as a remote entrepreneur is: just do it!
