How BMW builds a talent community with Magnet.me to keep talent engaged and recruit more efficiently

BMW is one of the world’s most iconic brands. But in the Netherlands, that reputation alone wasn’t enough to attract young talent. While promoting their traineeship program, the company struggled to connect with students and early-career professionals. To solve this, Tim, Talent acquisition lead at BMW Group Netherlands, turned to Magnet.me.

“We want to turn people into brand ambassadors, whether they’re hired today or not. A lot of people we reject are great, just not the right fit at the time. Magnet.me helps us keep that door open.”

Tim

Talent acquisition lead at BMW Group Netherlands

Challenge | Building lasting talent relationships is impossible with traditional tools

Part of the issue lay in their existing tools. Like many career pages, BMW relied on a basic job alert system with limited functionality: no way to build relationships and no way to stay top-of-mind. Traditional talent pools always dried up just as quickly as they were filled.

BMW sought a better way to engage with potential candidates year-round. After discovering the broader value of Magnet.me as a scalable solution for building a diverse talent community, BMW now uses the platform to maintain long-term relationships, even when no roles are open.

Solution | Turning interest into engagement

To continuously engage with potential candidates, BMW implemented a scalable approach using Magnet.me to build and grow its own community of future talent.

Rather than waiting for candidates to apply, BMW proactively invites talent to connect, so they can stay top-of-mind even when no jobs are available.

Building a long-term talent community with Magnet.me

By inviting talent to join their network across key touchpoints, BMW encourages candidates to engage with the brand, even when not actively applying or when no roles are available. BMW implemented the following:

• Careers site: Button placement on the homepage, top navigation, and job overview pages.

• Email communications: Added to email signatures of the recruitment team. 

• Events: QR codes shown during career events and presentations to enable instant connections.

Tim: "The fact that Magnet.me makes it so easy to build a community, through things like event QR codes and a button on our job pages, was a big plus for us. It allows us to maintain relationships beyond just filling jobs."

Implementation | A smooth and collaborative implementation

The rollout went quickly and efficiently. After initial planning with Magnet.me’s technical team, BMW connected their German web development team to finalize the integration.

Tim: “Once we decided to go ahead, it was incredibly smooth. We had a kickoff call with the Magnet.me tech specialist, looped in our German web team, and just made it happen. Within a few weeks, we had Company connect fully implemented.”

Results | More connections and a cultural shift

Even in the early pilot phase, BMW saw a clear increase in talent pool connections, proving that the low-barrier engagement method is working. But the biggest win? A shift in mindset.

Tim: “In the past, our approach was very transactional: a vacancy goes live, we hire someone, and that's it. Now we're thinking more about how to keep people in our ecosystem, even if they’re not hired right away.”

Through their talent network on Magnet.me, BMW can easily turn initial interest into relationships they can build and maintain over time. Candidates connected to BMW automatically receive updates when a new role matches their profile and are encouraged to apply right away. In addition, BMW can nurture their community through branded emails and personalized content. This keeps talent engaged, ensures BMW stays top-of-mind, and allows the team to reach out directly. The result: future hiring cycles become faster and much more efficient.

Tim: “We want to turn people into brand ambassadors, whether they’re hired today or not. A lot of people we reject are great, just not the right fit at the time. Magnet.me helps us keep that door open."

From passive database to active community

BMW’s shift in strategy isn’t just about technology, it’s a cultural shift. BMW moved from a static email list to an active, community-based approach that reflects how professionals want to engage today.

Tim: “Magnet.me stands out from traditional platforms like LinkedIn or old-school job boards, it’s built with a candidate-first approach and allows us to reach these candidates in the right way.”

Want to build your own future proof talent network?

BMW shifted from transactional hiring to relationship-driven recruitment, and it’s just the beginning.

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