Talent Recommendations gives Contently customers the ability to find and engage with new freelancers right in Contently.

Intelligent Talent Recommendations, generated by Contently AI, appear on this page and are refreshed every week. These programmatic recommendations are surfaced by analyzing your Content Strategy and previously published content. All Intelligent Talent Recommendations are thoroughly vetted, qualified, and trained.

Staffing recommendations made by the Creative Marketplace Team (formally known as the Talent Team), in response to custom talent requests, are delivered to you on the Talent Recommendations page and will have a "STAFF PICK" badge next to them to identify the difference between an ITR choice and a Creative Marketplace Team choice.

Where do I find Talent Recommendations?
To access Talent Recommendations go to the Talent Tab of the platform on the top hand side. If you are unable to take these steps, check out this article to help with troubleshooting: Why can’t I access my top talent recommendations? 

How to use Talent Recommendations

Recommended freelancers will be shown as above.

By selecting recommendations through clicking the checkboxes on the left, you can:

1) "Request Pitch" — This will notify the freelancer(s) to pitch an idea to a specific pitch request, which you can then accept or decline.

2) “Add to Team" — You can add the recommended freelancers to your existing team of writers. The freelancer will then be eligible to pitch their ideas ad hoc to your publication or be assigned specific story briefs.

By selecting the ☆ icon, you can bookmark a freelancer. This is helpful when reviewing the writers' portfolios with your team or if you don't have an immediate need for this writer but anticipate needing them in the near future.

By selecting the ✕ on the right-hand side, you will remove this freelancer from your recommendations for a total of 30 days, after which they can be surfaced as a future recommendation based on your current content produced.

Please note, the Creative Marketplace Team will not re-staff in response to a Custom Talent Request if you decide to ✕ the first round of recommendations. Custom Talent Request freelancers must first be allowed to pitch before being removed from a publication. This is especially true if we're working with a limited pool of talent in response to a niche request.

By clicking on the freelancer's name, their information will expand as shown above.

You will be able to follow the link to their Contently Portfolio, and view their Languages, Location, and Bio.

You will also see their Relevant Stories:

Inviting contributors to join your Contently team

In the past, there was no way for contributors to decline an invitation to a team besides reaching out to the Creative Marketplace Team after being added.

Now, if a contributor is selected through Talent Recommendations, they receive an email notification which requires them to read through the publication's Content Strategy and click “Accept" or “Decline" on the opportunity.

If the freelancer declines by selecting "Busy with other projects," they will not appear in recommendation results for any publication for 30 days.

If the freelancer declines because they are "Unfamiliar with the subject matter," or “Not interested," they will never appear in that particular publication's recommendation results in the future.

Talent Search additions will live on the platform under Talent Recommendations for each publication rather than in multiple emails.

The Creative Marketplace Team will respond to the Custom Talent Request email when the request is complete, prompting you to check Talent Recommendations for that publication. You must add Custom Talent Request contributors to the team yourself through the Talent Recommendations page.

You will no longer receive “Welcome Emails" looping freelancers in on their addition to the team. To get in touch with new freelancers, you should reach out through the platform messaging system. Freelancer responses should reach your inbox, so you may carry out the rest of your conversation through email if you prefer. Your email responses will auto-populate on the platform, adding an extra layer of protection should conduct issues arise.

You have direct access to programmatic recommendations, should you wish to proactively staff up your team without creating a Talent Search. We highly recommend that you check Talent Recommendations before filling a request.

When freelancers are invited to join the publication, they can decline if they are too busy or uninterested, preventing swollen teams filled with unresponsive contributors.

We have systems in place to notify the Creative Marketplace Team if a large number of contributors decline the invitation to be added to a publication, especially in response to a Custom Talent Request. In these cases, the Creative Marketplace Team will step in and add additional freelancers to Talent Recommendations.