Work in our time is one of the main tools for life. Without money, we will not be able to provide ourselves with everyday life, not to mention internal self-esteem and a sense of self-realization.
But what exactly helps you find a job? And are there any tools for effective searches at all? After analyzing a number of requirements of employers on the Internet, we have prepared 4 strategies for you that will help you in your job search.
The labor market can be divided into four parts: narrow profile professionals, specialists, mass professions and vacancies difficult to fill. And for each segment of the character a separate strategy.
Bulk positions
Job offers in this segment are characterized by low competition. On the Internet, you can easily find many offers.
Employees in the field of insurance, sales and HoReCa will be able to change jobs without difficulty.
For example, in the insurance industry, about 4 resumes and about 40% Potential employees are invited for an interview. In the field Catering and hotel industry for one workplace there are 3.9 candidates and 31% are interviewed.
But who exactly will be able to get a job in such areas of work without problems? These are candidates with a well-written resume and with skills that meet standard requirements.
An applicant for a job in the mass segment needs to be prepared for group meetings with a potential employer.
IT industries
The creator of the transport television service, Vadim Mokhov, takes a lot of time to find a qualified IT specialist. He had to read hundreds of resumes, and conduct a number of interviews. As a result, find right person not so easy. Mokhov needed not just IT specialists, but also people who had knowledge of the transport industry.
“It is much easier to find a transport specialist and then train him in IT than to look for transport specialists among computer scientists,” the entrepreneur shared.
It is difficult for specialists of a narrow profile to find a job, because the level of competition is low, and the number of required personnel is minimal than in sales or insurance. According to statistics, almost 7 resumes per job in an IT company, and only 15% of applicants get interviewed. In the field of marketing the situation is similar: 3.5 applicants per vacancy, among which 17% get interviewed with superiors.
The head of the HR company, Anna Mikheeva, says that a few years ago, employers were ready to hire people from related industries, today, due to staff optimization, the company is looking for an employee who meets all the criteria.
CEOs
Candidates who apply for leadership positions must have a specific strategy for getting a job. After all, it is very difficult to find a vacancy for a top manager or a lawyer.
There are up to 37 resumes for one vacancy of a top manager, among which only 6% get interviewed.This can be explained by the fact that employers do not need general managers, they need work experience, a number of achievements of the candidate in a certain area. Some companies, after optimizing personnel, decided to remove from organizational structure position of top manager and personnel officer. Applicants are looking for professionals who can perform the functions of a manager and effectively manage staff.
Senior professionals need to prepare for the fact that job searches can take a lot of time on a wide variety of resources (not just on the Internet).
Human qualities
There are cases in the labor market when a candidate is invited to the office for an interview, even if his resume does not meet the requirements of the company.
According to the personnel expert, there are positions where human qualities are much more important than professional skills.
Before inviting a person for an interview, the employer tries as much as possible to find out about the life of the applicant using social networks. Therefore, it is worth thinking carefully about all your social actions, because excessive activity or incorrect posts can cost you your job.
The article is based on materials from superjob.ru, vedomosti.ru.
We believe it is no secret to anyone that recent times hh.ru absolutely does not work for top managers, and sometimes middle managers. Where, then, to look for top positions?
The main feature of senior management positions is that they are practically not placed in the public domain.
This is most often related to search privacy.
If the owner wants to change CEO or the company discovered theft, which is covered by the CFO. As a rule, such tops change quietly and quietly, especially if the company is public. Any business values its reputation and will not make publicly available information that it is looking for a new CEO.
Another reason for the lack of top positions in the public domain is the irrelevance of the responses.
In today's marketplace, a commercial or CEO level position can get more than 1,000 applications in a week. At the same time, almost all of them will not correspond to the vacancy.
At the same time, successful tops do not respond to open access vacancies. They are waiting to be offered a job.
And here one important feature of today's labor market emerges - increased competition for vacancies.
Until a couple of years ago, any successful manager did not have to make an effort to find a job. Offers found him themselves.
But now the situation has changed. Due to the reduction and departure of Western players from Russian market, many successful tops were left without work. And today, in most industries, even at the top management level, employers choose from many applicants. The time for bounty hunting is over.
Thus, many tops fell into an information vacuum. The old job search methods don't work. Friends shrug their shoulders and say that they would be glad to take it, but there are no vacancies, and for some reason the headhunters are silent.
What to do?
Finding a job is somewhat similar to marketing and sales. You need to sell a product. The goods are precisely for those customers who have a need for it. Agency consultants have a need for qualified managers Executive search.
It is these recruiting companies that specialize in top-level positions.
Often they work directly with business owners or are headquartered overseas. Such positions will not be publicly available. And headhunters work with such positions directly with access to the customer. Thus, the task of the tops is to personally meet or get on the radar to the maximum number of consultants executive search in your industry.
How to do it?
First of all, you need to make a list of agencies. Working in your industry. Each agency has industry practices.
Your task is to establish direct contact with industry consultants.
Sometimes information about consultants is on the website recruiting companies. But, in recent years, the site has become the most effective tool for direct access to consultants. In this business social network, you should create a correct profile that displays your achievements and value for employers. And then, engage in targeted networking. Required consultants should be added to the first circle, and then write to them directly. Also, when you add headhunters to the first circle, you start to get into their search selections, which increases the chance of getting a job offer.
What to send consultants?
Correctly composed and enclosed. Preferably immediately in Russian and. A cover letter should not duplicate a resume. The point of this letter is to briefly describe your key strengths, experience and the added value that you can bring to the business.
A cover letter can be compared to packaging, thanks to which the buyer wants to purchase a product.
How quickly do executive search consultants respond?
Differently. If a headhunter has a vacancy corresponding to your experience, he can immediately invite you for an interview. If he is interested in your experience, but there are no vacancies yet, he can either add you to the active database, or meet and get to know each other for the future. This should be taken lightly.
Experienced recruiters are constantly expanding their network of contacts in the industry. So that when a vacancy appears, they can quickly show candidates to the customer. In recruitment, speed sometimes plays a decisive role. If you were told that you were brought to the base, this does not mean a refusal. The point of creating a network of industry headhunters around you is to make you known and remembered. If you correctly presented yourself to the consultant executive search. He will contact you as soon as suitable vacancies become available.
It is important for some top managers to get rid of prejudice when dealing with executive search consultants. This is especially true for CEOs who started their careers back in the 90s. The main mistake of the tops is that they look down on recruiters, do not open up, do not show their value and importance for the employer. Thus, these candidates do not build a trusting relationship with the consultant and lose an interesting offer.
But an executive search consultant can become a consultant's friend and partner for many years to come. Any experienced headhunter has a list of favorite job seekers. Those with whom he has lined up business relationship. It is to them that he first of all offers hidden vacancies. Asks them for recommendations and information about the industry.
So, in order to regularly receive interesting offers, the top needs to form a network of consultants around itself. executive search in your industry.
You need to understand that the labor market has become the employer's market.
Competition for jobs has intensified. Today, you need to be able to make yourself known in the market, to reach out to recruiters yourself. Maintain and constantly expand the network of contacts with people who work with vacancies that interest you.
Where to start looking for a job?
How to change the search process if it does not bring results?
Why aren't they invited for interviews?
Are they offering the wrong positions?
How to get adequate feedback from the recruiter and HR?
What is the danger of a passive job search?
How to sell yourself most profitably?
How do I know how much I'm worth in the labor market?
How to access a confidential base with vacancies?
You will receive answers to these and other questions during a free webinar. "Job Search for Executives" with our expert Ekaterina Gorshkova-Beketova.
I didn't fail, I found ten thousand ways that don't work
Thomas Edison
Are you looking for a job today the same way you were 3-4 years ago? What do you mean: these methods are hopelessly outdated. How a top manager can quickly find a suitable position and impress a new employer in the realities of a new day - the site portal was told by the head of the recruitment department staffing company Irina Pevnaya.
The current labor market is not easy and competitive - the higher the position level, the higher the requirements and the fewer offers. Today, the employer is not interested in stories about past achievements, he is interested in your approaches to management and in finding solutions in the present economic realities that are useful for the company. In such a difficult labor market, the search for a job can be delayed for a long time, and the prospects and terms are poorly predictable.
Employment and search for top managers in Russia is significantly different from the culture of hiring top managers abroad: Russian top managers try not to advertise their interest in finding a job and in most cases are not ready to openly post their resumes on job sites, and employers do not post top vacancies in the public domain . One top manager who held the position financial director in big company, faced with a job search, shared with us doubts that he had no idea what he should do now and how to tell his friends that he needed a job, because in the eyes of his environment he was a person in demand, who was doing well.
The search for candidates for managerial positions has specifics with the established opinion that successful and sought-after candidates, as a rule, are employed and they need to be hunted, lured away, since they do not post their resumes on job sites. The value of the top, who published his resume in the public domain, is discounted. “Something is wrong with him,” many employers say. Of course, there is another point of view, not all employers think that way. For example, many HRs independently search for candidates using open sources, social networks and go out to the right people according to the recommendations.
Given the ins and outs of executive job hunting, you need to decide for yourself whether you are willing to let the world know about your job seeking status, or after weighing the pros and cons, opt for a "closed" confidential search strategy.
And what about the labor market?
In general, we see how the press is replete with reports of global personnel changes, that the crisis provokes a change in management. Thus, according to research conducted by PwC in 2015, of the 2,500 largest public companies in the world, 17% changed CEOs, which was a record figure for the past 16 years, and in most cases due to unsatisfactory business management results.
Owners are interested in managers who are ready to take risks and share responsibility, so they are reluctant to attract candidates with high motivational expectations.
Do your professional competencies, accumulated experience and salary expectations correspond to the current needs of employers? You will have to answer these and many other questions on your own, conduct your own audit of your added value for employers. Determine what is more important to you: interesting tasks, career development in a large company, or size monetary reward. Not always all these conditions are combined. Are you ready to negotiate the terms of a contract that is different from the existing one, but with prospects that depend on the results obtained? The conflict of expectations and opportunities can end with regrets about the lost time.
If you find yourself in the job market, why not consider new opportunities that you previously thought about, but did not dare to approach? We advise you to pay attention to the transition trend labor relations into a project-oriented format: project managers are in high demand. If you have gained new experience in your previous jobs and expanded your functional baggage, it may be worth trying to change the field of activity. Perhaps you will realize that you feel the strength and desire to be realized in your own business.
Search process
Recruiting and staff assessment technologies are being improved. Resumes are converted into digital data format, social networks and online career services expand search capabilities and save time. The first contact with you begins with getting to know and processing the information reflected in your resume, which should be concise, informative and with semantic accents. Describe only those competencies that are directly related to your functionality. Many will agree that the resume of a candidate who positions himself as Technical Director, and its summary contains detailed description competencies of a financier, HR-a, lawyer and head of an IT department at the same time. If your competencies go beyond functional duties, and you have been actively involved in the implementation of projects involving cross-functions, I recommend highlighting these key competencies in a separate block.
Clearly state and include on your resume your career goal or the title of the position, or several positions for which you are applying. Don't expand your list of career goals too much, as people who see your resume for the first time may get lost in defining your professional integrity.
Job descriptions should be given due attention. If your place of work is a well-known company that everyone knows, then there is no need to describe the scope of activity and digitize business parameters, unless you worked in structural unit group of companies. In this case, detailing is preferable for the employer, allowing to get an impression of the volume of business, direction of activity, etc. If you worked for a relatively small second-tier company, it would be useful to briefly describe the main parameters of its activities.
Long breaks in work experience, if any, in your resume, as a rule, raise questions from employers: be prepared for a reasoned explanation at the interview, but it’s better to comment on them in your resume. For example, if you were an off-duty executive MBA student or you were working on your own project, then it is better to write about it that way, indicating a specific period.
Work sites
Obviously, posting your resume on a job site involves a wide reach of potentially interested employers and recruiters. This is a plus. The downside is that the use of open sources excludes you from the category of "exclusive" candidates who are of value to both recruiters and employers themselves. If you posted your resume on a job site, then it is better to choose the “not visible to anyone” format, responding only to vacancies that interest you, as well as using other settings that allow you to achieve maximum profile confidentiality.
Don't forget to write cover letters , which should not be a copy of your work experience. They should include meaningful information that will be useful to that particular employer for the specific job you are applying for.
Development of business and professional relations
Social professional networks are one of the ways to promote your personal professional brand, which is desirable to develop throughout the career path. Recruiters actively use social networks to search for candidates for management positions and collect recommendations. Don't take a passive stance waiting for interested recruiters and HR to take notice of your profile and knock with a super offer. Be active on your part too: send informative but unobtrusive cover letters, through which you indicate your interest in considering proposals - leave comments, establish new contacts, become a noticeable expert for the professional community. The axiom is simple: in order for you to receive offers, you must be known. Inform former colleagues at work, your business partners, customers with whom you interacted, about your status and interest in new offers.
ES agencies
In specialized ES-agencies gets significant amount managerial vacancies requiring a confidential search for candidates with relevant experience. Headhunters try to keep the database of candidates up to date, establish new contacts for incoming orders. If the candidate’s resume is published in the public domain, the agency’s interest in cooperation is minimal: the employer pays considerable fees to the ES agency not for consultants to “sit” on job sites and process applicant profiles available to the employer, but for what they find valuable candidates to whom the employer does not have direct access.
Benefits of Interacting with ES Career Advisors - agencies is obvious, they know their customers well, they know necessary information receive feedback from the employer. Recruiters are interested in building a positive dialogue between you and their client-employer. As a rule, candidates applying for high positions try to get into the cage of ES agencies that initiate communication with the candidate if his profile and experience meet the stated requirements of the vacancy in the consultant's work. To get started, inform consultants that you are open to suggestions. Determine the circle of agencies that you consider suitable for interaction, send information about your professional experience. Meeting with a consultant, in the absence of a suitable vacancy, can be of an introductory nature, so cooperation with an ES agency will be useful for you in the long term of building a career.
Interview in the company, or the first impression cannot be left twice
They called you and invited you for an interview at the company. Get ready! Remember that the first impression cannot be left twice. The more information about the company, including non-public, you collect, the more chances for a productive acquaintance. Formulate questions in advance. Qualitative questions asked in the topic will characterize you positively.
The scenario and format of interviews depends on many factors: from corporate culture companies, from human factor, including the mood of the interviewer and your mood as well. You need to be prepared for the most unexpected interview scenarios: from a stressful 10-minute interview to an offer to take a polygraph at the first meeting. There was a case when the owner began the interview with a request to tell his favorite anecdote: a good start, funny and telling at the same time. Whatever the interview format is chosen, try to speak the same language with the interlocutor, even if you immediately realized that you did not come to the company of your dreams. Don't retell your resume. Live dialogue, examples of your achievements, a brief description of managerial and professional skills will arouse greater interest from the employer. active position, the ability to take the initiative in their own hands, thinking outside the box can have a positive impact on the assessment of your candidacy. Demonstrate your potential, try not to think in patterns “it was like this in our company”. Feel free to talk about your pluses and minuses: it is impossible to know everything and be able to do everything, as well as to be a professional in everything at the same time. People who can evaluate and analyze own mistakes inspire confidence among employers.
If the search is delayed
If your resume is “playing” and you receive invitations to interviews, but after a meeting with the employer, no continuation follows, including feedback, bug fixes are required. It is good if you find these mistakes yourself, if not, you can resort to third-party help, for example, career consultants or coaches. Look for reasons in how you present your experience: analyze your behavioral reactions, remember your answers to questions.
You just went through an interview where you were assured that you are the perfect candidate. We agreed on the next steps. You are satisfied and waiting for an offer, instead of which you receive a polite refusal with gratitude for taking the time to meet and get to know each other. The reasons may be different, including those not related to your candidacy. Not all companies are ready to honestly and openly name them. Accept the given and learn from the experience, the situation may change, and your candidacy will be returned later.
The CEO is one of the scarcest top managers. Any headhunter is happy with an experienced CEO, and yet the tops are looking for work for several months.
To speed up this process, you need to use all the most effective tools job search.
How to look for a job as a CEO?
The current situation in the labor market is paradoxical. On the one hand, companies are increasingly experiencing a shortage of top managers. The demand for CEOs is especially high. It would seem that under such conditions, qualified managers should be snapped up on the fly. However, many experienced professionals who know their own worth are looking for a decent job for half a year.
The essence of the problem lies in the fact that in Russia the mechanism that balances supply and demand in this market segment has not yet been debugged. Faced with the problem of finding a job, managers do not understand how to approach this issue: where to start, who to contact. In turn, employers cannot formulate who they need, and at the same time they often underestimate the real cost of a top manager. As a result, the search process is greatly delayed, which is detrimental to both parties.
How to speed up the job search process and not end up on the bench?
Personal connections
The most effective employment mechanism is networking. According to internal statistics of Russian and foreign companies executive search, more than 70% of top managers find jobs through the so-called social networks.
Starting the search, first of all, "raise" all your formal and informal acquaintances, analyze them and make a list of contacts. Focus not only on those people with whom you communicate at the moment. Remember with whom you studied at school, university, as well as acquaintances who have good connections. An intermediary can be not only a person from a professional environment, but also a personal hairdresser, a swimming coach and a casual acquaintance.
Call everyone and inform about readiness to consider interesting proposals and projects. Some top managers are afraid to make such calls, believing that it can damage their image successful person, and close for themselves the most effective way to search for vacancies.
In the practice of Olga Chebotkova, partner of TRANSEARCH/Top Hunt International, there was a case when an experienced top manager, an MBA graduate, searched for a job for half a year to no avail. After listening to Olga's arguments, he wrote information mail and sent it to the addresses of the MBA graduates with whom he studied together. Literally 15 minutes after that, one of his classmates called him and offered to take a position for which he had not been able to find a person for several months. And for two years now, the top manager has been successfully working in this company.
executive search
Another way to find a decent job is to apply to an executive search company. Often, really non-public top managers do not come to the attention of employers and headhunters, even if they work effectively. To be noticed in the labor market, you need to make yourself known. And to do it efficiently, it is best to seek the help of professionals.
It is better to start "befriending" executive search consultants before the "thunder strikes". Even if you are not thinking about changing jobs right now, do a little research on the ES market, get recommendations from colleagues and choose a few recruitment agencies that you can trust (in any case, no more than 10-15 industry leaders in Moscow and 3-4 in St. Petersburg ). Write or call these companies. By providing information about yourself, you will be included in the database of headhunters, after which you will be "in mind". Perhaps you will be asked to recommend one of the familiar professionals - this is a good opportunity to “fix” relationships with consultants who will continue to offer you the best vacancies.
However, it is worth remembering that the client of a headhunter is an employer, and your demand will depend not so much on your readiness to change jobs, but on whether the consultant has a specific order.
Internet
The Internet as a job search tool for the CEO is less effective than what social media provides. In addition, it is difficult to maintain privacy on the Internet. Of course, you can create a "blind" resume: indicate a different name, remove the names of companies in which you worked before, but such a policy is not welcomed by employers and executive search specialists. By doing so, you risk causing more damage to your reputation. Therefore, it is better to choose a fair game.
However, one should not miss such a potential source of offers as the Internet. For example, HeadHunter.Ru makes it possible to maintain confidentiality by using various resume visibility modes, for example, “available to registered companies, except for selected ones” or “available only to listed companies”.
In addition, the Internet is the most open source of information about employing companies and a space that helps strengthen contacts. In particular, by posting resumes on job search sites, you attract the attention of headhunters, most of whom actively use online resume databases.
Positioning
An important component of a successful job search is the correct positioning among acquaintances and professionals. You should be known as a person who does this and that, knows how to do this and that, works in such and such an area or has such and such interests. This is necessary in order to be remembered if necessary and recommended to friends.
Of course, the further away the person who recommends you is in the professional world, the less clear will be his understanding of your interests and requests. Despite this, openness and a principled willingness to talk about what you do and what you want is very important.
Sometimes offers are not received simply because you are considered closed and not ready to make contact: “too successful”, “too expensive” or because they don’t know anything about you.
Articles in professional publications and speeches at business conferences are also a good way to "stake out" the professional field and be in the public eye. The latter method should not be underestimated, if only because the conferences are actively attended by recruiters and journalists. According to our observations, 25–30% of new speakers change jobs within 2–3 months after their appearance in public.
The search for top-level specialists, or executive search, occupies a special niche among all areas of selection. Managers are rarely looking for a job, so the specificity of such a selection is also in the ability of a recruiter to wait for the right moment and make a really interesting offer. We found out from the experts how the most important ones are hired and why sometimes a well-timed cup of coffee plays a decisive role.
Applicants for executive positions are searched for by HR within the company or are contacted by agencies with executive search experience. The work begins with a detailed discussion of the conditions and requirements.
Make an action plan
It is better to involve everyone who will influence the decision making in the discussion. Usually this is a headhunter, the future leader of the candidate and the leader of the “+1” level, who has the final say in the selection. At the first stage, the recruiter is expected to help match the company's requirements with the market situation. As a result joint work there is a clear vision of what professional and personal qualities must possess the ideal candidate.
The experience of communicating with top specialists from target companies in relevant positions helps a headhunter to form an adequate request for a position. A novice recruiter can use personal contacts and open sources of information from Google search to thematic professional forums, ask colleagues and partners for advice.
The next step is to prepare for the search. The selection of top specialists cannot begin with clean slate. As a rule, companies already know good candidates working in the right market segment. And HRD, which monitors the career reshuffles of competing companies, can come to the beginning of the search with a full-fledged long list - a list of all the tops that somehow meet the formal vacancy criteria.
Then communication with candidates begins: the first calls and agreements. This is how a short list is formed - a list of 2-3 names of professionals who most closely match the job description and are potentially ready to discuss the conditions. With this list, the HR is again sent to the manager, who has already coordinated the meetings and finalizes the selection.
Search among your
Major players in the labor market are also looking for top specialists in the industry through their own talent pool: “In most cases, when considering external candidates for vacancies, we give preference to candidates with suitable experience. For vacancies for which relevant experience is not required, we will rather consider a candidate from the internal talent pool,” says Anastasia Verevkina, Executive Director, Leader of the Executive Recruitment Team of PJSC Sberbank.
It is important to start communication with a candidate, armed with all the knowledge about his position, prospects and the general situation in the industry: “If a high-level candidate understands that you are sensibly assessing his current position and offering something at least as high as you understand business, industry - with a high degree of probability, he will agree to a meeting, even if only out of interest: to find out what is happening on the market, ”says Elena Semenova, head of the professional selection group in the field of Production & Logistics at the ManpowerGroup personnel company.
“The most important secret: to communicate like a person to a person, no matter how trite it may sound. If a recruiter sounds like an automatic survey from a bank or insurance company, the potential candidate's first reaction will be protection from possible spam. Moreover, using the direct search method, we reach candidates who are not yet thinking about changing jobs. In the first seconds, the tone, the pace of speech, goodwill, the ability to hear, to succinctly formulate the purpose of the call are especially important, so that the candidate assesses whether it is convenient for him to continue the conversation now or later,” says Elena Semenova.
Search within the industry also implies a risk in the case when a company fails to interest a professional: “There were examples when we understood that if a candidate does not come to us, but goes to competitors, we lose a lot of money. These risks, of course, are always calculated. But such questions of choice for the candidate are not solved by money. Therefore, it is definitely worth spending time on negotiations and additional communication with a good candidate,” - Ksenia Volkova, Executive Search Manager from MTS.
Often a conversation with a potential applicant for a vacancy begins with a simple invitation for a cup of coffee to learn more about the company and conditions, says Irina Egorova, Executive Director - Business Partner for Human Resources Management of Wealth Management PJSC Sberbank: “Known professionals who are not looking for a job are much more willing to agree to “just get to know each other” than to come to “an interview for a vacancy.” Not to put pressure on candidates, but to interest them gradually - this is also important in our work. We had many cases when a candidate initially refused to consider job offers, came “just to get acquainted” for one or a second interview, received more information about the tasks, about the company, and as a result came to work with us. So, for example, the Director for Medical Projects joined the Wealth Management block this year.”
Invite a top manager from a related field
The market for top professionals in every industry is fairly transparent. This often determines the specifics of the search: “If we are looking for a person with expertise only in the telecom industry, then we already know all the candidates. They, as a rule, have already worked with us, and some even came for the second time. Our search method in this case is to allow for the possibility of considering candidates from a parallel industry,” explains Ksenia Volkova from MTS.
“For example, I have an interesting candidate. She has never worked in telecom, but I saw from her skills and experience that this person will be able to launch very interesting projects with us. At the same time, the candidate was not in the search. Within 9 months we met with her several times. Over dinner or coffee, they discussed why she needed a telecom at all, how it would change her from a professional point of view, ”says Ksenia.
A candidate from another industry is valuable not for relevant experience, but for skills applicable in the company: “At the top management level, it is often not so much specific applied experience in the industry that is important, but skills and competencies that are applicable to various industries. We call these skills transferable skills. For example, optimization and implementation of processes; product development or innovative technologies; strategy and methodology and so on. It is also important for us that the candidate complies with the competency model (soft skills) adopted at Sberbank,” says Anastasia Verevkina, Executive Director, Leader of the Executive Recruitment Team of Sberbank.
For a business that is focused on projects in areas new to itself, an outside specialist can be more useful than a familiar candidate from the industry. “All the positions that we are now opening are aimed at a new line of business. Therefore, we are looking for super flexible people with an understanding of processes design work. It is important that a person be ready that the project can work for 2 months, and then close or be on pause, that the product strategy may change. The one who does not know how to adapt, who cannot look at the task from a new angle, will not fit here, ”says Ksenia Volkova.
The scale of tasks with which the candidate worked also becomes an argument when choosing. Personal experience of doing business also forms a certain image of a top specialist and can influence the decision of managers and HR, says Ksenia: “We have a lot of employees who led their successful business, and now with this experience they have come to us, on a more serious scale. Such experience also contributes to making a decision in favor of the candidate.”
How to survive rejection
If the manager refused a candidate who seemed ideal, this always indicates an error in communication between the employer and the recruiter, says Elena Semenova: beginning), or they have changed. It is also important here how well the client and the recruiter worked together: is there a detailed connection on resumes and interviews, was it possible to quickly adjust the understanding of the profile and search.”
When a recruiter receives a refusal from the candidate himself, you need to understand the reasons or change the style of communication. Often a person refuses automatically, because executive & direct search involves communication with candidates who are not looking for a job right now. In this case, a second call helps, Elena believes.
“There is nothing wrong with calling back at a different time. The main thing is to sound adequate, to argue, not to start a conversation from scratch. For example: "I remember that you have now interesting project. But perhaps I can briefly tell you the essence of the matter? I would be grateful if, as a professional in this field, you would recommend someone if you yourself are not interested.”
Even in case of refusal, the recruiter can guess when the specialist will be ready to return to the conversation about a new appointment, explains Anastasia Verevkina: “If candidates refuse to meet, we often have an understanding of when and with what offer we can return to them. However, we try to maintain contact and professional communication with them on a regular basis and periodically return, we are interested in changes in their lives, plans for the future.”
Don't lose touch
When all negotiations are over and the candidate nevertheless accepted the offer of another company, it is easy to give up on everything and refuse any further contacts with the failed colleague. But for strong and promising leaders, recruiters are ready to fight to the last. And then a little more.
According to Ksenia Volkova, maintaining a good relationship after a rejection is very important. There is a case in the history of MTS when a candidate, after a long communication, went to work for competitors. But now, a year later, he is ready to change his mind: “The candidate went to our competitor for exactly the role for which I negotiated with her. Throughout the year of her work with competitors, we continued to communicate. Now we are at the stage of the offer. This person has already gained experience in telecom and will come to us for a hyper-interesting task.”
“We live in the world of networking, and from any point of view, maintaining contacts with candidates is profitable, and just interesting. People change jobs and fields of activity, candidates become clients and vice versa, and even friends. This is one of the advantages of working in consulting - the ability to shape your environment and information field,” says Elena Semenova.
“The banking community is quite narrow, and candidates often recommend their friends, colleagues and well-known market professionals. We build good business relations with candidates, carefully store information about them in the database, so that when new projects are launched, we can make them an interesting offer,” explains Anastasia Verevkina.
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