Internship at Rara Avis...
Transcript of Internship at Rara Avis...
Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte
Internship at Rara Avis
Headhunting
Margriet Kint Academiejaar 2007-2008
Scriptie voorgelegd aan de Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte tot het behalen
van het diploma van
Master in de Meertalige Bedrijfscommunicatie
Promotor: Prof. dr. G Jacobs
Onderneming Stagebegeleiders Taken Talen Periode
Rara Avis bvba
Mevr. Marleen
Coppens
Meewerken aan
en
ondersteuning
van het
rekruterings-
proces
Nederlands
Engels
21/04/2008
tot
06/06/2008
en
19/08/2008
tot
29/08/2008
(Deze scriptie
betreft enkel de
eerst vijf weken
van de stage.)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank Mr De Bie for his guidance and for making this a year in
which I have learned a lot.
I am also very grateful to Mrs Coppens for giving me the opportunity to do my internship at
Rara Avis. It is safe to say that it has been a very rewarding experience which I would not
have wanted to miss for the world.
Special thanks must go to Mrs De Bruyckere en Mrs Van Overwaele for assisting me with all
my questions during my internship. They made the experience worthwhile. My fellow trainee,
Miro Babik, also deserves to be mentioned for helping me with my assignments.
I would also like to thank my parents, who have supported me throughout my studies and who
stimulated me to do an extra year of Multilingual Business Communication.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all MTB students for making this a year I will
never forget. Hopefully many of them will stay friends for years to come.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE……………………………………………………………………………………...6
Motivation……………………………………………………………………………...6
Method………………………………………………………………………………....7
1 RARA AVIS…………………………………………………………………………...9
1.1 History………………………………………………………………………………….9
1.2 Structure………………………………………………………………………………10
1.3 Corporate identity……………………………………………………………………..11
1.3.1 Mission statement……………………………………………………………..11
1.3.2 Philosophy…………………………………………………………………….11
1.3.3 Vision for the future…………………………………………………………..13
1.4 Services……………………………………………………………………………….13
1.5 Clients…………………………………………………………………………………15
1.6 Competition…………………………………………………………………………...16
1.7 Communication……………………………………………………………………….17
1.8 Code of conduct………………………………………………………………………18
1.9 Deontology……………………………………………………………………………19
1.10 SWOT analysis……………………..…………………………………………………20
1.10.1 Strengths………………………………………………………………………20
1.10.2 Weaknesses……………………………………………………………………21
1.10.3 Opportunities………………………………………………………………….22
1.10.4 Threats………………………………………………………………………...22
2 HEADHUNTING……………………………………………………………………..24
2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...24
2.2 Characteristics of headhunters………………………………………………………..26
2.2.1 Who are they…………………………………………………………………..26
2.2.2 Headhunters compared to internal recruiters………………………………….28
2.2.3 Frequent complaints…………………………………………………………..29
2.2.4 Misconceptions………………………………………………………………..30
2.3 Recruitment process: practical side…………………………………………………...31
2.3.1 Screening of client and vacancy………………………………………………31
2.3.2 Finding potential candidates…………………………………………………..32
2.3.3 First screening by phone………………………………………………………33
2.3.4 Face-to-face interview………………………………………………………...33
2.3.5 Interview between the client and the candidate……………………………….34
2.3.6 Contract proposal……………………………………………………………...35
2.4 Communication……………………………………………………………………….35
2.4.1 How to attract clients………………………………………………………….35
2.4.2 How to attract candidates……………………………………………………..36
2.5 The future of headhunting…………………………………………………………….37
3 INTERNSHIP AT RARA AVIS……………………………………………………...38
3.1 Recruitment process…………………………………………………………………..38
3.1.1 Information gathering…………………………………………………………38
3.1.2 Job descriptions……………………………………………………………….39
3.1.3 Market research……………………………………………………………….40
FileFinder database……………………………………………………40
Alumni books and sites………………………………………………..41
LinkedIn……………………………………………………………….41
Job sites………………………………………………………………..42
Wild hunt……………………………………………………………...42
3.1.4 Contacting…………………………………………………………………….44
3.1.5 Interviewing and reporting……………………………………………………45
3.1.6 Reference check………………………………………………………………47
3.2 Other assignments…………………………………………………………………….47
3.2.1 Composing alumni book KU Leuven…………………………………………47
3.2.2 Translations…………………………………………………………………...48
Client survey…………………………………………………………..48
Telephone call scenario……………………………………………….49
3.2.3 Drawing up letter for graduates……………………………………………….49
4 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………. 51
BIOBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………..55
APPENDIX….………………………………………………………………………………..56
PREFACE
Motivation
The internship forms a very important part of the Multilingual Business Communication
course. It offers the students a taste of what working life looks like. As it is not uncommon for
MTB students to start working in the sector in which they did their internship, the choice of
my internship was a well-considered one.
One of the reasons why I decided to do the subsequent master degree of MTB was the
opportunity to do an internship in the HR sector. I have always wanted to find a job in which I
can help people. It is something I look for in a job. The reason for this is that I find it very
rewarding and motivating. It seemed to me that the HR sector is a sector that would be able to
offer me that opportunity.
The job offer1 which Mrs Coppens wrote, seemed very appealing: I was promised to become
one of the colleagues and to be able to contribute to each stage of the recruitment process. As
this would be my first HR experience, I also thought it was very important to get an insight in
the recruitment process itself. And the job offer promised to do just that. Moreover, I wanted
to find out whether Human Resources is something for me.
After seeing Mrs Coppens at the MTB panel evening, I was even more enthusiastic. I sent my
letter of application2 and was invited for an interview with Mrs De Bruyckere. During this
interview, I also got to talk to the current trainee, Céline Demey, who was able to give me
some more information on what my tasks would be. I was told that I could work
independently and have my own responsibilities and deadlines, which very much interested
me. The atmosphere among the colleagues seemed very pleasant and the possibility to work
from home on Wednesdays was a nice extra as well. The fact that both consultants warned me
that there would be a lot of administrative tasks involved, did not put me off at all. When I
was offered the opportunity to do my internship at Rara Avis, I of course jumped at the
chance. Before signing the contract, I had a final meeting with Mrs Coppens herself, who
went through my tasks and responsibilities during the internship one more time.
1 See appendix 1.
2 See appendix 2.
As it normally takes longer than five weeks to find the right guy for a vacancy and to place
him in the company, an internship of five weeks is a bit short. That is why Mrs Coppens and I
agreed that an internship of nine weeks would be better-suited. In this thesis, I will only
discuss the first five weeks. The results of my internship, what I learned and experienced can
be found in the following pages.
Method
This thesis consists of four chapters. In the first, I presented the company where I did my
internship: Rara Avis, an HR consultancy agency. I went into the history and the structure of
the company and its corporate identity with the mission statement, philosophy and its vision
for the future. I described the services that the agency offers, the clients the consultants work
for and the company‟s competition. I also elaborated a bit on the consultants‟ communication
policy, their code of conduct and deontology, as these are topics which are very important for
an HR agency. As a conclusion to this first chapter, I made a SWOT analysis based on my
experiences during my internship, company documents, the company website and an
interview with the general manager, Mrs Coppens.
Chapter two deals with the actual topic of this thesis: headhunting. After a general
introduction, in which I explained the various types of HR agencies, I showed which
characteristics are typical of headhunters. I also explained the advantages and disadvantages
of an executive search agency compared to working with internal recruiters. Furthermore, I
mentioned a number of frequent complaints and misconceptions with regard to headhunters.
Next, I shed light on the practical side of the recruitment process: what a headhunter does in
every stage of the process and what he needs to ask himself. In the next part, I discussed the
communication techniques of a headhunting agency, i.e. how it attracts clients and candidates.
To finish this chapter, I gave a short insight in the future of headhunting. This chapter is
primarily based on the books by An De Jonghe (Headhunters. Op zoek naar de witte raaf) and
Jack J.R. van Minden (Alles over headhunters. Uw persoonlijke en praktische gids door
headhuntersland).
The third chapter gives an account of my tasks and responsibilities during my internship. This
chapter consists of two parts. In the first, I described the different stages in the recruitment
process and I showed where I contributed to them. These stages are information gathering,
drawing up job descriptions, conducting market research, contacting candidates, interviewing
and reporting, and checking the references. In the second part of the chapter, I described my
other tasks, such as composing an alumni book of KU Leuven graduates, translating the client
survey and the telephone call scenario and drawing up a letter for recent graduates. For this
chapter, I based myself on my own experiences during my internship and on the procedure
handbook of Rara Avis.
The final chapter gives a general overview of my internship. In it, I discuss what I have
learned from my internship on a professional level and on a personal level. Afterwards, I
made the link with the MTB programme and showed where it helped me to perform my tasks.
1 RARA AVIS
This first chapter is based on an interview with Mrs Coppens, the Rara Avis website, the
procedure handbook, a Q*For investigation3 and on my personal experience.
1.1 History
Rara Avis is a search and selection company which has its office in Ghent. It offers
recruitment and selection and it is specialised in executive search4. The company was founded
in 1998 by Marleen Coppens, the general manager.
Mrs Coppens studied Germanic languages. When graduated, she decided to do an extra year
of Multilingual Business Communication. In 1992, she started her career as a consultant for a
direct search agency. Five years later, she joined an agency that did not only do direct search,
but also assessments and advertising. In this agency, she started out as an independent senior
consultant and made her way to a management position. In the next six years, she gained
experience in a broader scope of activity, in coaching a team and in developing her
commercial skills and responsibilities.
In 1998, she founded Rara Avis as an encompassing agency for her activities as a self-
employed consultant. Up until 2002, she only worked as a subcontractor for other agencies.
This changed at the end of 2002, because Mrs Coppens was convinced that, with her
experience and seniority in the HR sector, it was opportune to do so. She also felt that the
agencies she had worked for, did not exactly meet the service standards she had in mind. She
was convinced that she could do a better job with her one-man business, Rara Avis. From that
moment onwards, Rara Avis became an external HR consultancy agency.
As business was doing well, the agency grew. In 2006, Sylvie De Bruyckere was hired, a
former colleague of Mrs Coppens and Consultant. As the company and the workload
expanded rapidly, Mrs Coppens decided to take on two other staff members in 2007, namely
Wouter Van Renterghem, Consultant, and Jenny Van Overwaele, Office Manager. Today, Mr
Van Renterghem does no longer work at Rara Avis.
3 See appendix 3.
4 Executive search is the HR branch that specialises in high-profile positions.
There has been a slight evolution in the services that the agency offers, as Rara Avis does
more outsourcing activities now than in 1998. The client profile has stayed more or less the
same over the years. The agency‟s clients have always consisted of both big multinationals
(such as Agfa Gevaert) and small companies (like a small firm of architects), attracted
through word-of-mouth advertising. Although working with real small companies is rather the
exception, it occurs (for instance IBBT and Value Square are two of the current client
companies). There has been an increase in the number of clients that are international players.
This means that it, not unoften, occurs that the consultants have to look for candidates in
France, the UK, Germany and Northern and Eastern Europe.
1.2 Structure
Rara Avis has three employees. Marleen Coppens, who founded the company, is General
Manager. After six years experience in HR recruiting, Mrs Coppens started her own agency in
Ghent.
Sylvie De Bruyckere, a former colleague of Mrs Coppens, is Consultant as well. Mrs De
Bruyckere had more than thirteen years experience before joining Rara Avis. Although Mrs
Coppens and Mrs De Bruyckere are in charge of more or less the same kinds of assignments,
Mrs Coppens says that she takes on the more commercial and international ones, because of
her language skills.
Mrs Van Overwaele joined the agency in 2007. She is Office Manager and her tasks consist of
supporting the consultants in their tasks, such as arranging meetings, doing the administration
and bookkeeping, updating the website and receiving the candidates.
The team is also often reinforced by trainees, such as myself. The first six weeks of my
internship, Miroslav Babik, a psychology student, was doing his internship at Rara Avis as
well. Our job was to assist Mrs Coppens and Mrs De Bruyckere in all their tasks, ranging
from drawing up lists of candidates to the actual „hunting‟ and attending interviews with
candidates.
1.3 Corporate identity
1.3.1 Mission statement
According to Mrs Coppens, Rara Avis‟ mission statement can be defined as followed:
Rara Avis is a search and selection company providing cost-efficient, high-quality HR
solutions. No standard services, but tailored client solutions, pushing the limits in
every aspect of the job. Transparency, communication, professionalism and interaction
are key.
The consultants at Rara Avis take this mission statement very seriously, as I was able to see
during my internship. The mission statement is visible in every aspect of their job, ranging
from their philosophy to their actual working methods. In what follows, I will go further into
each aspect of the mission statement.
1.3.2 Philosophy5
Rara Avis is proud of its way of working, which is fast and of high quality. Professionalism,
objectivity, confidentiality, accuracy and loyalty are values that the consultants at Rara
Avis are well aware of. As opposed to many other HR agencies, Rara Avis offers transparent
HR solutions and meets the need for partnership. As this is a combination one does not come
across too often in the HR world, Mrs Coppens named the company „Rara Avis‟, which
means „white raven‟ or „rarity‟.
Rara Avis is a rather small company with consultants that have been in the business for a long
time. Because of this, it can assure the client that the assignment is managed by an
experienced selection and recruitment consultant, specialised in direct search6. The work that
Rara Avis delivers, is done with attention for detail and focuses on delivering results in a fast
and high-priority way. This guarantees the high quality standard that Rara Avis claims to
offer.
5 This section is based on the company‟s website (www.raraavis.be), on the Q*For investigation and on my
personal experience. 6 Direct search is searching for candidates in external sources, such as alumni books (not the database).
A sign of this quality, is the Q*For Certificate7 that Rara Avis obtained in 2004. Q*For is a
quality label that was especially designed for the consulting market. It is a European quality
label that is only awarded to those companies that score more than 80% on client satisfaction.
If the agency has obtained this label, clients can be sure that the agency will meet their
specific demands and wishes. Furthermore, Rara Avis also regularly asks their clients to fill
out a client satisfaction survey, which I had to translate from English into Dutch.
By „transparent‟, I mean that Rara Avis never keeps its clients in the dark. Communication is
key. Clients are provided with regular status reports, giving information about the
methodology, the progress and the results of a particular project. Every week, Mrs Coppens
makes a point of calling each client and keeping him up-to-date on the progress and results of
the assignment. After a client had a meeting with a candidate, Mrs Coppens calls them up to
see how it went and to keep track of the progress. Six months after a candidate has been hired,
Mrs Coppens also contacts the client to see whether the candidate is doing well and whether
the client is satisfied.
The transparency can also be found in the costs charged to the client. Rara Avis works with
TimeWriter, an electronic agenda in which the Rara Avis employees have to fill in how many
hours a week they work for each client. This way, the client pays for the agency‟s services on
a time-spent basis. This is not the case in most other recruitment agencies, where clients have
to pay a pre-arranged sum, regardless of the hours put into their assignments. This method
also contributes to the agency‟s relation with its clients. It is an extra service which proves
that the agency can be trusted, it helps to build a real „partnership‟.
The agency wants to become a partner of its clients, it wants to establish a lasting partnership.
This way, Rara Avis does not only see to it that clients are satisfied, but it also makes sure that
the clients will think of the company for further HR assignments. To give a few examples,
Rara Avis says that its employees are happy to work on site at the clients‟ location to better
understand the client‟s company, its needs and the way it works. Moreover, each client is
assigned one contact person. This method makes sure that the contact person does not only
profoundly know the company and its working methods, it also offers him the opportunity to
7 Innova Services & Consulting, 2006 and Teampower, 2008-05-11.
build a more personal relationship with the client. During my internship, another sign of this
partnership became eminent. I had to translate a client survey, which is filled out by the client
at the end of an assignment. In this survey, the client is asked to answer a number of questions
about his satisfaction with the work done. Rara Avis uses the outcome of this survey to try
and improve the services it offers and its working methods.
Furthermore, Rara Avis guarantees professionalism. A professional consultant works WITH
the client, advising him in an objective way with respect for confidentiality. Rara Avis selects
candidates with the client‟s company in mind. There has to be a „match‟ between the two
parties. The reports are accurate, clear and presented at the pre-arranged times. Loyalty
towards the client is another important value of the agency. If an assignment proves to be
more difficult than imagined, the consultant cannot give up. He has to keep his promise to the
client and keep looking for the right guy for the job. Deontology and correct treatment of the
candidates are important aspects as well, which I will go further into later on.
1.3.3 Vision for the future
Mrs Coppens is doing research into recruitment marketing and employer branding. She wants
to find out how far Flanders stands in that area and whether clients are open to the integration
of these aspects within the services of an HR consultancy agency. If the results of this
research turn out to be positive, Rara Avis may develop in that direction in the future. But the
research is still in its very early stages. Nevertheless, the agency‟s priority lays with the
current customers, and making sure that they are attended to like they should be. All current
assignments need to be performed and followed up properly. For the moment, the consultants
have enough on their plate just doing that. Consequently, how Rara Avis will develop in the
future is not very clear yet.
1.4 Services
Rara Avis does not offer standard services but specialises in tailor-made solutions. Their
services are threefold: direct search, advertising campaigns and recruitment outsourcing.
Rara Avis‟ core business is „direct search‟ and „headhunting‟. Headhunters operate at the
most senior level, looking for managers and technical specialists. Depending on who gives the
definition, headhunting can be described as „limited to C-level (CEO, COO, etc.)‟ or as „also
includes lower high-profile positions (Senior Consultants, Project Managers, etc.)‟. This last
description is the one used by Rara Avis. Rara Avis does not only look for candidates with the
right qualifications, but also tries to match the candidate to the client‟s employment culture.
Interested professionals and candidates are contacted in an individual and discrete way. This
type of search method enables the company to reach potential applicants, who would not be
reached through other search methods.
Direct search typically follows the following process:
- Information gathering: through a meeting with the client, Rara Avis finds out what
exact profile the client is looking for. These meetings also serve to collect further
particulars about the company and all other relevant information.
- Research: through market research, the consultants make a longlist of potential
candidates and companies where these candidates can be found.
- Contacting: the people on the longlist are contacted to see whether they are interested
in the particular function. If so, the potential candidates are asked to send their
curriculum vitae.
- Interviewing: If the candidate has the right experience and qualifications and if the
client is interested, the candidate is invited for an interview at Rara Avis.
- Presenting: After the interview with the candidate, Rara Avis presents the client with a
report of the interview. If the client still shows an interest, the candidate makes the
shortlist. If so, Rara Avis arranges a meeting between the client and the candidate at
the client‟s company.
Besides headhunting, Rara Avis also engages in setting up advertising campaigns. This
implies that candidates are contacted by means of advertisements in newspapers, specialised
magazines and appropriate electronic media. When Rara Avis uses an advertising campaign,
it most often resorts to electronic media, such as monster.be. Direct search in combination
with this kind of campaign, ensures the largest possible number of candidates.
Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that Rara Avis does not use these campaigns very often.
They used to do so, but scaled it down after evaluating the cost compared to the number of
successes resulting from these campaigns. Moreover, advertisements are not used for every
kind of job, but rather for positions that are not sector-related, such as Management
Assistants. Advertisements in newspapers and specialised magazines are almost never placed,
unless the client specifically asks for them, for instance to try and improve its image as an
employer.
Rara Avis also offers recruitment outsourcing services. By outsourcing its recruitment
activities, a company can improve its core business. Rara Avis offers both full-service
outsourcing, in which it looks for candidates for all kinds of high-profile positions within the
company, and outsourcing of specific expert areas, in which it looks for specific expert
profiles in one area of the company. For this kind of assignments, Rara Avis places a
consultant in the client‟s company for a couple of days, to do the work on-site with more
company particulars at his or her disposal.
Mrs Coppens also forms part of the selection comity of the University of Ghent as an external
HR specialist, and of a remuneration committee of one of the client companies. These are,
however, adhoc projects, and do not belong to Rara Avis‟ core business.
1.5 Clients
The clients of Rara Avis do not belong to one particular sector or area. They consist of
national and international companies, both big and small, which are active in a wide range of
sectors. Some call on Rara Avis because they do not have an HR department of their own.
Others choose Rara Avis because their HR department cannot handle the workload or because
they find recruitment to be a very specialist skill.
The headhunting business does, however, specialise in high-profile candidates for job
functions that are at the most senior level, for instance managers and technical specialists.
Nevertheless, as the agency also offers full outsourcing services, it is possible that Rara Avis
also looks for less high-profile functions within their client‟s company, as long as they are
white-collar positions.
According to the Q*For investigation, 33% of all clients is active in the services sector, with a
focus on logistic consulting. Another 33% is active in the industry. The finance industry takes
23% and trade and distribution takes 11%. 50% of the assignments are for middle
management positions, 25% for self-employed entrepreneurs and 19% for top management
positions. A smaller percentage of the assignments, 6%, goes to less high-profile white-collar
positions.
1.6 Competition
Mrs Coppens claims that Rara Avis does not experience real competition from other
recruitment and executive search agencies, because it is rather unique in what it offers.
Nevertheless, it is wrong to assume that Rara Avis has no competitors whatsoever.
Mrs Coppens is probably right when she claims that temporary employment agencies, such as
Randstad, are not the biggest competitors of Rara Avis. They operate in a different field: they
become the „employer‟ of their candidates whose services they „sell‟ to their clients for a
determined amount of time, they look for candidates for „lower‟ functions, and do not actually
„hunt‟ (look for candidates currently employed in other companies), but match jobseekers
with clients. Still, some temporary employment agencies decide to expand their services with
executive search. Then they look for candidates for high-profile positions as well, next to their
other activities. The difference between the executive search offered by temporary
employment agencies and executive search agencies, like Rara Avis, is that the latter are
much more specialised and can, consequently, deliver a better service than the first: the first
use the same selection techniques for filling vacancies ranging from Receptionists to Sales
Directors, which is certainly not the case for executive search agencies, as these specialise in
higher profiles.
Other specialised recruitment and executive search agencies such as Hudson - De
Witte&Morel (Hudson, 2008-05-11) and Hays (Hays, 2000-2007) are more similar to Rara
Avis. They are paid by the client and, consequently, work primarily for them rather than for
the candidates, and they specialise in higher profiles. Nevertheless, Hudson and Hays offer a
wider range of services, as they also offer assessments. They are both much larger
international players and much better known than Rara Avis.
Smaller players, such as Schelstraete & Desmedt, are specialised in executive search and
director search, like Rara Avis. Just like Schelstraete & Desmedt, Rara Avis focuses on
quality search. However, contrary to only filling management positions, Rara Avis also takes
on lower high-profile assignments, such as searching for Financial Controllers and
Management Assistants.
Rara Avis distinguishes itself from these last few companies by their considerable
transparency: clients and candidates are always kept up-to-date on a regular basis and the
client is intensively involved in the recruitment process. This transparency can also be seen in
the billing principle of Rara Avis, which is a very decisive point for client companies. Rara
Avis charges per hour spent on the vacancy, while bigger recruitment and executive search
agencies ask a considerable price which is charged when a candidate is placed (or in
instalments: when they receive the assignment, when they get to the shortlist stage and when
the candidate is placed), irrespective of the hours spent on filling the vacancy.
1.7 Communication8
Rara Avis attracts its clients through word-of-mouth advertising only. Mrs Coppens
sometimes organises an HR event, in cooperation with one of her clients. If anything, these
events contribute to the agency‟s name awareness. They also offer the opportunity to talk to
potential clients and clients that Mrs Coppens does not see very often.
As Rara Avis depends on word-of-mouth advertising, it is of paramount importance that
current clients are very satisfied with the services. If not, they are sure to share their negative
experience with other businesses who might call on Rara Avis for their HR activities. That is
why Rara Avis spends so much time and effort in communication and partnership with its
clients.
As for the communication towards candidates, Rara Avis uses a wide range of channels.
These days, the internet takes a very important place in communication. For instance,
LinkedIn, a networking website, is an often-used tool for the consultants. As people often put
their cv on the website, Rara Avis can search for the right profile and mail potential
candidates a job description. Postings on alumni websites are also an interesting tool, just as
postings on job sites, such as monster.be. The consultants also often find contact information
on the alumni websites. Potential candidates are then put into the FileFinder database, and
8 Section 1.7 is based on an interview with Mrs Coppens and on my personal experience.
mailed or called to see whether they are interested in the particular position. If they are not
interested, the consultants make sure to ask why and whether they know any people who
might be interested in the job. This is a way of finding potential candidates as well. All
information they can get (current employer, experience, what they are looking for in a job,
etc) is stored in the database, in order to be able to contact the candidates and send them job
descriptions which better suit their expectations in the future. Candidates are also sometimes
contacted through advertisements.
Once the first contact is over, communication, both with the client and the candidates, remains
very important. As mentioned before, clients are kept up-to-date every step of the way. They
are guaranteed a follow-up after a candidate has been hired as well, to make sure the client is
still pleased with the service that Rara Avis performed. Communication with the clients
occurs primarily through telephone calls and emails.
Candidates are guided as well. Mrs Coppens feels that they have the right to be informed
about how well they did on an interview, why they were hired, why they were rejected, etc.
and this within a reasonable period of time. This is a service that is often forgotten by other
recruitment agencies. As Rara Avis might contact rejected candidates for another position in
the future, the consultants are convinced that the relation with the candidates has to be
maintained as well.
1.8 Code of conduct9
The agency has to fulfil a number of regulations enforced by law10
. I will discuss some of
them below:
The consultants cannot distinguish between candidates on the grounds of handicap and health,
nor can they do so for reasons of sexual inclination and age. Male and female candidates have
to be guaranteed the same opportunities, just as candidates of other races.
9 Sections 1.8 and 1.9 are based on the Rara Avis procedure handbook. See section on “Code of conduct” in
appendix 4. 10
Bijlage 2 bij het Besluit van de Vlaamse regering van 8 juni 2000 tot uitvoering van het decreet van 13 april
1999 met betrekking tot de private arbeidsbemiddeling in het Vlaamse Gewest.
The consultants can only collect medical information about the candidates to the extent that it
helps them to determine whether the candidate is capable of the job function and whether he
fulfils the health and safety demands.
If the selection procedure includes a practical test, this test cannot take longer than the
necessary amount of time which is needed to determine the candidate‟s capacities.
The agency can only save the kind of information about candidates that is actually necessary
to find a suitable candidate for the job. This information may only be held if and for the
period of time that the candidate allows. The agency cannot give personal candidate
information to third parties without permission of the candidate.
The agency only accepts assignments for vacancies that exist or will exist in the near future
(for instance, when an employee needs to be replaced). In times of recession, some
organisations want to place job advertisement in the newspaper, while there is no actual
vacancy behind it. That is a form of hidden company advertising. Companies might do this
because it gives the general public the idea that the company is doing well and is looking for
new employees. Rara Avis refuses to take part in such activities.
The candidates have to be kept up-to-date. The transparency rule applies here as well. The
candidate has to know as soon as possible whether he got the job or not. If a candidate is
rejected, he deserves to know the reason why. All this needs to be done in a reasonable
amount of time.
The agency cannot place candidates in situations that are dangerous or risky, or in
environments where they will be subject to discrimination or abuse.
1.9 Deontology
Rara Avis has a clear deontological policy11
. This policy supports the relation of trust that
exists between the agency and the client. It consists of seven stipulations:
11
See appendix 5.
- Rara Avis performs each assignment in a conscientious way with respect for the
regulations.
- The consultants work constructively and expertly at the preparation and realisation of
the assignments.
- The cooperation between Rara Avis and its clients is based on mutual confidence, on
an open and sincere approach of the assignments and on making possible problems
discussable.
- Rara Avis represents its clients in a professional way. As the candidates get in touch
with a potential employer through the agency, the way the agency handles this contact
and represents its client is of crucial importance. If the agency represents the client in
an inappropriate way, the candidate will certainly link that bad image to the client.
- All employees of Rara Avis will keep to themselves all confidential matters that came
to their knowledge while doing their job.
- Rara Avis will see to it that all parties involved will observe utmost discretion with
regard to interested people and candidates.
- Rara Avis commits itself to it that it will never contact candidates that are working at
other clients‟ companies. This is an agreement between the agency and the client and
it is valid up to three years after the contract has been terminated. Moreover,
candidates that have been placed in a company by Rara Avis, will not be contacted for
other clients, unless they do not work there anymore. Rara Avis will also never contact
or accept employees of another client when they put themselves up as candidates for
vacancies at other clients‟ companies. All these commitments contribute to the
relationship between the client and the agency. All the candidates discussed in this last
stipulation, are indicated in red in Rara Avis‟ database (FileFinder). They are „off-
limits‟.
1.10 SWOT analysis
1.10.1 Strengths
In my opinion, the most important asset of Rara Avis, is the close relationship it has with its
clients. As so much time and effort is spent on communication, the clients know what is going
on in every step of the process. They are intensively involved in the recruitment process.
Clients appreciate this very much, which makes them think of Rara Avis for other
assignments as well. Clients do not call on the agency once, but tend to come back when they
have other high-profile positions to be filled as well. There is a lasting partnership.
The transparency offered by the agency contributes to this relationship as well. This
transparency can be seen both in the reporting style and in the billing principle of Rara Avis.
In comparison to other agencies, Rara Avis only charges on a time-spent basis, i.e. based on
the amount of time spent on the assignment. This creates a relationship of trust, which is very
important for future cooperation as well.
As the consultants at Rara Avis are very experienced at what they do, the quality of their work
is guaranteed. They do not only look for candidates with the right qualifications, but try to
find a real match with the client‟s company: someone who will fit in with the company‟s
culture, working methods, and who will get along well with the colleagues.
1.10.2 Weaknesses
As Rara Avis only counts three staff members, two of which are consultants, the agency is
limited in the amount of work it can take on (especially when it comes to outsourcing
assignments). This means that growing as a business is a bit hard, unless Mrs Coppens hires
additional employees. However, this „weakness‟ can be seen as a „strength‟ as well: the
limited amount of staff guarantees a personal client approach. The client is always attended to
by a senior consultant, which is a very strong point in comparison to the competition.
The agency‟s name is not well-known, especially when compared to other bigger recruitment
agencies such as Hudson or Hays. Because of this, most potential clients will not immediately
think of Rara Avis for its HR recruitment. This rather small name awareness is probably also
due to the limited channels the agency uses to promote its activities: word-of-mouth
advertising only. Nevertheless, this „weakness‟ is not experienced as such by the agency
itself. Mrs Coppens says: “The companies that need to know us, do know us.”
Another weakness can be attributed to the HR environment: these days, it is very hard to find
candidates. There is a structural shortage on the market. This means that the consultants have
to keep a close eye on what is going on in the market and have to find the right channels to
contact potential candidates. They have to try and develop these channels and be better at it
than the competition.
1.10.3 Opportunities
Extending the agency‟s services with recruitment marketing and employer branding could be
an opportunity. Time (and particularly the research that Mrs Coppens is conducting) will tell
whether that will be a good idea for Rara Avis.
Updating the database, FileFinder, offers plenty of opportunities as well. The database is a
massive source of information, which has to be kept up-to-date in order to be able to use it as
efficiently as possible.
Mrs Coppens also mentions optimising the service Rara Avis offers as an opportunity.
Although the agency is already very good at this aspect, small improvements cannot hurt.
Increasingly more clients of Rara Avis are international players. This means that the agency
becomes more active in the international market. It offers Mrs Coppens a much larger work
field, which means that the company stands much stronger with regard to the competition.
More and more companies want to focus on their core activities, which leads them to
outsource all other activities, such as HR. This is an ideal opportunity for recruitment
agencies such as Rara Avis. However, as the number of staff is limited, Rara Avis cannot
extend its outsourcing activities. Outsourcing is very time-consuming, as it means that a
consultant has to go on-site for at least two days a week. Extending the outsourcing activities
will thus be very difficult for Rara Avis.
1.10.4 Threats
The biggest threat for Rara Avis is that the company is rather unknown compared to the
competition. Consequently, less employers will think of the agency when they have a position
to be filled. Still, Mrs Coppens nuances this a bit by saying that more and more companies
(even the biggest ones) have a tendency to choose to work with small HR consultancy
agencies for their personal approach, transparency and lower costs that come with these
characteristics.
And finally, the dependency on the economic situation might form another threat. If there is
an economic slump, employers will not look for new employees. Subsequently, there will be
less work for Rara Avis. Therefore, taking on international clients seems a very good idea, as
the economic situation in Belgium is not necessarily the same as that in other European
countries.
2 HEADHUNTING
2.1 Introduction
According to dr. Jack J.R. van Minden (2003, 21), one in four highly educated people calls in
a recruitment agency when looking for another job. In Belgium, probably 500 agencies are
active in this sector, 50 of which are large or medium-sized. Almost half of them have their
offices in Brussels. Each year, together they place 10,000 to 15,000 candidates in client
companies. Some of these agencies are specialised in executive search, others specialise in
other activities, such as psychological selection, management consultancy, training,
outplacement, temporary employment, etc.
The number of agencies increases considerably in times of an economic boom, but it also
decreases significantly in times of an economic slump. The services that these agencies offer,
will probably evolve towards consultancy, as this is a service which is also highly requested
when the economy is not doing so well. (van Minden, Jack J.R., 2003, 22)
Headhunters act as mediators for positions that are often „hidden‟ and „better‟, i.e. generally
interesting and well-paid. However, there are different kinds of recruitment agencies that offer
different kinds of recruitment services. To give an idea, I will give a short overview: (Jonghe,
An De, 2006, 9-12; van Minden, Jack J.R., 2003, 23-25)
- No cure no pay bureaus: these agencies have a large client base with whom they
generally are not in close contact. They send their clients CVs, without asking for
advance payment. The client is charged for the agency‟s services when a candidate is
actually placed (15% to 25% of the candidate‟s first gross income). This way of
working means that the client does not run any risk, because he only has to pay when a
position gets filled. The final invoice stays relatively low and it is an ideal solution
when one is looking for a large amount of employees. However, the client still has to
do the selection work (the client only receives the CVs, and the consultant has not
even seen the candidate, as he thinks that is a waste of time) and there is no
relationship between the client and the agency.
- Temporary employment agencies: these agencies hire candidates themselves and rent
them to their clients. After some time, the client can decide to hire the candidate
himself, after paying a compensation fee. This makes the relation between the
candidate and the agency different, as the agency is actually the employer. The
advantage of this kind of agency is that it offers companies the opportunity to take on
or fire employees in a more flexible way, following the economic trend. Nevertheless,
temporary employment agencies generally have a less qualitative approach: the same
consultant is responsible for finding the client‟s temporary labourers and his
permanent accountant. The same screening methods are used, which has an effect on
the quality of the service. This kind of agency, however, offers a great solution when
one is looking for temporary, low-skilled employees.
- Recruitment agencies: recruitment agencies can be divided into the general agencies
(which look for all kinds of functions in all kinds of sectors) and specialised agencies
(which are specialised in a particular sector or in a particular kind of function
regardless of the sector). Most recruitment agencies are in close contact with their
clients. They visit them to get a better insight in the company and the way it works.
These agencies offer the guarantee that they will find a candidate and they approach
both active (those actively looking for a job) and passive (those that are not actively
looking for a job but are open to a good offer) candidates. These agencies offer a wide
range of advantages: expertise; the consultants take their time to analyse, understand
and fix the personnel problem; quality is more important than quantity, because they
hope to do business with the client company again in the future; less staff turnover in
the agencies which means that clients do not have to explain the corporate culture over
and over again. Downsides are the higher costs (20% to 25% of the candidate‟s first
gross income) and a bit of risk because of the advance payment.
- Executive search and headhunters: they operate on the most senior level, looking for
directors and CEOs. However, some also operate on a slightly lower level, looking for
Consultants and Plant Managers for instance. It often occurs that the headhunters have
once fulfilled the positions that they are trying to fill now. Consequently, they have a
large functional knowledge. Calling in the services of a headhunter means paying a
large amount of money (30% to 35% of the candidate‟s first gross income plus fringe
benefits), waiting a long time before the position gets filled and, sometimes, lack of
specialisation (all management functions in all sectors).
However, recruiters are not always external agencies. Many companies have their own
internal recruiters: specialists employed by those client companies that wish to keep
recruitment in-house. Advantages and disadvantages of internal recruiters will be discussed
later on.
If we take a look at table 1, we notice that jobseekers do not always look for a job in the same
places as employers look for employees. Recruitment agencies and headhunters only take
sixth place.
Table 1: Employment channels for employers and employees
Channel Employers (%) Employees (%)
Temporary employment agencies 109 41
Advertisements 86 76
Informal channels 71 39
Unsolicited applications 67 24
Employment office 58 35
Recruitment & selection agencies / headhunters 41 Unknown
Company website 33 10 (van Minden, Jack J.R., 2003, 17-18)
Not all jobseekers have an equal chance of finding a job through executive search agencies
and headhunters. Table 2 shows which profiles have a bigger or smaller chance.
Table 2: Employment channels for employers and employees
Bigger chance Smaller chance
Top managers Non-graduates
Directors (Board of Directors) Recent graduates / starters
Medium and high commercial positions Craftsmen
Specialists Technical and vocational training (16-18 years)
Superspecialists Scientists
Creative positions Administrative positions
Higher middle management General training / experience
„Booming‟ business Struggling business (van Minden, Jack J.R., 2003, 32)
2.2 Characteristics of headhunters
2.2.1 Who are they12
Headhunters do not have one and the same background. One cannot study to become a
headhunter. Generally, they are highly-skilled (university, sometimes with subsequent master
12
This section is based on An De Jonghe, 2006, 17-19 and van Minden, Jack J.R., 2003, 49-50.
degree) professionals that knowingly choose for that profession. Some have fulfilled the high-
profile positions that they are now looking to fill for their clients. Therefore they know how
the business works and what it needs. Some more characteristics:
- They can have an economic, linguistic, historical, … background.
- They have a broad general background, good communication skills and commercial
talent.
- They can convince people through their knowledge of the sector and their charisma.
- They are good at multitasking and project management.
- They are driven, immune to stress and creative in finding solutions for difficult
situations.
- They have a large network, which they continually try to maintain and extend.
- They are team players.
- They have good assessment capacities and know how to do an in-depth interview over
the phone or face-to-face.
- They know their business (trends, current salaries, etc.).
- They have an insight in the job functions, know what they are about and which skills
are needed to fulfil them.
- They know how to achieve their results, are responsible and do not give up until their
aim has been reached.
Their day consists of updating their database, looking for candidates, updating the website,
interviewing candidates, writing reports, finding out what the client/candidate thought of an
interview, prospecting and visiting clients, drawing up job functions and contract proposals,
etc.
To open a headhunting agency, one has to meet a number of conditions. For instance, the
headhunter has to obtain a competence certificate in order to receive a work permit. Each
search and selection agency that starts up in Flanders has to be recognised by a Homologation
Committee. Only when the advisory board gives positive advice, will the minister recognise
the agency. Other specifications and rules of conduct and deontology were discussed in
chapter 1.
2.2.2 Headhunters compared to internal recruiters13
When companies have a position to be filled, they have to choose whether they will find
candidates themselves with the help of internal recruiters or whether they will outsource the
recruitment activity. Generally, most companies do the recruitment activities themselves,
because they think they can do it faster, better and especially cheaper. Still, external recruiters
offer a wide range of advantages that internal recruiters do not offer. For specialised positions
or positions that are hard to fill, the help of an external recruiter is often called in. A number
of the advantages of executive searchers and headhunters are:
- They have an extensive database with potential candidates (active and passive) and
know how to reach them. They know and work with the latest technological tools to
keep their database up-to-date.
- Headhunters can approach employees of their client‟s competitors (passive). Internal
recruiters can only take these employees into account if they apply for the job
themselves (active).
- External agencies are more effective, as there is no conflict of interest to speak of. For
instance, when a hiring manager in a client company knows a potential candidate, he
might see to it that this candidate gets the position, although he might not be the best
person for the job. That is not the case for executive search agencies, as they select
candidates based on their qualities, and as the final decision lays with the client
company.
- It sometimes occurs that employees of the client company cannot find out that the
company is looking for candidates to fill a particular position (for instance, for top
positions in companies that are quoted on the stock exchange). It is also possible that
the employees cannot find out which people are on the list of potential candidates.
External agencies offer a splendid solution to that problem.
- External agencies can generally work faster than internal recruiters. It saves the
company time and administrative worries.
- External agencies have expertise. They know which recruitment channels are effective
for what type of vacancy, they can write catchy advertisements, have an extensive
database and master the selection techniques.
13
This section is based on An De Jonghe, 2006, 14-15 and van Minden, Jack J.R., 2003, 46-48.
- Specialised agencies also offer a better insight in the labour market than internal
recruiters. It is their key business.
- For internal recruiters, recruitment activities are only a part of their job. They have a
number of other tasks that need to be done as well. For external recruiters, recruitment
is their main activity.
- They know how to convince the candidate through their empathy, enthusiasm and
charisma.
2.2.3 Frequent complaints
Despite the advantages an executive search agency offers, it also happens that client
companies have complaints. An De Jonghe (2006, 13-14) and dr. Jack J.R. van Minden (2003,
42-43) describe the most frequent ones:
- Lack of feedback: both to the client and the candidates. The client wishes to know how
the search is going, how many candidates have been interviewed, when and how many
candidates are coming for an interview at the client company, etc. The candidate wants
to know whether the interview was good, what he did wrong, when he will be invited
for a next interview, etc.
- No high quality: some recruiters (less the case for executive searchers and
headhunters) focus on quantity rather than quality. They send as much CVs to the
client as possible, without trying to match the right profile to the company. The
candidate is their product which they try to sell for the highest price possible.
- Unprofessionalism: recruiters that do not understand the vacancy or the company.
These recruiters can harm the company‟s image, as they are often the first contact
between the candidate and the company and act as the „face‟ of the client company.
- Indiscretion: recruiters that go about distributing CV information in a careless way. In
that case, they break privacy regulations: CVs can only be distributed and kept with
the approval of the candidate in question.
- Laziness and lack of interest: recruiters that do not keep their promises, come late at
appointments, do not make a big effort, etc.
- Wrong attitude: arrogant or rude recruiters that only think about the money and treat
their candidates as products.
- Unreliability: recruiters that post non-existing vacancies in order to boost the
company‟s marketing, and to show how well the company is doing, even when there is
an economic slump.
It should, however, be mentioned that the agencies which receive these complaints do not take
their job seriously. They will probably not exist for a long time.
2.2.4 Misconceptions14
There has always existed some kind of mystery around headhunters. Companies did not want
the world to know that they needed headhunters to find the right employees, and headhunters
did not want to release the names of their client companies. Maybe this has resulted in a
number of misconceptions, the most frequent of which I will discuss below:
- “Everyone who has a large network and a lot of experience can start a headhunting
agency.” There are a lot of other skills that are needed (commercial skills,
communication skills, etc.).
- “People with a lot of empathy are perfect headhunters.” Commercial skills are also
essential, or even more essential.
- “Headhunters try to match the „perfect‟ candidate with the „perfect‟ employer.”
Actually, headhunters try to find the candidate that suits the position and the company
best, given the time, the space and the circumstances of the moment. They know what
the strong and the weak points of the candidate and of the job are, and match the
candidate that can live with the weak points of the job to the employer that can live
with the weak points of the candidate.
- “All headhunters make a lot of money.” Most headhunters charge a fixed and a
variable sum. The variable part is the largest and depends on how well they are at their
job. Only the good ones actually make a lot of money.
- “Headhunters are mediators and are there to help candidates find a job.”
Headhunters get paid by their client companies, not by their candidates. Their job is to
fill in vacancies at their clients‟ company, not to help the candidates find a job.
- “It only takes a telephone call to a headhunting agency, and I get the job.” People are
unaware of the whole recruitment process. Making a phone call might get a candidate
14
This section is based on An De Jonghe, 2006, 15-16 and van Minden, Jack J.R., 2003, 26.
on the longlist, but there is still a long way to go. The actual decision lays with the
client.
- “All headhunters only recruit at C-level.” Some headhunters also recruit for lower
high-profile positions.
- “Headhunters smell talent and quality from miles away.” Good headhunters make
their decisions based on objective criteria.
2.3 Recruitment process: practical side15
Each recruitment process goes through the following stages: identification, selection,
marketing (convincing potential candidates) and risk control (follow-up) (Jonghe, An De,
2006, 38). As the different stages of the recruitment process will be discussed in chapter 3, I
will now particularly focus on the practical side, i.e. what a headhunter needs to ask himself
and what he needs to do in every stage of the process.
2.3.1 Screening of client and vacancy
Before a headhunter starts looking for candidates, he has to make sure he fully comprehends
who the client company is looking for. A meeting with the actual hiring manager is crucial in
this stage, as the consultant and the hiring manager have to be on the same wavelength. In
order to be able to perform an effective search, the headhunter needs to find out the following
things about the position:
- Why does the company have this vacancy (growth, did someone leave, why did he leave)?
- What is the job description?
- How long has the company been trying to fill the position?
- Are there no candidates within the company?
- How has the company already searched?
- Have there been potential candidates with whom the client did not want to work? Why?
- In what period of time does the vacancy need to be filled?
- What will the candidate‟s typical day look like?
- Which wage package can the client offer?
- When is the hiring manager able to meet candidates for an interview?
15
This section is based on An De Jonghe (2006, 64-90).
- Does the client have a list of potential candidates, companies where these can be found or
companies in which the headhunter cannot „hunt‟?
The consultant also needs to have background information about the company. He needs to
understand the company‟s culture and history in order to try and find a good match.
Therefore, the headhunter asks:
- What is the company‟s position on the market (leader, follower, innovator)?
- Who owns the company?
- How large is it (profit, turnover, staff)?
- Is the company quoted on the stock exchange?
- What is its core business?
- Is it a private or a public company?
- Is the company an international player?
- Who are the company‟s partners, clients and competitors?
- Who in the company decides which candidate is hired?
- Which are the company‟s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
2.3.2 Finding potential candidates
A number of sources can help to find the right amount of potential candidates. In the first
place, headhunters will use their own database, a priceless tool they try to keep up-to-date as
much as possible. Furthermore, they use various free and paying search robots (Google,
Yahoo, etc.) in which they enter key words in different languages. Trends 3000 and news
letters of clients and prospects are useful as well. Of course, year books, alumni sites and
LinkedIn cannot be forgotten in this stage. Headhunters also look at blogs and company
websites to try and find potential candidates for which they can „hunt‟.
To work efficiently, the executive search agency has to draw up a search method and stick to
it. They also have to keep up with new search technologies. As not all these sources are used
all the time, only the most important ones will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter.
2.3.3 First screening by phone
The headhunter has to keep in mind that he is the „face‟ of his client‟s company when he talks
to a potential candidate. Consequently, he has to sound enthusiastic, pleasant and positive. He
has to charm his way into the candidate‟s time by using the right words and intonation. This
way, he will also attract the attention of candidates that are not actively looking for a job.
Headhunters should not call a candidate without being prepared. A telephone scenario is a
good tool for that. The caller should always first ask whether the candidate can talk at the
moment. If that is not the case, he should call back at a later time. On the phone, the
consultant should articulate clearly and speak slowly. Speaking in a calm way invokes
authority and friendliness.
Some recruiters tend to be more mysterious than they should be. Consultants should give a
short description of the function and the company, and see how the candidate reacts. If the
candidate is interested, the consultant can suggest to send a more extensive job description,
once the candidate has sent his CV. The consultant should also make sure that the candidate‟s
contact information is up-to-date in the database.
2.3.4 Face-to-face interview
When the candidate is interested in the vacancy and the client is interested in the candidate‟s
CV, the candidate is invited for an interview. For most recruiters, the interview is the only
selection method. As interviews are thought not to be very reliable, it happens that the
candidate is also submitted to some tests. In order to improve the quality of the interviews, the
recruiter can ask a number of questions from which he can deduce certain personal
characteristics. Some questions a recruiter should not neglect to ask are mentioned below.
If the recruiter does not know how the candidate found the agency, he should ask about it. He
should also give some information about the agency and the process. These things make it
possible for the candidate to relax a bit.
To get the candidate talking, the recruiter can say “I see you work at company X”. Later on,
he can use the same technique when asking about the candidate‟s function title. It is an
introduction for going deeper into the subject (“What are your tasks in that function?”,
“Which skills are needed for that?”).
“To whom do you report?” and “Who reports to you?” are two questions that the consultant
needs to ask in order to gain an insight in the structure of the candidate‟s company and where
his place is in that structure.
Furthermore, the consultant needs to ask about the candidate‟s motivation to change jobs.
This is an essential part of the interview, as it says whether the candidate still has doubts, or
whether he only does it for the money.
The interview is also the moment when the consultant needs to find out the personal
characteristics of the candidate. He can do that by asking explicit questions (“Do you have an
analytical mind?”, “Can you discern main and side issues”, “Are you flexible”, “Are you
assertive or rather shy”, “Are you a good listener?” etc.). To continue, the interviewer should
ask questions in which the candidate has to prove his claims (“Can you give an example of
that?”, “How did you apply that characteristic in your previous job?” etc.). Many of these
characteristics are also visible in non-verbal reactions of the candidate during the interview
itself.
Moreover, the interview should also include a section on the candidate‟s wage package. This
is important for the later stage of the contract proposal. If the candidate is applying for a
number of jobs at a number of agencies, the consultant should try to find out which vacancies
these are and which ones the candidate prefers. To conclude, the recruiter should also ask
about references, which he can check as soon as possible after the interview.
What some recruiters do and what should be avoided, is making decisions based on the
infamous „first impression‟ and on stereotypes and prejudice.
2.3.5 Interview between the client and the candidate
A headhunter‟s job also includes guiding both parties towards an agreement, coaching them.
This coaching is needed in this phase of the process. The consultant should tell the candidate
what he should expect, how he should prepare and how he should act. He should also advise
him to ask relevant questions after the interview, which shows his interest in the vacancy and
his motivation.
The client sometimes needs to be coached as well. The consultant can do this by making sure
that the client knows all relevant information about the candidate, etc.
2.3.6 Contract proposal
This is a crucial stage in the recruitment process. As a consultant, one should make sure that
he is practically certain that the candidate will accept the proposal. The consultant needs to
match the candidate‟s wage wishes to the client‟s offer. Before both parties talk about this
subject, the recruiter should make sure that the client will not propose a wage package that is
much lower than what the candidate expects. Generally, the client only has one chance to do a
proposal. If it is not what the candidate is looking for, he will reject the job offer as well.
Recruiters should also try to assess whether the candidate will go back to his current employer
to ask for a pay rise. The consultant can try to find this out by assessing the candidate‟s
motivation. If he only looks for another job because he thinks he might benefit from it
financially, the chance that the candidate will decline the client‟s offer in the final stage of the
process is bigger.
Another reason why a candidate declines a contract proposal is because he is afraid of the
unknown. It is always safer to stay in a current job than to change jobs not knowing whether
one will like the job and one‟s colleagues. Consultants should try and take away the doubts
that candidates have. This is where their persuasion techniques come in. Of course, it is also
possible that the candidate chooses one of the other vacancies he was applying for over the
one that the client offers.
2.4 Communication
2.4.1 How to attract clients
The first contact between the client company and the agency can be initiated by both parties.
In most cases, companies will first try to handle the situation themselves. Only when the
vacancy is too specialised or hard to fill, will they call in the service of an HR consultancy
agency. Of course, when the company has already called in the help of a recruitment agency
before or when the company does not have its own HR department, the step to outsourcing the
HR activity is a lot smaller.
But the agencies can also take the first step. An De Jonghe advises headhunters to handle
prospection in the right way and, more specifically, at the right time. A company that has
personnel problems at this particular time, will be interested in what the agency has to offer.
A company that does not have these problems, will not be interested. The trick is for the
headhunter to present his message as „the solution to the client‟s problem‟.
Mrs De Jonghe suggests contacting a potential client company when the consultant has
received a lead from a candidate or another client (insider information). Consultants should
also make sure that they know when a new manager is appointed in a company, or when new
products are launched, or when a new partnership or distribution agreement is signed. These
are all occasions which might bring with them a personnel shift. At the end of the fiscal year,
there is another opportunity for HR agencies: HR budgets that were not used in the past year,
run the risk of being reduced the next year. That is why many HR budgets are spent in the last
trimester of the year.
It is also advisable to offer the client an extra service to convince him: the agency can offer
research into the reasons why people leave their job, the most recent salary changes, etc. Any
topic will do, as long as it interests the target audience.
2.4.2 How to attract candidates
There are a number of channels through which recruiters get in contact with potential
candidates. As these channels are discussed in 2.3.2 and 3.1.3, I will not go further into them
here.
However, candidates do not always wait until they are contacted by a headhunter, but contact
them themselves. Some candidates also make their chances of being contacted by a
headhunter bigger by making sure that their name is in year books and their CV is on internet
databases. Other ways to attract a headhunter‟s attention is to publish papers one has written,
giving an interview in specialised and general magazines and using the media for one‟s own
purposes. (van Minden, Jack J.R., 2003, 34)
Although the job one gets with the help of a headhunter might be one‟s last, it is still a good
idea to keep in touch with the consultants afterwards. Their services might come in handy in
the future, for instance when one needs to recruit staff oneself, or when one needs the
consultant to keep him informed on the latest trends in the labour market. (van Minden, Jack
J.R., 2003, 160-161)
2.5 The future of headhunting
As companies will start working more internationally, so will recruitment agencies. The
European labour market keeps getting bigger, and so is the competition for highly qualified
staff (and low-skilled staff). Both employees and employers see opportunities in this new
development, as they will not be limited by country borders any longer. And this creates
opportunities for recruitment agencies as well. More and more consultants will start looking
for candidates who will work abroad, both in and outside the European Union. (van Minden,
Jack J.R., 2003, 149-150; Jonghe, An De, 2006, 107)
Furthermore, the HR market is still booming business, but it is getting mature. The number of
new HR agencies that are set up is expected to decrease, while many mergers and acquisitions
will take place instead. Big agencies will extend their services and take over specialised
agencies. Partnerships will be set up between companies that originally operated in different
sectors. (An De, 2006, 106-107)
3 INTERNSHIP AT RARA AVIS
In this chapter, I will discuss my assignments and responsibilities during my internship at
Rara Avis. As promised in the internship description16
, I was “one of the colleagues” and I
had all the same tasks as the consultants, with the exception of a number of crucial activities,
such as the actual interviewing. I contributed to the selection and recruitment process in every
aspect and had administrative, communicative, as well as supporting tasks.
This chapter consists of two parts: in the first, I will describe my tasks as they occurred in the
recruitment process; in the second part, I will go into my additional assignments. For each
task, I will first give theoretical background information. Afterwards I will describe my
contribution to the assignment.
3.1 Recruitment process
The recruitment process can take five to fifteen weeks, or even longer. The different stages
are described below.
3.1.1 Information gathering
Method
When a client company has a position to be filled, they can call in Rara Avis. The assignment
is assigned to one of the consultants, which is either Mrs Coppens herself or Mrs De
Bruyckere. The consultant sets up a meeting with the contact person in the client company, in
which information is gathered about the position itself, the exact profile and qualifications of
the candidates and the client company. The more information the consultants receive during
this meeting, the better they are able to find the best person for the job.
16
See appendix 1.
Personal contribution
The meetings with the clients were done in private, between the consultant and the contact
person, in order to guarantee confidentiality. This is why I was not allowed to attend one of
those meetings. However, the consultant briefed me afterwards so that I was able to draw up a
job description in the next stage of the process.
3.1.2 Job descriptions
Once the meeting is over, the actual process can start. The first thing to do is to draw up a job
description. As client companies often prefer not to be mentioned in the first contact with the
candidate, two job descriptions have to be written for each vacancy: an anonymous one (for
the website) and a non-anonymous one, which can be sent to the candidate when he has
shown an interest in the vacancy. The job description gives information about the company,
the position, the skills required and the general offer. It invites potential candidates to contact
the agency if they are interested in the position. As Rara Avis has international clients, job
descriptions can be drawn up in Dutch, English or French. After a job description is drawn up,
a matching template has to be created, which is a shorter, anonymous version of the job
description itself. This template can be mailed to potential candidates during the first contact
in a later stage of the recruitment process.
Personal contribution
When I first started my internship, I had to get to know the current vacancies (which
companies offer which positions and what is the required candidate profile), the database
(FileFinder), the recruitment process and the telephone system. Once I „got the hang of it‟, I
was able to contribute to the recruitment process. I worked on a number of vacancies, for
which I contributed to each step of the process. For instance, I worked on the vacancy for a
Management Assistant for IBBT and the vacancy for a Financial Controller for VGP.
In the first stage of the process, I had to draw up job descriptions myself. These were in
Dutch, in English and in French. Examples of this can be found in appendices 6 to 19. I got
the information through the internet website of the company and through the information
given by the contact person during the meeting. As Mrs Coppens attaches great importance to
accuracy and confidentiality, each job description has to be read through by one of the other
colleagues. Therefore, it was sometimes my job to read through job descriptions that had been
drawn up by one of my colleagues as well. I also had to draw up the templates for the
mailings. Examples of this can be found in appendices 20 to 27.
Translating the job descriptions sometimes proved to be rather difficult, as I was not yet
acquainted with the particular terminology of the positions. I had to focus on the details as
well and make sure that the anonymous job descriptions did not contain any references to the
client company.
3.1.3 Market research
Method
Next, the consultant screens the market looking for companies that might employ the required
candidate profile. A target list is drawn up of these companies, which is then sent to the client
company for approval. The consultants will first look for candidates in these companies, and
later extend their search to other companies as well.
When that is done, information is collected about the name, job position and relevant data of
potential candidates. The information gathered is completed with other relevant sources such
as the database, alumni books and websites, job sites, the internet, LinkedIn etc. The list of all
potential candidates is called the longlist. In what follows, I will shortly describe each source.
FileFinder database
Over the years, the FileFinder database has grown to contain information about thousands of
people. These people can be looked up on the basis of their job function, their company, etc.
Needless to say, it is a very important source of information. Generally, it is the first source
that the consultants use in their search for candidates. All the information that is put into
FileFinder is in English, in order to guarantee consistency.
Due to the agency‟s deontological code, no candidates that work in one of the client
companies (neither those that have been placed there by Rara Avis) can be contacted for
another vacancy (unless they are not working there anymore). As these candidates can be
found in the database as well, they are marked in red, which means that they are off-limits.
The use of this database saves a lot of time, and consequently money, as one simple query can
result in a list of potential candidates. All the information is centralised and can be consulted
by several consultants at the same time.
Alumni books and websites
Most schools have sites or publish books in which all their graduates are gathered, with
information about their degrees, their contact information and their professional experience.
The consultants can use these sources based on the degree(s) or the year of graduation, which
is done for every search. A few examples are the alumni websites of the KU Leuven, Vlerick
Management School, Ehsal and the alumni books of KVIV17
and Ekonomika18
.
The information on these sites and in these books is not always up-to-date and not always
complete. That is why potential candidates are often sent an email with a short, anonymous
job description, in which they are asked to send us their CV when interested.
The great advantage of these sources is that they assemble all people with the same degrees.
This comes in handy for vacancies for which the obtained degree is important. The downside
is that they are not always up-to-date or complete. Also, not every alumni website is organised
in the same efficient way, which means that browsing through the site can be very time-
consuming.
Nowadays, LinkedIn19
is another important source of information for HR agencies. LinkedIn
is an online network connecting more than 20 million professionals from all over the world in
150 industries. When joining, one is asked to create one‟s own profile, giving information
about one‟s professional accomplishments, education and interests. It offers the opportunity to
17
Koninklijkke Vlaamse Ingenieursvereniging. 18
All Applied Economic Sciences graduates. 19
LinkedIn, 2008.
find and be found by (former) friends and colleagues. Mrs Coppens and Mrs De Bruyckere
both have a very extensive LinkedIn network of their own. LinkedIn can help to find
candidates through a query, as it offers a list of one‟s connections, one‟s connections‟
connections and the people they know, etc.
Compared to alumni books and websites, LinkedIn is more up-to-date. These days it is
increasingly used. However, it seems to me that it is a tool that is more often used by people
who already have several years of professional experience and less by students and young
graduates. Moreover, the number of inmails one can send via LinkedIn is limited.
Job sites
As I said before, Rara Avis does not always use job sites, such as monster.be. However, when
the client specifically asks for it, they try to get as much out of it as possible. In the first place,
they conduct a search for candidates working at the companies of the target list drawn up at
the beginning of the process. Later on, they also look for people with the required job title, in
the right region and with the right amount of experience, working in other companies than
those on the target list.
These job sites are also a rich source of information. However, as HR agencies have to pay a
large amount of money and only have a limited period of time to consult the site, it is not as
often used as other sources.
Wild hunt
Wild hunt refers to calling potential candidates in companies that seem to be competitors of
the client company. Very often, the consultants do not have the telephone number of the
candidate they are looking for. They then have to call the secretary of the company and try to
find out the potential candidate‟s mobile number, without drawing attention or letting the
secretary know that they are consultants for a selection and recruitment agency. It speaks for
itself that discretion is of paramount importance in this stage. If the secretary finds out that the
caller is a headhunter, he or she will not provide the information requested.
The advantage of wild hunt is that the consultants come into contact with potential candidates
that have experience in the particular position, in a company that is a direct competitor of the
client. The drawback is that calling the same company over and over again can arouse
suspicion.
Personal contribution
The main vacancies I had to work on were those of Management Assistant for IBBT and
Financial Controller for VGP. It was my job to look up potential candidates in all the above-
mentioned sources.
I first did a query in FileFinder. In a later stage, I would send the people whose email address
was known, a template of a job description (an anonymous one in the first contact). I had to
take into account the number of years of experience that potential candidates had to have,
their degrees, the sector they were working in and their job function.
Next, I also consulted the alumni sites and books, such as the alumni site of KU Leuven and
Ehsal, and the Ekonomika alumni book with all Applied Economic Sciences graduates. If the
information found in these sources was not complete, my next task was to find out more
information by sending these potential candidates a template of the vacancy in question, and
ask them to send their CV if interested.
I also used the LinkedIn website and monster.be to find additional candidates. As my own
LinkedIn network is not that extensive, I used the password and network of Mrs Coppens.
Furthermore, the consultants regularly asked me to call companies of the target list to find out
the mobile number of potential candidates. The reason why the consultants asked Miro, my
fellow trainee, or me to do that, was that the secretary on the line might remember their voice
and might become suspicious when they call several times.
3.1.4 Contacting
Method
Once a longlist of all potential candidates is drawn up, the consultants can start contacting
each one of them. If the consultants do not know the candidate‟s telephone number, the
candidate is contacted by mail. If the candidate‟s telephone number is known to the
consultant, the consultant calls him or her. There is a very strict scenario for these telephone
calls which I will discuss below.
When the candidate is first contacted by mail, the consultant sends him or her a short,
anonymous job description, a template. The candidate is invited to send us his CV if he is
interested. If he does so, the CV has to be put into FileFinder and the candidate is sent a more
extensive job description which is not anonymous. If he is still interested and the consultant
thinks his profile matches the position, he is invited for an interview.
When the first contact occurs by phone, the consultants have to follow a strict telephone
scenario, which can be found in appendix 28. If the person on the line is the secretary, the
consultant should never mention Rara Avis. The consultant also has to ask for the candidate‟s
mobile number, in order to avoid having to call the secretary several times. If the same
secretary has to be called a number of times, the consultant has to use a fake name and
company to avoid arousing suspicion.
For reasons of confidentiality, the consultant always has to confirm that he has the right
person on the line and, if so, whether the person can speak freely. If this is not the case, the
consultant has to call back at a more convenient time, which is often after working hours.
When the candidate can speak freely, the consultant gives a short description of the vacancy.
If the candidate is not interested, which is most often the case, the consultant asks why and
also whether the candidate would like to be contacted for other job opportunities in the future.
The consultant also tries to find out information about his current job position, experience,
education, age, email address and mobile number to complete the database. The consultant
always asks whether the candidate knows any people who might be interested in the position
as well.
If the candidate shows an interest, he is asked about his current job position, his professional
experience and his education. When this information matches the required profile, the
candidate is requested to send his CV and the consultant sends him an extensive job
description. The candidate is also requested to call back. If both parties are still interested
afterwards, the candidate is invited for an interview. The candidates that are invited for an
interview make the shortlist.
Personal contribution
As there was no phone connected to my computer, I was not able to call candidates very
often.
My main contacting tasks consequently included mailing potential candidates. In the first
mailing, I sent a short template, in the second, I sent an extensive job description. When I
received a CV, I put it into FileFinder. When the candidate did not send his CV but only the
reason why he was not interested, this information was also put into the system.
As some CVs are very extensive, Mrs Coppens sometimes asked me to mark the most
important passages, so that she was able to read through them more easily. These passages
included name, year of birth, education, relevant experience and motivation. I only had to do
this for one vacancy.
3.1.5 Interviewing and reporting
Method
Candidates that fit the profile and are interested in the vacancy are invited for a job interview
with Mrs De Bruyckere or Mrs Coppens at the office of Rara Avis. In the interview, they go
deeper into the information on their CV: personal information, education, language skills, job
experience, reason for changing jobs, motivation, personal characteristics and remuneration
package. For each topic of the interview, the interviewer tries to get some background
information by asking questions such as: “Why did you choose those studies?”; “What does
your typical work day look like?”; “How would your colleagues or boss describe you?”. The
interview also serves to give the candidate more information about the job opportunity and
resolve any questions he might have.
If the interview went well, a comprehensive report is written. This report goes into each of the
aspects discussed during the interview and also gives a general evaluation of the candidate.
After being read through by one of the colleagues, the report is sent to the client. Based on the
client‟s decision, the candidate will be invited for a second interview at the client‟s company
or will be called or mailed to inform him that he has been rejected and why. If the interview
did not go very well and the candidate proved to be the wrong guy for the job, an evaluation
mail is sent to the client, which is much less extensive than a report, but summarises each
topic of the interview.
Personal contribution
I was allowed to attend most interviews at the office. As some candidates can only meet after
working hours, interviews often took place then. During these interviews, it was my job to
take notes of everything that was said. Afterwards, I had to draw up the report based on my
notes. As these reports are confidential, I am not allowed to include one in the appendix.
However, I included a general template of how a report looks like in appendix 29. Once the
report was finished, I sent it to one of my colleagues who would then read it through. It also
occurred several times that I had to read through a report written by my colleagues.
I liked attending the interviews and writing up the reports and evaluation mails very much. I
was perfectly able to take notes during the interview, as I was used to it after a course of
minute-taking during my translation studies. I also managed to write up the reports based on
my notes, especially for the aspects that did not have to do with the candidate‟s character.
Commenting on the candidate‟s personal characteristics proved to be a bit more difficult, as I
had only seen the candidate for one hour and did not know him. This is probably easier for
more experienced consultants, as they have a better insight in these things. However, as time
passed by I got better at it.
Moreover, I also think I learned a lot from these interviews for myself as well. I now have a
better idea of the things I can and cannot say when I am the candidate in the job interview and
how I should prepare myself for it.
3.1.6 Reference check
Method
It sometimes occurs that the candidate suggests references during the interview. These
references can be checked, which is done by calling the reference itself. This happens as soon
as possible after the interview. Calling up the reference is only done when especially
requested by the client. If so, the candidate has to be notified and asked which references can
be called. This gives the candidate the chance to verify the reference in question is positive
about his work, before the consultants call the reference.
Personal contribution
As the consultant comes in contact with the contact person at the client company in this stage,
this was a stage in the process that I was not allowed to participate in. Mrs Coppens insists
that the contact person is always contacted by the same consultant, in order to guarantee the
close relationship and partnership between the agency and the client.
3.2 Other assignments
3.2.1 Composing alumni book of KU Leuven graduates
As I said before, in the beginning of the recruitment process a longlist of candidates is drawn
up, which consists of people that fit the profile. These candidates are found through a number
of channels: the FileFinder database, LinkedIn, recruitment sites such as monster.be, alumni
websites and alumni books. As alumni sources are a very valuable tool for Rara Avis and as
browsing the alumni websites is a very time-consuming activity, Mrs Coppens decided to
draw up her own alumni book for the KU Leuven based on the alumni website. I had to
browse the site and make lists of all KUL students that had graduated since 1990 in all the
courses offered by the university. I was the only one working on this assignment. Due to the
large number of graduates and my other work, I was not able to complete the assignment. For
reasons of confidentiality, I am not able to include the KUL alumni list in this thesis.
On the alumni website, three types of information could be found about the graduates:
personal information, such as name, address, telephone number and email address;
professional information, such as employer, position, telephone/fax number at work and
sector; and educational information, such as degrees, year of graduation and institution. As
the professional information was in many cases not mentioned on the website, my second task
was to contact the graduates in question to find out where they worked, what professional
experience they had and what their ambitions were. I did this by means of a general mailing
sent to those graduates with an email address. The others were not contacted. In this mail,
which can be found in appendix 30, I first shortly presented Rara Avis. Then, I tried to
convince the graduates to send us their CV, accompanied by their professional ambitions.
Once I received the CVs, I had to put them into FileFinder, so the consultants would be able
to use them in the future.
As the alumni website contained thousands and thousands of names, there were a few courses
that had priority over the others. At the time, we were looking for a BioTech Investment
Manager for KBC Private Equity and I had to first look for pharmacy and biomedical
graduates.
As this assignment was very monotonous and time-consuming, I did not really learn a lot
from it. However, I understand that this is a job that really had to be done as the consultants
otherwise have to spend too much time browsing the alumni website and this way lose a lot of
time.
3.2.2 Translations
During my internship, I had to make a number of translations that were not directly related to
the recruitment process: I had to translate the client survey from English into Dutch and the
telephone call scenario from Dutch into English, French and Spanish.
Client survey
Rara Avis pays a lot of attention to quality control and partnership with the clients. To make
sure that the clients are satisfied with the services and quality that Rara Avis offers, the
agency offers the clients a client survey, which they have to fill in when an assignment is
completed. The survey started with the motivation for conducting the survey and a bit of
information on how to complete it. The survey asked about the client‟s satisfaction with the
consultants‟ understanding of the candidate profile and of the company‟s strategic objectives
and key business issues. It also inquired about the satisfaction with the period in which the
assignment was completed, with the information updates, the quality of the reports and the
briefing of the candidates. The clients were also asked whether our services came up to the
their expectations and whether the consultants met their needs. Finally, they were also asked
about their general appreciation with room for further comments and suggestions. Based on
the results of this survey, Rara Avis tries to improve the quality of its services.
The client survey already existed in English20
, but Mrs Coppens wanted to have a Dutch copy
as well, for those clients who preferred a Dutch client survey. I translated it and afterwards
my fellow trainee made an electronic version of it. The final Dutch client survey can be found
in appendix 32.
Telephone call scenario
My second translation assignment consisted of translating the telephone call scenario that
Rara Avis uses to contact potential candidates. This is a very strict scenario, as the consultants
cannot give out confidential information and always have to make sure that the candidate can
speak freely. If the candidate is interested, a short job description is given on the phone. Next,
he is asked about his training and professional experience to try and complete the information
in the FileFinder database. If the candidate is not interested, the consultant still tries to find
out more information about the candidate and asks whether he knows anyone who might be
interested in the vacancy. My translations of the Dutch scenario can be found in appendices
33 to 35 (English, French and Spanish).
3.2.3 Drawing up letter for graduates
FileFinder, the Rara Avis database, is a very important tool for the agency, which the
consultants use all the time. It contains information on assignments, clients and, most of all,
candidates. The database contains thousands of candidates with their personal, professional
20
See appendix 31.
and educational information, their skills and the assignment(s) they are linked to. Clearly, the
database is a valuable source for the consultants. And it is completed every day when new
candidates send their CV or when interesting profiles are found on the internet.
Yet, the largest part of the candidates in the database already have job experiences, which is
not the case for recent graduates. In most cases, these recent graduates are not yet present in
the database. Mrs Coppens also wanted to complete her database with these young graduates
and asked me to write up an enthusiastic letter addressing them, in which they are given an
incentive to send us their CV. The letter is included in appendix 36.
In the first part of the letter, the graduates were addressed and given a reason to send us their
details. I did this by asking them two opening question (“Wil je graag weten wat er reilt en
zeilt in jouw sector? En dat zonder dat je er iets voor moet doen?”), by shortly presenting
Rara Avis and by saying how the agency could help them. In the second part, they were
informed which information we needed to find the right job for them: education, professional
experience and positions and sectors they prefer. In the case of Vlerick students, they were
also asked about their previous studies. To conclude, they were asked to send us their CV.
Writing up this kind of letter might seem rather easy, but that is not the case. Convincing
people to send us their personal information is not that obvious. Moreover, our aim was to get
as much information as possible to complete the database. Consequently, the letter also had to
address those people that were not necessarily looking for a job at the moment. Particularly
getting them to send us their CV proved to be rather tricky. We had to try and convince them
that the reason why we wanted their information was to help them find a job, while, from our
point of view, we just wanted to complete the database and find more candidates that might be
suited for one of our clients‟ vacancies.
4 CONCLUSION
I look back on my internship at Rara Avis as an experience I would not have wanted to miss
out on. I got to have a taste of the HR sector and the recruitment process and I have come to
like it very much.
What I have learned on a professional level, is that HR consultants take on a lot of
responsibility when they agree to look for the right guy for the job. They have a commitment,
both towards the client and towards the candidates. They promise the client to deliver, within
the agreed amount of time, a colleague that does not only have the right qualifications, but
will also fit in at the company. Rara Avis also agrees to keep the client up-to-date every step
of the way. To the candidates, the consultants promise to keep them informed on how they are
doing. Candidates have the right to receive feedback, which is something the Rara Avis
consultants do not take lightly.
It also surprised me how long it can take to fill a vacancy: it is a process with no immediate
result. It proves that the Rara Avis consultants are not happy with the first candidate they see.
They really want to find the perfect match between the client company and the candidate.
That is a process that can take weeks, even months. It may happen that, after a couple of
weeks, no adequate candidates are left and that the consultant has to start his search all over
again. This takes courage and dedication to the job, which is very admirable.
Moreover, it also caught my eye how well the consultants are able to get an insight in the
candidates‟ character. By asking the right questions at the right time, and by reflecting on
every detail, they can get a pretty good idea of what a person‟s character is like. The
consultants also seem to always know what they can say at what moment. While I still have to
think about that a lot, their years of experience have obviously helped them in that area. These
are two characteristics I admired a lot in the consultants and I would like to get better at
myself.
On a personal level, I have come to the conclusion that I need a lot of variation in my job. On
the one hand, that was what my internship at Rara Avis offered: I participated in the whole
recruitment process, from drawing up job description and making longlists to contacting
potential candidates, attending the interviews and writing up reports. On the other hand, some
assignments, like composing the alumni book for the KU Leuven, were very monotonous and
did not offer any variation. Moreover, I can imagine that some tasks become routine for
consultants that have been in the sector for a long time. Nevertheless, in my view, the
interviewing and reporting stage is different with each candidate, as they each have their own
background, character and motivation.
I also realised that I need a job in which I can see the end result. I have to be able to feel that I
succeeded in my work, and there is no better way to do that than to see the outcome of your
work and hear that the client is satisfied. Placing a candidate in the client‟s company gives a
lot of satisfaction, which is something I would not be able to miss in my job.
Of course, the atmosphere at work is also very important to me. Getting along with your
colleagues and being able to occasionally talk about something else than work, is something I
need as well. And that was certainly the case at Rara Avis, which I am very thankful for.
However, that does not mean that I do not appreciate some peace and quiet during tasks for
which a high amount of concentration is needed.
Attending the interviews will certainly have a positive effect on the job interviews that I
myself will have to go through. I got a better idea of the things one can say and cannot say
and what one has to watch out for. I think I am now better prepared and will consequently be
more at ease when I will be the interviewee.
Another important lesson on a personal level for me, was that I should not take every mistake
that I make too seriously. I tend to worry about my mistakes a lot. What I learned was that
everyone makes mistakes and that it is not always your fault. Consequently, you should not
take it too personally, but learn from them, so that you do not make the same mistakes in the
future.
Although I might like to find a job in Human Resources, I would probably prefer a job in an
HR department of a company. A job like that would offer even more variation, as the
employees of an HR department do not only recruit people but also try to please their current
staff and have several other HR tasks as well.
The Multilingual Business Communication course was helpful in a number of ways. My
language skills came in handy as I had to use English on a daily basis: job descriptions and
templates are often drawn up in English, candidates from other countries were contacted in
English and all information had to be saved in the FileFinder database in English. As none of
my colleagues liked assignments in French, I also got to use my French skills when drawing
up French job descriptions or when translating the telephone call scenario into French.
MTB also made me used to working with deadlines. The good thing about my internship was
that I got a lot of assignments with their own deadlines, and that I was able to organise them
myself. I had to make sure that I delivered the assignments in time, and I really enjoyed
having that responsibility.
The employer branding investigation that I conducted for Siemens came in handy in my
internship in a Human Resources environment. It so happened that Mrs Coppens was
conducting an employer branding research of her own, and that one of the clients was
particularly interested in the results of our investigation.
The many company visits during this past year were a treat as well. I thought and talked about
them on many occasions during my internship. It was very interesting to see how these
companies conducted business and what their philosophy was like. As one of my colleagues
did a lot of company visits and on-sight assignments during her years in the HR sector as
well, it was nice to compare experiences in that area.
What I somewhat missed in the MTB course was a slightly higher focus on Human
Resources. A lot of attention went to advertising and Public Relations, and the HR field was a
bit left out. Although the two recruitment sessions were a welcome variation, they seemed not
specifically aimed at an MTB audience. Particularly the assignment proved to be a bit
pointless and not related to the sessions themselves. I would certainly keep the recruitment
sessions, but maybe with a higher MTB focus and a more practical assignment.
In brief, I am very happy with my choice to have studied an extra year of Multilingual
Business Communication and with my decision to do an internship in the HR sector. I feel
like this might be the sector in which I would like to find a job. Therefore, I would again like
to thank Mrs Coppens for giving me the opportunity to gain a first experience in Human
Resources.