• 29.12.2015

Poured by Aleksandra Argir

By definition, journey means “to travel”. In the area of careers and managing careers, we see it as “the journey to success”. For every journey you need a final destination you want to reach and experience all the way to it and around it.

The same applies to careers. The decision to be made is what the destination is, how to get there, the steps that are crucial to make, the things that need to be learned, and experiences to go down the way. It is of high importance that decision is made before the start of the journey, making sure not to lose time and focus. You need to start at the beginning by building a base of knowledge and experience starting from the bottom to the top.

The best leaders today are those who started small from the lowest ladder in the hierarchy of the company in the area they prefer, they know that it is their area of future success, and believe they can achieve the most here and have the biggest potential and the values required. It is all about knowing what you want, it is about your passion, having vision for yourself, working hard, having the courage to make a mistake, but also the willingness to learn, especially from your own mistakes and from others, it is about openness, challenging yourself, excelling in what you do, it is about acknowledging that you do not know everything and that you need to learn even more in order to be successful in the future. Remember, arrogance kills anything around success and being successful. And we do not stop here. Being successful is about respect, respect towards what you do, and most importantly respect towards people you work with, your colleagues, coworkers, superiors, their area of expertise, the company where you work, the customers, consumers, the community. Socrates’ quote “To know, is to know that you know nothing. This is the meaning of true knowledge”, has crucial meaning in learning, something that you need to believe in, in order to have a healthy career development. Career is all about learning and hard work.

Career development, career management, talent management, talent acquisition & recruitment are areas which are of strategic importance for every company in respect of achieving company’s vision, caring about people and being responsible toward them with focus on those with high potential.

Recruitment is an area we take extremely serious. In any recruitment (external or internal), we start from the requirements for the vacant job position we intend to fill in. This is a very important part of the process, because it defines a good start, it outlines the job positions responsibilities, and what are the requirements from a perspective of education, knowledge, and skills. We usually publish the defined requirements for the job positions in our media advertisements, followed by our values and principles. When seeing the possibility to apply, every candidate needs to initially answer the following basic questions:

1. Do I understand the requirements for the position?
2. Do I have the required education, knowledge, experience (if the case) and skills?
3. Do values that the company has match my values?
4. Is the position the one that I can & want to do at the moment?
5. What benefit it will bring me personally, what is there in it for me, now and in the future?
6. What I can give to contribute to the success of the position?

How do we do the recruitment?

It all depends on the position we search candidates for. Most of the positions are posted in advertisements published through different communication channels. Senior position job openings are usually advertised through head hunting services of different consultancy companies with such expertise. One of the ways we use is the data base of previous searches or data base of CVs we have got through our web site outside of formal recruitment processes, through which people are simply expressing willingness to work in our company.

Applying for the open position

Cover Letter

The cover letter is a promotion tool for the candidate to sell the story why he/ she is the best candidate for the role. Cover letter is an opportunity for candidates to explain and express everything about their work experience, knowledge, skills and strengths that they believe makes them the best candidates for the company. It is extremely important that the cover letter is well structured and no longer than one page, with focus on the desired/ targeted position, clear and concise, with a good and positive writing tone. Make sure that you also write about your life and work values.

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

The first step in the recruitment process is the CV (Curriculum Vitae) review following the instructions in the advertisement. The CV provides the initial impression about the candidates. Your CV should provide information about your professional and educational background to demonstrate that you meet the requirements for the role, information about skills, knowledge, as well as what your values and principles are.

The CV is a resume of your personal and professional development, and it helps you to stand out from the other candidates. You need to make sure that you provide a summary of your background and skills (both professional and from educational point of view). It is important that you have expressed and tailored everything in a way that you demonstrate how your skills, knowledge, strengths and professional working experience match the role. Emphasize the skills, knowledge and experience that go with the position and just take out things which are not relevant.

When looking at a CV, we always check how it is structured, and if it contains all relevant information. This speaks a lot about the candidate. You need to ensure that you have structured your CV appropriately and that it contains the needed and relevant information:

Personal details:

Name, address, telephone or mobile number, e-mail address, marital status, date of birth;

Career Summary:

Just describe yourself professionally based on your work e.g. I am dedicated, loyal, ambitious Business developer with 6 years’ experience in FMCG and in a pharmaceutical company;

Education:

What is your highest diploma title/ with dates (from-to) – here you need to refer to any formal education certified either by diploma or certificate (certified education); you should also emphasize some study achievements (if any);

Skills:

Highlight the major skills you possess and details around it (make sure that you will are able to give relevant examples to prove that);

Employment:

Start with the current position and then go back till the first working experience in your life. The information should be in this flow:

Job Position title:

Name of the company & Industry:

Main Responsibilities/ Duties (maximum 7 short bullets):

Main achievements you are proud of:

Direct reports: (if you had people reporting to you emphasize how many) e.g. 5 direct reports/ or 2 direct reports (Supervisors) and below them 4 people each.

References: 3  references (maximum)

Recruitment Process

Initial Selection

After receiving CVs from candidates, we do screening through CVs and check if candidates have the minimum requirements for the position, what impression we get from the structure of their CVs and cover letters. That is why candidates need to pay quite an attention to how they prepare and structure their CV and cover letter.

Assessment Process

Depending on the position, skills, experience and knowledge required, we use variety of assessment methods. We use methods which are carefully designed or chosen according to the requirements of each role. All the assessment methods we use are designed so you get the opportunity to show recruiters and managers involved in the recruitment that you have the necessary experiences, and needed qualities and skills.

Interviews

Interviews play very important role in our recruitment process. Interviews are the best way to get to know the candidates, and we rely on discussion to check on the values and behaviors they are attached to and used to, see the real willingness and motivation for the job, better understand their experience and knowledge. The main principle for us is putting the right person into the right position.

It is important that candidates prepare for the interview, because personal interviews are great way to see how their behavior on their previous job matches our company values and behavioral principles.

So, in order to prepare for a job interview, we suggest candidates to:

• Make a good first impression through being tidy and clean, wearing professionally appealing clothes and acting in a professional manner. Arriving at the interview on time is as crucial as bringing all required documentation along.
• Make a brief research on the company you are applying for, learn more about the industry, the market and the products company is working with. Moreover, try to find general information about the position you are applying in order to be prepared for any possible questions.
• Always provide well-structured, short and concise responses. Make sure that you listen and understand the questions and give direct answers. Structure your responses. Think first, and then give concise answer.

Pre-employment Medicals

A pre-employment medical examination is obligatory for every selected candidate. The medical examination will be conducted at our own cost and in one of our renowned medical centers. Our personnel administration colleague will guide you throughout the process.

We are looking forward to having you as a candidate for any of our open positions.