An interview with Corien Taatgen, Senior Consultant at Randstad Multilingual Recruitment
As we recover from the holidays and settle back down into our routines, whether it be sitting at the office or searching for a job from the comfort of our own homes, we might begin to wonder what the new year has in store for us. A new job? Developmental opportunities in our current position? Corien Taatgen, Senior Consultant at Randstad Multilingual Recruitment, offers some interesting insights into the current and future state of recruitment in the Netherlands. Based on these insights, we’ve compiled a list of four trends to watch in 2016 that will affect recruitment, both from the candidate’s perspective as well as that of the company and the recruiter. Luckily for the job-seekers out there, the outlook for 2016 seems to be quite positive.
Trend #1: An increase in the overall number of jobs available.
The European economy’s recovery is now in its third year, and according to a recent report from the European Commission, it should continue despite some challenges . This means that thankfully, the labour market in the Netherlands will also continue to grow. According to the EC's report the national Dutch unemployment rate, which reached its peak in 2014 at 7.9%, is set to decrease to 6.6% in 2016, and 6.3% in 2017 .
Corien sees these trends reflected in the number of job opportunities available for candidates, whether they be international or native Dutch. “I feel that it’s all on the rise”, she says. “You can see that the whole market is growing at the moment.”
Trend #2: More emphasis on the job candidate.
Because more and more jobs are becoming available in the Netherlands, Corien says that she sees more emphasis being placed on people who are applying, instead of the company seeking to fill a position. “A few years ago, […] companies had more luxury to choose whichever candidate they thought was best for the position. Nowadays, instead of the companies choosing who they want, the candidates are more often choosing where they want to work. Candidates are becoming more scarce – especially the good ones, with specific skills such as languages, or experience.”
Recruitment agencies will have to respond astutely to these changing trends. For Randstad, this means adapting their recruitment approach, especially in how they engage their candidates. Corien reveals some of her multilingual recruitment team’s plans for the coming years. “We are going to focus on becoming more of an added value to the candidate.” To do this, they want to help the candidate as much as possible in not only finding a job, but finding one that most accurately matches with his or her wishes and qualifications. They will aid the candidate in discovering their own strengths. “We have a high-quality focus on what makes the candidate tick.”
For international candidates, the added value promised by Randstad could come in the form of practical help with adjusting to living in the Netherlands. “I think it’s important as an agency focusing on multilingual recruitment that we help them to get settled,” Corien adds. “That we sort out everything with their BSN number and things like that, and that we help them with how to approach the Dutch labour market.”
Trend #3: The role of sustainability
Corien has also noticed that more and more of her candidates are screening companies based on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. “[They] are looking for a company that is, for example, environmentally friendly (that they have a strong awareness of nature and what they are doing, what their product is, and how it affects the world).” Corien explains that five years ago, sustainability was hardly ever a priority for the candidates when searching for an employer.
Fortunately for the environment, it seems like the sustainability trend is here to stay . People are becoming more sceptical of authority and are thus more insistent that companies incorporate elements such as transparency and community participation into their business structure.
“It was quite surprising, but we think this is an interesting trend, actually,” Corien adds. For companies, it’s an important realisation that this is an argument that the candidate could use in saying yes or no to a position.”
Trend #4: The continued importance of face-to-face communication
Technology has had an immense effect on recruitment over the last few decades. The recruitment process has become increasingly more digital, with recruiters and companies relying more and more on social media such as LinkedIn or online databases to find the right candidates. However, despite the digitisation of the job hunt and recruitment process, Corien insists that face-to-face communication still plays a major role. There is an ideal combination of both types of communication, of course, but Corien praises the power of personal communication. “I have to say that I do still prefer to meet up with people, face to face, to really sit down with them, to get to know them, and to get to know what makes them happy and what will ensure that they will thrive and be challenged in their job environment.” She explains that she and her team have been doing a lot more Skype interviews. “We do not only recruit within the Netherlands; we also recruit internationally, and of course for that, Skype is very useful.”