Generalist

”Summer – and July in particular – is usually considered a bad time to recruit new people in Finland, but it can actually be a really good time for companies to find new employees and for job-seekers to find a new job,” writes Marja Pylkkänen, the Managing Director of Alma Career Oy. It has been thought that as soon as people leave for their holidays and switch off their computers, they also switch off from anything related to work. This has changed now that smartphones have become more common. People check their personal email that they use for job-seeking, as well as social media, even while on their summer holidays. When you’re on holidays, you also have more time to think about finding a new job if you’re not satisfied with your current job. Decisions about jobs are much easier to make once you’ve come across a suitable position, and many applicants now have their CVs ready to be sent out. Mobile job applications: When it comes to recruiting people, summer is the best time to use mobile applications, as the number of applicants using mobile devices increases all the time. In summer, there are fewer employers competing for a particular applicant and their attention, and applicants have more time to consider the vacancies. Take your time to build your message: Successful recruitment now requires marketing and sales skills. It’s worth thinking about whether the best time to reach applicants would be during the commute in the morning through news sites, or at lunchtime through social media. Share it on social media to reach the right target group: You can create various taglines for Twitter and Facebook. Motivate your staff to share your messages, in order to make them spread quickly and to the right kind of target groups. Interviews through video: The first round of the interviews can easily be done via video. You can record the questions beforehand, and the interviewees can answer them whenever and wherever it is convenient for them.