ARCADIS is always searching for candidates with an applied sciences or university level technical education. Recruitment manager Silke Wekema knows first-hand that such candidates are hard to find. That is why the organization makes a big effort to improve its employer brand, for instance by attending events, but also by offering internships and taking advantage of its contacts within universities or student organizations. To support its efforts, ARCADIS has selected the Connexys campus and recruitment solution.
Transparent recruitment and selection process
ARCADIS is a consultancy and engineering agency. With 2,500 co-workers, it is one of the leading organizations in its field. Recruitment manager Silke Wekema is responsible for ARCADIS’ labour market communication and candidate recruitment. Four years ago, ARCADIS selected Connexys as supplier of its campus recruitment solution. Wekema: ‘Connexys has since helped us to reach a crucial goal: transparency, especially with regards to candidates, vacancies and applications. All the data is made available through a single system, making it easy for us to find the information we need.’
Recruiting suitable candidates is quite a challenge. Silke: ‘We look for people with a rare profile. As an extra hindrance, relatively few people choose a technical education. As a result, our options are limited.’ So ARCADIS really needs to get the attention of its target group. By offering internships and graduation assignments, the company hopes to bind people at an early stage. The target group is often present at events and at open days of organizations. ARCADIS tries to participate in these events whenever possible. In order to register candidates and track their careers, ARCADIS relies on the Campus Recruitment solution from Connexys. It allows the company to stay in touch with specific target groups and to follow students throughout their career. ARCADIS also uses the solution to register interested students at events.
ARCADIS is not only present at events or open days, but also publishes its vacancies on both its own website and on external job boards such as NUwerk.nl. On top of that the organization has its own press officer, who makes sure ARCADIS is constantly mentioned in the news. This also contributes to the recruitment effort.
ARCADIS and social media
ARCADIS’ presence in social media is as yet very limited. Silke: ‘During Emerce eHRM, I noticed that social media have become a very powerful tool. We still have some work to do in this regard. The coming year we will mostly concentrate on LinkedIn, which is widely regarded as an important job orientation tool. Plus, LinkedIn has a professional, corporate image, just like ARCADIS, and a lot of the candidates we target are active users.’
Future of the labour market
Silke Wekema expects that it will always be a challenge for ARCADIS to find candidates, regardless of the situation on the labour market. Wekema: ‘But I don’t think we will ever be unable to find new people. On the contrary. I believe that such challenges yield new opportunities and new chances. It’s in challenging situations such as these that creativity can really flourish.’
For more information about working at ARCADIS, please visit the website.