Extract from chapter 6
From: Making Sense of My Unemployment (M.G. Ramirez-Ocando)
The content in this extract applies only to reactive applications (those responding to an advertised position), excluding subcontracting and freelance opportunities.
During the time that I was unemployed, I was contacted spontaneously by recruiters/headhunters around 20–25 times, I was called back regarding my reactive applications 53 times and I reached the F2F interview stage in 26 recruitment processes
(…)
The general recruitment process for most of my interviews in Europe (particularly Switzerland) followed a similar structure:
- Receipt and evaluation of the candidate’s application
- Telephone/Skype screening with HR/hiring manager
- Face-to-face (F2F) interview(s) with presentations/case studies
- Employer decision and communication of decision
And if everything went well:
- Employment offer
- Contract negotiation
- Acceptance of offer
- Employment
Whereas all of the first three steps focused strongly on questions related to experience and personality, step 3 often also included some sort of practical exercise showcasing professional expertise. Steps 5–8, of course, only happened when I actually received an offer (…). The time between each step was highly variable. For example, there were companies that only contacted me for the first time two to three months after I had sent my application, whereas others contacted me the day after. Similarly, there were companies that communicated their final decision one or two months after the last interview, whereas others did so within days. In general, the recruitment process of big international companies took longer than that of smaller (local) companies.
For positions managed through external recruitment/placement/employment agencies (Arbeitsvermittlung, agence de placement), there were some variations to the structure described above. Companies often use external recruitment agencies to outsource the first steps of the recruitment process: finding relevant talent and doing the first filtering process. Recruitment agencies can perform very similar tasks to those usually done by internal HR personnel, or they can proactively reach out to suitable candidates and simply serve as a mediator for the first introduction to the hiring company. Some of the best-known recruitment agencies in Switzerland are Manpower, Adecco and Kelly (…).
(…)
Making Sense of My Unemployment 