Employer in the spotlight: Engi Talents
Getting over 120 technical talents excited about a job in project work for Engi Talents: this is the result of years of intense collaboration between CTRL-F and Engi Talents. CTRL-F turns 5 this year, so we look back on 5 years of cooperation with the most exciting employers. We kick off with Engi Talents, a company that has grown side by side with CTRL-F over the past 5 years out of its infancy. A fascinating conversation about great candidates, great challenges and great collaboration.
At the table: Annemie Decadt: HR & Communications Manager, Koen Louagie: Operations & Sales Manager and Bart Van Loo: Account Manager West Flanders.
At Engi Talents, everyone is employed on a permanent contract of indefinite duration. Engi Talents puts its permanent employees to work for companies that knock on their door with a temporary need for technical talent. At the end of the assignment, the Engi'neer is presented with the next assignment. That's briefly how Engi Talents works. You continue to grow and attract permanent employees.
CTRL-F: What is the challenge for you in the current job market, other than scarcity?
Koen: "Candidates today can choose between a lot of job offers. So you have to be able to score as the best employer among 3, 4 or more companies. You have to be able to outline a compelling story and live up to it in practice. This challenges us to keep questioning ourselves critically as an employer.
Annemie: "Finding people who like adventure in their jobs. Who say about difficult situations: let it be. Who feel confident in new environments. Hiring colleagues who dare to trust that we will always present them with a project that is made for them. That is the challenge for me. These qualities do not seem to come naturally to everyone.
Koen: We would also like to attract candidates with more experience, because to work on a project basis that is obviously an asset. We notice that employees with a lot of experience sometimes see it as a big hurdle to make the switch to project work. We want to tackle that perception.
"We find that employees with a lot of experience sometimes see it as a big barrier to make the switch to project work. We want to tackle that perception."
CTRL-F: Over the past five years, CTRL-F selected over 120 candidates who consciously chose project sourcing. Which candidate has stuck out to you the most?
Koen: "Katrien. A lady who chose a career switch around the age of 40: from healthcare to industry. She retrained to become a designer. The mental pressure of the care sector and irregular hours had a big family impact. She has now been a star performer in a man's world for about 3 years, but feels perfectly at home there. And we too welcome any choice someone makes for a technical direction."
Bart: "With me, Christof stuck around. He did not immediately tick all the checkboxes important to work with us. Yet Justine introduced him to us with complete conviction. We have to admit that at an initial stage, we wouldn't have picked out the CV ourselves straight away. But Justine's conviction, her arguments and her belief in the candidate convinced us to go for it. How well she knew the candidate and assessed strengths has always stayed with me."
"From healthcare to industry: we welcome any choice anyone makes for a technical direction."
CTRL-F: We experience how Engi Talents itself puts in a lot of time and energy to get everything out of a valuable collaboration. Where does the strength of working with CTRL-F lie for you?
Koen: "In the beginning, in a collaboration, it's a bit of a test run, but over the years CTRL-F has mastered the DNA of an Engi'neer (that's what we call our regular colleagues) to such an extent that we can totally trust the performances. They know perfectly which technical talents feel like a fish out of water with us. And for that, we are indeed happy to make the necessary efforts ourselves."
Bart: "True. For example, I never hesitate to pop in quickly when I pass a CTRL-F office to deliver the latest edition of our magazines."
Koen: "The lunch & learn sessions we organise to clarify our operation also always stay with me. And no warmer welcome than during a passage on one of your seminar days."
Annemie: "We like your personal approach and intensive follow-up and communication. And indeed, we also give a lot of ourselves in a cooperation, that's our style. We don't expect anything in return. We push not keen on collaboration, we invest in long-term results. What I value most is that we can literally name everything. If we have a strange feeling about something, if we have ideas to do things differently or better, we just put it on the table. And this openness and directness is also reflected by CTRL-F colleagues.
"What I appreciate most is that we can literally name everything. And that openness and directness also comes back from CTRL-F colleagues."
CTRL-F: The cordial approach is Engi Talents' biggest asset for us. What would you put forward as CTRL-F's biggest asset?
Annemie: "I see CTRL-F as a pioneer in the specialisation approach. Your focus works and the results follow. Although we notice that more recruitment partners are following your example. In any case, you continue to think outside the standard frameworks, help set up experiments, make proposals to do things differently. That is refreshing and keeps everyone on their toes.
"I see CTRL-F as a pioneer in the specialist approach."
Koen: "Candidates who come to us for interviews via CTRL-F know perfectly well where they end up and what type of job they are applying for. This is sometimes different in other cases. It is nice to meet people who have already consciously chosen project sourcing and Engi Talents at that stage.
Bart: "I greatly appreciate the fact that we hear each other very regularly. Quickly getting in touch to discuss small applications or to counter minor concerns, we always make great strides.