By Dave Mendoza, Master Cybersleuth,

Affiliate Partner, JobMachine Inc.

Brian Janecek is a US national, born and raised in Oregon and a technical recruiter
developing talent on behalf of corporate and highly-technical positions at FEI, a nanotechnology tool provider (SEM, TEM, S/TEM, FIB, DualBeam, etc.). Brian is on a 3 month project overseas to support FEI’s talent needs in Brno, Czech Republic. FEI covers Brian’s housing, air travel on behalf of his wife and two small children, and provides a company car. Given his unique opportunity, we agreed he had the perfect tale to tell given his origins. Today, as Part 2 of this first of a series, Brian was kind enough to share additional insight on his perspective as an American trained recruiter developing talent needs in the Czech Republic.

The conversation continued as follows:

How do Czech employment laws specific to direct sourcing & hiring effect the recruiting process and overall capabilities?

“In the Czech Republic it’s mandatory that employees give two months’ notice plus the remainder of the current month (so up to about three months notice). That means that filling immediate needs can be very difficult if you don’t want to just settle for a pool of currently unemployed candidates.

Czechs aren’t used to moving jobs very often so cold calling them and approaching unsolicited targets is very, very unusual and can often be uncomfortable for the candidate.

Fortunately, as far as I am aware, there are no laws pertaining to contacting candidates.”

What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities?

“FEI uses Sonic as its internal candidate tracking tool.”

What percentage of applicants are hired from your corporate website with the Czech Republic?

“In the Czech Republic the number is almost zero. This is an area that we are working to develop and is one of the reasons for me being sent over here.”

WHERE are the “BEST QUALITY of HIRES” within each of your countries you are accountable for?

“Referrals from employees are typically the best quality hires.”

Where are the “MOST HIRES” collected from? (In terms of Quantity #)

“The majority of our hires come from agencies. Agencies have a strong hold in the Czech Republic and are often the first means of job-searching help that seekers use.”

What is the source of your “CHEAPEST HIRES” - (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires)

“Employee referrals…we do pay a referral bonus, but the quality and lack of time investment make these cheap”

Is Czech culture a factor in the response rate of email campaigns sending requesting a resume versus calling the candidate directly at their work? Are Czechs amicable to sending their resume, or are they shy/cautious or even suspicious depending on the method you use to contact them?

“Culture is a Major factor. Calling candidates at work is viewed with a lot of suspicion and can be counter-productive if not invited to call them there. Email is the easiest ice-breaker and can open the door for a call. The Czechs seem to be very voicemail averse so leaving messages often isn’t possible. Once the wall of suspicion is broken down they are eager to send resumes, but very weary before that. This is why most of them would not dream of posting their resume to an online job board. They are always very interested to know where I got their contact info and all the details pertaining to that.”

What methods/resources (Including, but not limited to: newspaper advertisements, Company website, online search engine ads, job Fairs/Open House events, Blogs, online forums, technical websites, social networking sites, etc - OR SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY TOOLS - provide the FASTEST amount of time in producing hires?

“We’ve tried newspaper advertisements, online ads and job postings to the “major” job boards, open houses, postings on public transportation and internal referral programs; all with varying levels of success. The fastest hires typically come from online job board postings and agencies. We’re still early in our newspaper/public transportation campaigns so the results of those are not yet fully known.”
What are the BEST JOB BOARDS, benefiting your hiring needs you recruit for, and specific to the Czech Republic?
“Jobs.cz tends to be the best in the Czech Republic. Monster is very expensive here and has not caught on with the people so we avoid the high fees there.”

Which local newspapers, job boards and industry-specific portals Would you recommend as an employer in the Czech Republic?

“Mladá Fronta both nationwide and regionally is strong on the newspaper side and Metro (a free local paper) is a very cost-effective option for Brno.”

Can you recommend third party recruitment search firms which have proven to be effective in the Czech Republic?

“Our main agency partners are: May Consulting, Perspectiva, Mita Thor, Sigmar and ManMark.”

NOTE: I strongly encourage our readers to contact and thank Brian directly for his detailed and insightful information, and above all, for participating in the international Staffing Perspectives Series. Please take the opportunity today to Connect directly with Brian Janecek on LinkedIn, simply click here and insert his email: Brian.Janecek@fei.com

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