VANDOS at Vlerick Career Skills

In September, VANDOS was invited by Vlerick Business School to participate in the Career Skills Seminars.

Our consultants met with bright and talented Master programmes students for one-on-one coaching sessions in the Brussels and Leuven campuses. They conducted mock interviews and provided the students with actionable tips and tricks on how to prepare for and ace their future job applications.

We are looking forward to furthering the pleasant collaboration with Vlerick Business School in challenging future leaders to live their dreams, learn continuously and take the leap with confidence.

What students said

“Thank you for the valuable feedback during our conversation today! The mock interview and insights on my resume have greatly helped me improve my job application skills!” – Frederik de Groene

“I enjoyed our conversation.” – Ling Gemoets

“Placide, it was a pleasure meeting you during the Vlerick mock interview. I found our conversation very valuable, and I want to thank you for the insights.” – Pieter-Jan Geeraerts

“Placide, thank you for your support.” – Annelien Feys

“Thank you again for the pleasant conversation ! I learnt so many things !.” – Victor Ernst

Prepare for your interview with the help of a recruitment expert

INTERVIEW COACHING

It’s Time for a New Challenge

Most of the professionals we talk to want to be learn and grow. They seek opportunities that are challenging where they can increase their knowledge and experience.

So what happens when you have been in the same role for 3 or 4 years (or longer), and have a feeling that you are not getting to use your strenghts everyday?

Here’s what Whitney Johnson, author of Disrupt Yourself, advises for professionals:

  1. Realise that you are bored, because you are no longer learning. You are at the top of the S-curve. You’ve mastered your domain and are in need of something new. If you stay in that comfort zone, you stop growing and get complacent and that is a huge danger zone.
  2. It’s time for you to jump to a new S-curve. You know it and you need it. Disrupt yourself and be very proactive so that you are in control of the situation. If you love your current employer, identify a problem that the organisation needs to address and offer to help solve it. Explain how in the long-run this will benefit the organisation and then commit to train your successor so that there’s no interruption in business.

For leaders and managers seeking to retain top talent:

If you want to keep high-performers motivated, you need to allow them to jump or even push them to new S-curves. The risk is that, if they are bored, they will leave your company. Or they will stay, disengage and become complacent.

Read more:

Case: Citrosuco Europe

Citrosuco is a Brazilian company that cultivates, produces and delivers 40% of all orange juice produced in the world. The multinational employs 5.500 people in Brazil, the USA, Belgium, Japan, Australia, Austria and China. 

Eva De Pelseneer is the HR Responsible at Citrosuco Europe NV in Ghent, Belgium.

How did you hear about VANDOS?
Eva: “I heard about VANDOS by word of mouth. A friend recommended your services.”

Which challenges were you facing before working with VANDOS?
Eva: “Within our HR department, we needed support for the recruitment of different profiles, administrative support and assistance in payroll.”

What specific results did our VANDOS consultants help you achieve?
Eva: “VANDOS connected us with Marie, an experienced HR freelancer, first to focus on talent acquisition. This included sourcing and screening for open vacancies, collaborating with various interim staffing agencies. In addition she initiated actions in order to find difficult profiles. Afterwards Marie also helped us with administrative and payroll tasks.”

How did you experience your collaboration with VANDOS?
Eva: “VANDOS delivered a qualitative and professional service. Their consultants were hands on, reliable and professional. We were very satisfied and would certainly recommend them.”

Ready to be a Freelancer?

Post-pandemic, many professionals are opting to be self-employed for the many benefits that freelancing offers:

  • Freedom to choose projects and coworkers
  • More high-quality, intellectually challenging work for their clients
  • Efficiently spending time on client’s work and not on office politics
  • Financial gains and reduced pay gaps

Independent consulting requires not only the right level of experience to become a credible and trusted advisor, but also the right mindset to deal with the challenges of uncertainty.

Research found that most satisfied and successful independent consultants have cultivated three capabilities to deal with the unique challenges of working in the gig economy:

  • Proactivity
  • Psychological resilience
  • Mental agility

Read more: Are You Ready to Go Freelance

How CTOs Attract Top Engineers

Engineering and R&D firms face a long-term battle for talent. A recent study by Bain & Company discusses how successful companies are transforming engineering roles to attract and retain top talent.

73% of engineering & R&D companies report talent gaps.

To win the war for engineering talent CTO of leading companies are tapping into new talent pools:

  • ALUMNI: 50% of surveyed alumni said they were willing to return if their former employer significantly improved the work environment
  • GRADUATES: Partnerships with universities allow leading companies to seek out young talent
  • FREELANCERS: Gig workers can help fill talent gaps, especially in IT and digital engineering roles

To attract talent, hiring managers should also provide career path transparency. The researchers found that shortening the promotion cycle helps to secure young and midcareer employees. Engineers want to understand what it takes to earn a promotion.

Full report: Engineering and R&D Report 2023: innovation, talent and the quest to create value – Bain & Company, April 2023