For many people, the start of a new year also comes hand-in-hand with a new job. What can Allianz offer these individuals who are looking for a change?
Christian Finckh: A lot of people are attaching increasing importance to being able to combine their professional activity with the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to society. Allianz does a particularly good job of meeting these expectations. After all, without insurance cover, it would be very difficult for individuals, companies and even countries to bear risk. Anyone who finds this motivating can help us to build the strongest financial community in an international environment. We operate in more than 70 countries. Our 147,000 employees assume responsibility for more than 80 million customers. One of the major challenges for our future lies in increasing digitalization. So we're looking for candidates who are passionate about actively shaping change. And the most important thing: we've got the jobs! Every month, around 1,000 to 1,400 vacancies are available in our global job market.
What initiatives are you launching to make Allianz' online job postings more accessible to applicants?
HR decisions are not a one-way street. When it comes to the process of selecting employees, it should not just be about the candidate communicating to the company. We need communication the other way round, too. It's important that we paint an authentic picture for potential applicants regarding the position, the environment and the Allianz Group as a whole in its role as employer. So making sure that the candidate and the company are a good fit not just in terms of professional skills, but also - most importantly - in terms of personal and cultural aspects plays a key role. The company and the candidate have to be a match for each other. We use various different tools to help applicants choose their employer. The digital space offers various self-selection opportunities for aspiring employees. One good example is our collection of 110 employee videos, which give external applicants an idea of what their potential colleagues are like. Candidates can also answer targeted questions to find out which job profile they are best suited to.
What opportunities does the future hold in terms of approaching potential applicants even more effectively? After all, today's job applications are still pretty similar to the conventional printed ones. What will a purely electronic application look like in 5 years' time?
The focus of the recruitment process will continue to shift over the next few years - away from technical criteria and existing qualifications and towards soft skills and development potential. This will make applications much more streamlined. In October 2013, we established a completely new form of online application: mobile application via smartphone or tablet. For certain jobs, applicants now only need to provide three pieces of information: a telephone number, professional experience and relevant education and training. There is no need to upload documents like covering letters or testimonials in the first instance. We contact the applicant directly by telephone and decide on the next steps on a case-by-case basis.
