IT recruitment in the Czech Republic

Could you give us a general overview of the IT recruitment market in the Czech Republic?
At the moment, it´s very much a supplier´s, i.e. a jobseeker´s, market. Demand is outstripping supply, in particular amongst candidates with more than one foreign language or experience of working abroad, or those with a combination of desirable skills such as Java and C++. Companies are no longer able to make do with the current headcount levels and are having to become more desirable as career vehicles and more aggressive/imaginative in their sourcing techniques

Are IT companies changing their recruitment methods or recruiting different people?
Take a look at an industry or company, and you´ll see that how it behaves and performs in business is generally reflected in its recruitment activity. Dynamic, imaginative, knowledge-driven and thought leading companies are enjoying the benefits of an intelligent recruitment strategy. It is no longer acceptable to stick a badly-written job description in the local weekly newspaper. Companies who treat recruitment as a distracting cost sector provide a rich source of candidates for our clients, who see the value of an intimate long-term partnership with their recruitment partner. The recently published book Put Your Mindset to Work, co-authored by our Chairman, James Reed, explores how companies who choose mindset over skillset when recruiting their future leaders and workers, have a distinct advantage over the CV keyword matchers.

What opportunities are there for expats in this sector?
Contrary to popular belief, the number of expat opportunities is at its highest level ever, and continues to grow. If we redefine the way we think of an expat, from an overqualified, middle-aged, head office ambassador, and include the young, mobile, highly intelligent and highly qualified army of foreign nationals who are looking to make Prague home for a few years or the foreseeable future, it is fair to say that such an expat can easily find employment here.

How strong is the competition?
Thankfully, for Reed, the competition is real, strong, and getting stronger as other companies follow our lead in providing total Recruitment Process Outsourcing solutions. When we entered the market, we found that our clients´ expectations of the levels of service and caliber of candidates were defined by the existing recruitment companies here, so in essence our task became to show these companies that they could dare to dream of an effective profitable recruitment partnership.

At what level are HR companies recruiting?
The demand for HR specialists is strong and encouraging recruitment companies to provide ancillary benefits such as regular training, a transparent Career Development Framework, overseas postings, and an enjoyable working environment. All of which are core to a career at Reed. Although we will recruit at a senior level to fulfill a strategic goal, we prefer to select the best graduates from the finance, IT and business disciplines and enroll them on our 3- year CIPD accredited training schedule.

What level of Czech is required?
Reed were the first company in the region to establish a dedicated MSS (multilingual shared services) practice, reacting to the real need to hire candidates fluent in a language other than Czech. This division now accounts for over 60% of Reed´s revenue within Europe. Prague is a very forgiving city for a foreigner, although our consultants would expect a reasonable explanation as to why a candidate has not made rudimentary progress in the language of the country they have made their home.