The job application is still alive

The old-fashioned application has been part of the recruitment process for almost everyone else when Danes change jobs. A new population survey made by Userneeds for IDA supports this tendency.

In this survey, 46 per cent responded that they got their latest job by applying either unsolicited or in response to a job advert. According to Morten Thiessen, chairman of the IDA Employee Council, there are good reasons for this.

“The companies are using recruitment channels that they believe provide the best spectrum of candidates, because it is expensive to recruit new employees. Especially if you don't get the right candidate. And if you need to fill out a vacancy and want to get the best possible overview of the recruitment base, it can rarely be done alone by getting headhunters to assemble a selection or by trawling LinkedIn through for potential candidates. Job postings and applications give a more complete picture of which candidates are relevant for the position,” he says.

“In the public sector, job vacancies are always posted, and the same sort of agreement can be found in the private sector. This obviously contributes to recruitment taking place through these so-called open recruitment channels,” says Morten Thiessen.

The research indicates that job changes for a total of 38 percent of the survey are helped through the so-called closed recruitment channels such as networking and headhunting.

“There is without doubt industries and niches where the straight path to a new job is through networking and headhunting. This applies not least to our own members. Last year alone, attempts were made to headhunt more than half of IDA members through their network, and the better network you have, the more offers you will probably get with new exciting career opportunities. This is also because our members have competencies in technology, IT and science. Yet this is not equivalent or implies that the open recruitment channels are no longer in action,” says Morten Thiessen.