How do you recruit the right people when 70,000 applications become a new challenge, Elisabeth Krims?
In this podcast episode, I speak to Elisabeth Krims, Head of Recruitment and HR Marketing at Wiener Linien. Elisabeth has been working in recruitment and HR marketing for more than 15 years and is familiar with both sides of the coin: she spent eleven years at Wiener Stadtwerke before moving to Wiener Linien, bringing her even closer to the core operational business.
And there, the world of recruitment has changed dramatically. A few years ago, the main challenge was simply finding enough people. Today, Wiener Linien receives an enormous volume of applications – around 70,000 a year. This raises a completely new question: how do you efficiently find the right people whilst ensuring that applicants feel valued?
A quote from Elisabeth sums up very well, in my view, the direction in which recruitment should be heading:
“My hope for the future of recruitment is that the CV won’t actually be what we’re looking for.”
Among other things, we discussed the following topics:
🌊 From staff shortages to a tsunami of applications
More applications don’t automatically make recruiting easier: when hundreds of applications for a single role come in within a very short space of time, intelligent pre-screening, efficient processes and the ability to recognise potential become crucial.
🎥 How video makes high-volume recruitment more human
Wiener Linien uses videos at various stages of the candidate journey – from personalised rejection messages and explanations of medical examinations to pre-recorded video interviews, which allow recruiters to get to know more people beyond what’s on their CVs.
🤖 AI, skills and the future of recruitment
Wiener Linien is trialling AI-supported pre-screening, whilst the final decision remains with a human – at the same time, Elisabeth envisions a recruitment world in which skills, potential and personal fit become more important than traditional CVs.
🔗 Further links
Elisabeth Krims on LinkedIn
Wiener Linien careers page
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