If we were to give her a totem, it would probably be inquisitive jump-in-the-field. Lien is one of the youngest recruiters in the IMPACT team, ready with a smile every day to look for a suitable job for her candidates. A job that sometimes lies outside the original expectations, but often turns out to be a hit.

Social contact and helping people: it is a common thread in the studies and preliminary career of twenty-something Lien. After obtaining her Master’s degree in Social Work and Social Policy, she decided to become a supervisor of students with learning disabilities. A noble work, but also the hr sector and recruitment always appealed to her, as it plays a central role in every company. Lien started, during the first corona wave, as a recruiter at IMPACT.

That job means a tightly packed agenda every time. “One part of the week I spend looking for suitable candidates in our database or via job sites, the other part is for both interviewing and following up candidates, as well as the administrative part. It is a very varied job where good planning is important. You are working non-stop with different vacancies, different candidates and different clients.”

Lien does so each time with her trademark smile. “I am a very loose and enthusiastic person, an open book. You will always see me adopt a professional, but rarely a strict or serious attitude. I find that necessary: as a candidate, you always have some stress before an interview anyway. I take the time to listen to you, laugh a lot, make a joke now and then and put you at ease. I feel that candidates immediately loosen up, feel at ease and are themselves. I would like that myself if the roles were reversed.”

A good relationship starts from the very first conversation. But how do you build it further? “It is crucial to adapt to the candidate sitting in front of you. Sometimes people don’t want to talk about certain things or have some absolute requirements: then you shouldn’t push either. I want to help you as a candidate, not just get the vacancy filled. I do radiate that personal aspect and candidates feel that, so they quickly have the necessary trust in me. When they have found a job, I regularly send another message to check how things are going.”

But isn’t that sometimes easier said than done? “It’s definitely a tough challenge, precisely because you actually have to constantly adapt yourself. After a certain amount of time you do know fairly quickly who could fit in well at company X or who meets the requirements of vacancy Y excellently, but you still have a new goal every day with new people who have their own character and questions. Admittedly, those aren’t always the easiest questions, but I like that. I’m curious to look for the answer or the job that meets it.”

Because of IMPACT’s specific focus, Lien primarily coaches technical and construction experts. Two sectors that require specific knowledge. “It’s certainly not obvious to know all those terms. From day one, I started diving into all kinds of professional profiles: what exactly do they do, where are they mainly deployed? That aside, I always ask experienced specialists what exactly they are doing. This way I learn every day, I can delve deeper into it and offer the necessary expertise to the candidates.”

That sector knowledge remains a matter of complementing each other. “Don’t underestimate how quickly the technical and construction worlds change as well. And you shouldn’t be silly: of course an electrical engineer can talk me under the table when it comes to specific designations of all kinds of electronics, for example. I let them tell their story and pick it up: you have to be able to follow to a certain level, but candidates also appreciate that we don’t pretend to know more about it than they do. That’s only logical: we would be welders, bricklayers and electricians ourselves. We let them feel that they are the real experts in their trade, we show them that we are specialists in ours: finding them a job tailored to their needs.”

Lien almost always succeeds at that. “As a specialist, you can be sure that after our interview we will do everything we can to find a job that meets your needs. When candidates are open to it, I also dare to propose a totally different job to them based on their qualities, because I’m genuinely convinced it’s a good match. This takes some convincing, but I have already been able to give many candidates a push for a job they would never have chosen themselves and through which they get to know new aspects of themselves. They often find this surprising, but they are immensely grateful for it because it effectively turns out to be a good match.”

So helping a punishing construction or engineering specialist also requires creativity. “True. That outside-the-box thinking is one of my strengths. An example? I had a master’s student in front of me who had just graduated, but couldn’t find a job because of corona. I then started a thorough search for him and suggested a job as an operator (with the necessary advancement opportunities). He hesitated, because his degree was higher than the requirements. A big step, but he decided to give it a try. In no time, he was able to work as an engineer anyway. He was so grateful, which is a great feeling.”

“By being there for the candidates and offering them opportunities they would never have thought of on their own. By offering a way out to a candidate who really can’t find a job. By being demanding of myself and constantly hungry to learn. And by being myself: a loose jumper who reassures people and makes the search for a new job just that little bit more enjoyable.”