During the corona period, experienced Executive Assistant Lisa Derycke decided to take up a new challenge as Coordinator within the international consulting company where she had already been working for more than 6 years. When that job did not live up to her expectations and she was unable to return to her previous or a similar role, she went looking outside the company for a new job. Her second application was a hit! Lisa explains us how her search went.
A coincidental contact via LinkedIn
As you often find vacancies on LinkedIn that do not appear anywhere else, that was my starting point. By chance, I found an Arcadius vacancy for an Executive Assistant. The description and the list of tasks matched very closely what I was looking for. Arcadius itself I only knew by name. With other offices, I often had the impression that I was just one more person on their list. Nevertheless, I tried my luck and sent in my application. Kristel contacted me very quickly.
“Usually job interviews are a stiff, static affair with standard questions and your previous jobs as the only point of interest. Kristel, on the other hand, was genuinely curious about who I was and what exactly I was looking for in a job. She paid a lot of attention to my wishes and looked at everything from the candidate’s point of view.” says Lisa.
A unique job interview
My first telephone conversation with Kristel was very pleasant and immediately made me feel very comfortable. She directly saw what kind of person I was and enquired in depth about what environment and what kind of tasks I was looking for. She was genuinely curious about why I was making the switch and paid a lot of attention to my wishes. It was a really pleasant and positive conversation that made me curious about more. Kristel immediately gave further details about the company, the position and the next steps of the selection process. Even some more challenging topics such as the distance between my home and future workplace were mentioned and discussed. I greatly appreciated this honesty and openness. I liked being able to share my concerns and curiosity with an intermediary during the selection process. It is very comforting not to have to interact directly with your possible future employer. Kristel always provided quick answers and never left you in the dark.
A sincere and personal follow-up
Because I had such a good connection with her during the first interview, Kristel quickly moved on and introduced me as a candidate.ย The first interview with the team manager went very well. I was enthusiastic about the company and the job. Unfortunately, there was no match from either side during the second interview with the person I was supposed to be assisting. When I got in touch with Kristel later that day, everything suddenly turned around again. She was already very well informed about a possible alternative and similar role for 2 other executives of the same company. She was also immediately able to give me a lot of specific information, which reassured me enormously. Not long after, a Zoom meeting followed and this time the match was there. In the meantime, I have started the job!
Are you, like Lisa, looking for a partner to find your dream job and would you like to discover what Arcadius can do for you? Surf to our websiteย for more information.
Or are you looking for administrative support that perfectly fits your team or company? For more than 25 years Arcadius is the specialist in selecting and recruiting multilingual assistants and management support professionals.ย Discover hereย how we search for your #perfectmatch or contact our team via +32 2 709 72 71.
