Tarnishing The Recruitment Industry in the DACH Market

Why are companies expanding into the DACH region?

Countless SaaS companies “make it” in the US, so then decide to expand their business and join the ever-growing DACH region, and it is no wonder why.  Germany is home to the largest software market in Europe, accounting for 25% of the European market value in Software and Technology.

It is renowned as the EU economic powerhouse and has the fastest-growing G7 economy. With its Digital Hub Initiative, it invests in and strengthens international and homegrown digital start-ups.

Although the DACH region is home to some technology giants such as IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle, the large number of SMEs is driving demand for software solutions. Despite the pandemic, VC investment in the DACH start-up industry almost doubled to €2.4B ($2.9B) from Q1 to Q3 2020. It is easy to see why companies land and expand in the region. However, expanding requires getting the right people for the business, which is easier said than done.

In Oakstone International’s SaaS and Fintech executive search industry, we use platforms such as LinkedIn to carefully select, qualify, target, and approach people who would be a good fit for our clients. We’re good at what we do; however, it is becoming increasingly difficult in our industry to connect with people in the DACH region.

Good Recruiters vs. Bad recruiters

Good Executive Recruiters will use executive search methods to shortlist candidates based on their skills and experiences. They will then reach out individually to these people to see whether they are open to a conversation, most likely through LinkedIn InMail or email, depending on what information is available to them. They will then speak to the individual about the opportunity and their personal goals to see whether their and the company’s values align. Their CVs will then be put forward to the recruiter’s client if the executive recruiter thinks they are a good fit for the position.

Bad executive recruiters will create a large list of candidates populated by a generic search on a platform such as LinkedIn. Instead of qualifying this list, they will send a bulk InMail or email to these people. If they respond, they may converse with these people and then put forward their CVs to their clients. 

Why is this bad?

The talent in the DACH region is highly sought after, which means more recruiters are targeting more people.

For positions in the SaaS industry, people will receive lots of InMails from executive recruiters; however, these are not all suitable opportunities.

The issue surrounding executive search is that most executive search recruiters are not doing their job properly. Executive search involves pinpointing, searching, qualifying, and targeting people with the right skills and experience for an executive role. Bad executive recruiters will use a scattergun approach to target people with the smallest relevance to the role, most of whom are not suitable.

This lazy and unresearched way of executive recruitment is causing people to ignore or miss real career opportunities.

The recruitment industry has likely tarnished the German market – potentially irretrievably.

There’s been a barrage of UK-based recruiters using their email engines and LinkedIn Recruiter to bombard the DACH industry and all within it with generic attempts to lazily seek out people they can introduce to clients to fill roles.

Not only does bad executive search ruin it for executive recruiters working on genuinely great opportunities, but it also makes the software and technology companies looking for talent, look bad.

The SaaS and technology markets, especially in a competitive market like DACH, are all looking for great talent. Your reputation and brand are everything if you’re a SaaS or technology company or start-up. Working with a bad or even mediocre executive search firm can damage your brand and affect your ability to get great talent on board.

What should your SaaS company do?

If you want to expand into the DACH region, find yourself a great recruiter.  Qualify them extensively to ensure they can represent your company well. Understanding exactly how an executive search firm works is important, as no two companies are the same.

Ensure they don’t needlessly send LinkedIn InMails and emails to people of little relevance. 

Take the time to understand their executive search processes, the messages they send to people, and how they qualify their candidates. Use search firms that personalise messages for highly targeted roles, engage in dialogue, and build rapport with candidates.

You need to work with a recruitment firm who are an extension of your company and that you trust to represent you to potential employees.

How will executive search survive?

With the saturation of tools such as LinkedIn Recruiter, more recruiters rely on their existing networks when working on opportunities. This way of recruiting will likely continue as these candidates trust their network of recruiters.

Their precise hiring strategies will continue to produce results.

For recruiters who use less targeted, scattergun approaches, their personal and company reputations are likely to suffer and their ability to conduct quality executive searches will be impossible due to non-existent response rates from potential candidates.

DACH companies and external recruiters need to collaborate to produce a quality, highly effective, and results-driven executive search.

 

Why you should work with Oakstone International

Oakstone International conducts targeted, personalised, and efficient executive searches to ensure candidates and clients have the best possible executive search experience.  Thankfully, our long-standing network and ability to build relationships help us navigate this issue. We never approach candidates who we haven’t initially qualified based on their experience and that we don’t fully believe are a potential fit for the roles we are working on.

For SaaS and Technology companies, choosing the right recruitment partner is the only way to reverse the damage bad recruiters have had on the DACH region.