This document discusses an interview with Ernõ Dús, a personnel consultant from PSP Siklóssy & Partner Management Consulting in Hungary. Some key points from the interview: - The job recruitment market in Hungary has picked up since 2010 after declining during the economic crisis. Demand is driven by growth in the German economy. - PSP recruits for technical, sales and managerial positions. It is challenging to find suitable candidates due to a decline in quality candidates during the crisis. - Online job advertising is increasingly common but print ads still have their place, especially for higher-level positions. Candidates often do not read job postings carefully enough. - Keeping clients' interests

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Top Manager in Plenty more EU
Discussion: personnel funds in the pot
consultant Ernõ Dús “...it counts in candidates’ favour if I
Hungary has used only 16 per cent of
the European Union structural funds
which it has been earmarked in the
from PSP Siklóssy & can see that somebody has made an union’s 2007-13 planning period. This,
however, is only one percentage point
effort to get the job, for example if
Partner Management they have written a motivation
below the regional average, financial
consultancy KPMG reported last
week. Contracts have been signed for
Consulting letter tailored exactly to the a shade over half of the EUR 29.3
billion available over the period. Of the
P
vacancy in question. That is money earmarked for transport infra-
SP Siklóssy & Partner Vezetõi Tanácsadói Kft., structure development the figure is 68
the Budapest subsidiary of the Bonn-based
proof of seriousness. per cent, while in other areas, such as
energy research, the take-up has
firm Porges, Siklossy & Partner GmbH, is Unfortunately well-consid- been well below half the available
coming up to the celebration of its 20th anniver-
sary. Personnel consultant and partner Ernõ ered individual motivation sum. The government has said it aims
Dús has been part of the company almost right from the to make it easier for firms to access
start. We spoke to him about the market. letters are something of a EU cash. KPMG consultant Éva
Varnai acknowledged there had been
How is business in your anniversary year?
rarity today.” some improvements in simplifying the
application process.
The upward trend that began in 2010 continues.The market – Ernõ Dús, PSP Siklóssy & Partner
has picked up considerably, although we are still quite some
way off the peak year, 2008. In the crisis year 2009 our
Vezetõi Tanácsadói Kft. Software pirates’
turnover contracted and only began to increase in 2010.
This year we are anticipating dynamic growth again. flag flies high
What is the reason for business picking up again? The value of illegal software found on
personal computers in Hungary was
It’s mainly a result of the upturn in the German economy. Through quick filtering of candidates. I’m helped by my What else justifies your existence? about USD 131 million (EUR 92.49
That means suppliers have more orders. For us that many years of experience in the field. In the past 19 years million) and some 41 per cent of
means demand for people to fill technical and sales posi- several tens and thousands of CVs have passed through Our many years of experience and extensive market knowl- machines ran on pirated programs in
tions is growing again. However, we still have virtually no my hands. By consistently checking whether candidates edge. We are looking for managers almost permanently, 2010, Business Software Alliance
business from the construction industry and financial serv- fulfil so-called K.O. criteria such as language skills, degree rather than every few years or so. The fact that we offer (BSA), the trade group representing a
ices providers. Luckily we deliberately established our firm required, qualifications and place of residence, most of the genuine consultancy is also valued. It’s only in very rare number of the world’s largest software
on several pillars. applications can be filtered out in the first round. On the cases that the vacancy and the candidate who turns out to makers, announced last week. BSA’s
other hand it counts in candidates’ favour if I can see that be the favourite fit together exactly like two pieces of Lego. study showed that the majority of
What kind of positions does your company recruit for? somebody has made an effort to get the job, for example if With consultancy, however, it’s possible to work out an people believe that licensed software is
they have written a motivation letter tailored exactly to the optimal solution for the client. It’s important first of all to find better and safer than the pirated
We mainly deal with first- and second-level positions as vacancy in question. That is proof of seriousness. out exactly what the client’s wishes are. Once we have a versions, but many could not give an
well as specialist positions, with our focus tending to be on Unfortunately well-considered individual motivation letters rough portrait we start looking. It’s important to recognise exact definition of legal software. For
people in the second area. Occasionally for regular clients are something of a rarity today. what the key abilities are that a candidate absolutely must instance, they did not know whether one
we also look for candidates for positions at the administra- have, and what abilities they can perhaps be taught with the licence could be used for a number of
tive level as well as sales representatives and special How has the quality of CVs changed? help of further training later on. Consultancy even extends computers or whether software from
assistants. As long as there is reason for an individual to clients occasionally turning to us in confidence with file-sharing sites was legal.
search, we step in. There are more model CVs around these days and people certain management problems. Of course I’m not a coach,
What is the supply of suitable candidates like?
do actually make use of them. As a result the overall quality
is better. On the other hand I often see signs of careless-
but in my 25 years of management consultant experience I
may well have come across problems of a similar nature
Analysts get it right
It could be better. It’s not bad in terms of quantity but the
ness, again for example when things are mechanically
lifted from a CV model that have no place in the CV of the
and can suggest appropriate solutions. as base rate held
quality is increasingly poor. There’s a simple reason for candidate in question. What is the market situation like?
that: in times of crisis firms get rid of their less able The central bank’s Monetary Council
employees first. Good employees are thinking very care- decided last Monday to leave bench-
What role does the internet play when it comes to adver- On our market there are perhaps another 10 to 15 mark interest at 6 per cent, which was
fully about whether to take up the attractive-sounding offers tising positions? comparable firms. Many of our competitors have a
made by personnel consultants because they have a lot to exactly what the overwhelming majority
different profile. They offer courses, coaching, further of experts had predicted. Equilor noted
risk. I know of good people who have been unemployed for The trend is definitely in the favour of online advertising but training and temping, whereas we only deal with head-
months. Sometimes we get several hundred applications that it was the third month in a row that
print ads certainly shouldn’t be ruled out. We have been hunting. The crisis year of 2009 separated the wheat the status quo had been preserved, and
for a few vacancies but there are still few suitable people the largest jobs advertiser in the weekly economics maga- from the chaff. We now have noticeably fewer competi-
among them. It takes perseverance to find good candi- the market does not expect consider-
zine HVG for several years. Earlier we also used other tors but there is also less business around. In any case able changes in the medium term.
dates and often they need to be approached directly. large media outlets but now when it comes to print media we certainly benefit from our name being well-known
we stick almost exclusively to HVG. and our good reputation. We have to deliver a quality
What is it that candidates tend to lack?
Which are your preferred online
service every single day to ensure that remains the case. NABI may have
I could list almost all the parameters:
language skills – we have even
“I’ve even lost websites? What makes you stand out from the competition? reached end of line
observed a decline when it comes customers occasionally HVG’s Jobline and Profession.hu. Mainly our experience. We only employ people as The future of bus manufacturer NABI’s
to German –, relevant experience
and specialist skills. Sometimes who insisted on us giving the The latter is clearly thewebsites
website. The other
stronger consultants who have proven themselves in the business
world over many years. The personal experience of the
factory in Kaposvár is in doubt because
of lagging orders from overseas,
one look at a candidate’s CV is name of applicants from their haven’t worked out for us. consultant is crucial. It’s not the case that the consultants regional daily Somogyi Hírlap said last
enough to realise that they are a bring in the business and then delegate the task of finding Monday. No decision about the fate of
job-hopper. PSP, incidentally, is own company. I put my foot down What determines whether you a suitable candidate to less experienced colleagues. the plant has been reached but
a good counter-example in that advertise online or offline? They follow cases through to the end for good reason. I reduced capacity and full closure are
respect; there has been no fluc- there. Keeping such personal still read the applications for briefs that I have acquired among the options, the paper said.
tuation since we started 20 years
ago. We have only lost a few
data confidential is part of costs. It dependsaonquestion of
That’s mainly
the size of
myself because I know best who might fit a certain posi-
tion. The particulars of the candidate may not fit the
colleagues because they retired or
have gone on maternity leave.
our good reputation.” the client’s budget. We use one of
the large online websites, usually
vacancy exactly, but I know how much leeway there is
based on my personal impression of the company and
Profits up at
Is the decline in good people related at all
Profession.hu, for almost every posi-
tion. The question is whether we also
the vacancy in question. In the interests of the client I
don’t always stick rigidly to the conditions set out in the
Crédit Agricole
to the fact that many good potential candidates place an advertisement in HVG or not. Of job description, which are always an abstraction of sorts. CA-CIB, the Hungarian affiliate of the
are now working to the west of the Hungarian border? course it’s also related to the nature of the vacancy. If Life is about individuals. Often people who don’t match world’s eighth-largest retail banking
candidates are sought for first- or second-level positions, the job profile exactly can still be attractive to a company, group Crédit Agricole, recorded an
I wouldn’t say that but then we don’t have much work then there is virtually no way around HVG, not for although of course I only recommend such candidates if after-tax profit of HUF 300 million
related to healthcare. reasons of prestige but simply because general directors I’m really convinced that they offer a good solution. (EUR 1.12 million) in the first quarter
or sales directors don’t have the time to work their way of 2011, a 50 per cent increase year-
What has changed in the past 19 years? through the various online job marketplaces. They only How willing are clients to pay for your services? on-year. “The growth of our profit is
take a little time to read newspapers and magazines. I’ve slow but in the current economic state
Technically there have been big changes.While we used to come to the conclusion that good people on that level Clients have become more attuned to what our work this result is promising,” CEO Tamás
get all applications by post, now they all arrive by email. can barely be found via the internet. They have to be involves. They’ve learnt that our profession is an Molontay commented.
The classic application file with a photo has died out in approached directly or be found through HVG. absolutely normal, necessary one and comes with
Hungary. The focus of selection has also changed. At the certain costs. Simply paying a success fee is unrealistic.
beginning of the 1990s language skills were a deciding Why do companies decide to involve firms like yours
factor, whereas now it is much more about expertise. when they are seeking to recruit staff?
No consultant worth their salt would accept such a brief. Balaton towns to
In our industry it is usual for clients to pay a third of the
Although language skills in Hungary are still not available
to the extent necessary, they are now a standard require- To save time or because they deliberately want to stay in
fee when the brief is accepted, another third when the
candidates are presented and the final third when the
float own currency
ment in many vacancies. Direct search has become much the background. Filling key positions is a strategic ques- preferred candidate is employed. The last two thirds Five towns at or near Lake Balaton will
more important. tion and they may well not want other staff, clients and contain the success components. start using their own currency, the
competitors to get wind of that. Additionally when Balaton Crown, from next year. The
Are candidates getting better at applying for the right jobs? companies advertise jobs under their own name, natu- How does the future of your company look? mayor of Veszprém, Gyula Porga, said
rally they get few applications from candidates working last Monday that Balatonalmádi,
Unfortunately there’s been very little improvement there. for their competitors, although that is often precisely the We are thinking long-term. Dr. Patrick Siklossy, the son of Balatonfüred, Várpalota and
Again and again I have the impression that candidates aim. On the other hand if a company searches for candi- our owner, has already entered the business and the future Nemesvámos had all agreed to join
simply don’t read or don’t read carefully enough the job dates anonymously, then it can very well happen that a handover on the company group level is assured. the scheme. The western town of
advertisement. It has happened on a number of occa- candidate from that very same company applies. Sopron introduced its own currency,
sions recently that we received applications that had And what about the future of the industry? the Blue Franc (kék frank, a pun on the
nothing at all in common with the advertisement, or that That can also happen to candidates if a personnel name of a wine grape associated with
a candidate had applied two or three times for the same consultant is involved. Technology and jobs will certainly continue to change, the region) last year. Advocates of
posts. Of course such candidates are automatically ruled which is why we have to keep on learning. Even the best such “parallel” or “alternative” curren-
out. The internet has encouraged people to take a more Yes but at least we don’t pass on such applications. We technology, however, is no substitute for trust and experi- cies – which are springing up all over
cursory approach. Unlike with classic applications with won’t even tell our clients the names of such applicants. ence. However advanced computers are they won’t replace the world – say they help boost
an application file, for candidates today it makes no We’re very strict about that. I’ve even lost customers us any time soon. They are totally unusable for filtering economic activity by increasing
difference in terms of costs whether they send out 100 or occasionally who insisted on us giving the name of appli- candidates based on the human dimension. How can they turnover for local businesses,
1,000 applications. cants from their own company. I put my foot down there. recognise if somebody is lying? Checking references would tradesmen and producers.
Keeping such personal data confidential is part of our also cause problems for computers.
How do you handle the deluge of applications? good reputation. – Jan Mainka