Talent Acquisition Job Swap

One of the greatest things about working for a global organization is working with teams in different regions – and two of my colleagues in Talent Acquisition are about to take this to a new level by swapping roles, and locations, for three months. The Life at SAP team will be following them both to see how the swap is going, and I caught up with them to find out more.

Simon Avinash and Vasilios Nicolaides are Talent Acquisition Managers and manage teams of geographically dispersed recruiters for the Products & Innovation areas of SAP. Simon is based in India and Vasili is based in Germany. For three months each will assume the responsibility of the other, including team management. So how did this swap come about?

Simon: “In one of our regional meetings we were discussing challenges of each Region/Market Unit and the dynamics and that’s when we were thinking on the lines of having exposure in other regions”.

Vasili: “The opportunity presented itself! We then discussed it with our boss, got the necessary approvals in place and that was it!”

Simon: “Apart from my visa procedure, that bit was the lengthy bit!”

So, now the approvals are done, and the flights booked, how are you feeling about the opportunity?

Vasili: “I am very excited, and very curious. I am looking forward to getting to know Simon’s team across the Asia Pacific and Japan region and understand local processes. It’s a great way to get to know the local talent markets first hand as well”.

Simon: “I’m excited and curious too, and a little nervous at the same time. I have never worked outside of this region, but I am looking forward to seeing what best practices I can take back with me. Overall, I am really looking forward to the challenge”.

So, what are you most looking forward to?

Vasili: “Everything! I have never been to South East Asia before, so that itself will be an experience. On a professional level I am looking forward to working more closely with colleagues in the region. I have interacted with some of them on global projects, but this swap will give me the opportunity to dig deeper and really understand their challenges”.

Simon: “I am looking forward to experiencing a new type of hiring challenge. In my region we have high populations and whilst some roles are harder to fill than others, it can be done. In Vasili’s region they have challenges to find and hire niche skills, so this is quite different. I am also looking forward to experiencing how topics like hiring manager and candidate experience are approached in EMEA. Hopefully I can take lots of knowledge back to share with my team after this experience”.

Thanks to both of you – we look forward to following your journeys on the #LifeatSAP social pages soon ?