Will IDays become a Monster?
23 July 2012
Read by 2275 persons
Launched by ReKrute in 2011, IDays is the only virtual recruitment fair in Morocco. While this practice is widespread in Europe and elsewhere, it still faces some resistance in Morocco. Let's take a closer look.
Candidates patiently wait their turn for interviews. At first glance, this recruitment fair is no different from any other. The difference is that these meetings take place in a virtual world where candidates and recruiters are sometimes thousands of kilometers apart. To create the IDays event in Morocco, ReKrute, an online recruitment site, partnered with Monster, a world leader in the field, outsourcing the platform's development. However, it's far from a copy-paste job, as the concept had to be adapted to the demands of more discerning Moroccan recruiters.
Instead of providing a basic platform that they could populate themselves, ReKrute customized their stands according to each company's branding guidelines. IDays lasted only three days, from November 1st to 3rd. "A successful bet, exceeding even our expectations. Many large groups were present," rejoices Alexandra Montant, Deputy General Manager of ReKrute, including OCP, Renault, Lafarge, BMCE Bank, etc. In their forecasts for this first edition, the site expected to lose money. To their pleasant surprise, they managed to break even. The second edition will be held on the same dates this year.
A challenge of innovation The project itself mobilized around forty people. On November 1st, 2011, the launch took place in a rented room for all HR managers, with IT specialists available to assist them. The platform resulted in enormous time savings; live chats are already a recruitment step, both for candidates and recruiters. For Mostapha El Obbade, General Manager of Dell, the benefit is obvious: "9,835 chats, including exchanges with potential candidates, and over 2,000 CVs received!"
Alexandra Montant explains that the idea was carefully considered through the Monster website, and the decision matured over several years. "We had to wait for the market to be ready, for it to accept this concept without resistance." Mikael Naciri, HR Director of BMCE Bank at the time of the first edition, now General Manager of the Interbank Monétique Center (CMI), agrees: "It's a winning operation; ReKrute has always brought pioneering ideas. IDays is a recruitment solution that could be a real turning point."
The concept is appealing. It's in line with web-based recruitment methods and complements traditional recruitment fairs. Souhail Houmaini, Recruitment Manager at Renault, speaks of virtual creativity that makes basic recruitment fairs and forums seem obsolete. He adds that "Renault's goal is to attract highly skilled middle-management profiles, as demanded by our sector. We also want to diversify our HR department: more young people and more women." The electronic channel is therefore exploited to the fullest. "Moreover, three days were more than enough to meet the needs of recruiters," affirms Montant. "Monster, the world leader in online recruitment, received 100,000 visitors over a full week, and IDays, the Moroccan platform, received the same number in three days," she continues. Personality tests complement the offering. HR managers and company CEOs all agree that beyond the large number of CVs collected, the visibility and media impact are perhaps even more important.
Figures and results:
1 million dirhams is what it cost ReKrute to create and promote such an event. "It's an American solution that we bought; it had to be translated, promoted, and then the clients had to be trained." And clients didn't wait: 21 out of 25 stands were sold within the first 15 days. "We had a very positive return following our participation as a Gold sponsor at the first edition: 11,165 visits to our stand, 41,786 pages related to Dell were visited," details El Obbade.
But at what cost? "The Gold stand we reserved cost us 80,000 dirhams," says Mikael Naciri. For the Renault stand, the investment was 50,000 dirhams, according to the HR director. He argues that it would be damaging not to be part of this event. Especially since, with the economic crisis in Europe and the resulting wave of immigration, IDays reported 20% of applications from outside the Kingdom, or more than 30,000 people. The platform generated an enormous influx, perhaps a little more than necessary. This is the main difficulty highlighted by recruiters, but also by the IDays team. A massive amount of data that was difficult to manage, as confirmed by Houmaini's testimony: "The CV conversion rate, even with a team working in shifts for 72 hours and after the event, proved very difficult. Because it was necessary to filter all the CVs, and the work of the funnel, in my opinion, should be done upstream." For Naciri, it was rather the chat that was demanding.
"The next edition will include virtual conferences, PowerPoint presentations from each company. We will also create Platinum and Diamond categories following client requests," explains Charlotte Lefort, Operations Director.
Expert opinion: Jamal Amrani, CEO of Jadh consulting firm
Physical forums have certain constraints due to the real world, limitations that are, conversely, strengths with the interactive and virtual: geographical distance for candidates and confidentiality. With the virtual, these two major limitations no longer exist because anyone, from anywhere, can attend an interactive online fair and apply confidentially. This is a real and undeniable strength of interactive fairs.
Regarding the viability of interactive job fairs, ReKrute succeeded in bringing together 21 large companies in the first edition. Therefore, there is no reason why this should not become a new tool for HR managers who wish to recruit, but also simply to work on their employer image. Monster, the world leader in online recruitment, has been using this solution for over 5 years and the feedback is so positive that it has developed it in all the countries where it is present. The only risk would be that the technical solutions are not up to par. The virtual is indeed a profession, and if one wants to reap all the benefits, one must work with specialists. As for the future in Morocco in times of crisis, it is debatable. What is clear, however, is that 100,000 visitors in three days is a sign that people looking for new career opportunities have adopted this tool and will continue to use it, crisis or no crisis.
Published July 1st, 2012.
Essor
Candidates patiently wait their turn for interviews. At first glance, this recruitment fair is no different from any other. The difference is that these meetings take place in a virtual world where candidates and recruiters are sometimes thousands of kilometers apart. To create the IDays event in Morocco, ReKrute, an online recruitment site, partnered with Monster, a world leader in the field, outsourcing the platform's development. However, it's far from a copy-paste job, as the concept had to be adapted to the demands of more discerning Moroccan recruiters.
Instead of providing a basic platform that they could populate themselves, ReKrute customized their stands according to each company's branding guidelines. IDays lasted only three days, from November 1st to 3rd. "A successful bet, exceeding even our expectations. Many large groups were present," rejoices Alexandra Montant, Deputy General Manager of ReKrute, including OCP, Renault, Lafarge, BMCE Bank, etc. In their forecasts for this first edition, the site expected to lose money. To their pleasant surprise, they managed to break even. The second edition will be held on the same dates this year.
A challenge of innovation The project itself mobilized around forty people. On November 1st, 2011, the launch took place in a rented room for all HR managers, with IT specialists available to assist them. The platform resulted in enormous time savings; live chats are already a recruitment step, both for candidates and recruiters. For Mostapha El Obbade, General Manager of Dell, the benefit is obvious: "9,835 chats, including exchanges with potential candidates, and over 2,000 CVs received!"
Alexandra Montant explains that the idea was carefully considered through the Monster website, and the decision matured over several years. "We had to wait for the market to be ready, for it to accept this concept without resistance." Mikael Naciri, HR Director of BMCE Bank at the time of the first edition, now General Manager of the Interbank Monétique Center (CMI), agrees: "It's a winning operation; ReKrute has always brought pioneering ideas. IDays is a recruitment solution that could be a real turning point."
The concept is appealing. It's in line with web-based recruitment methods and complements traditional recruitment fairs. Souhail Houmaini, Recruitment Manager at Renault, speaks of virtual creativity that makes basic recruitment fairs and forums seem obsolete. He adds that "Renault's goal is to attract highly skilled middle-management profiles, as demanded by our sector. We also want to diversify our HR department: more young people and more women." The electronic channel is therefore exploited to the fullest. "Moreover, three days were more than enough to meet the needs of recruiters," affirms Montant. "Monster, the world leader in online recruitment, received 100,000 visitors over a full week, and IDays, the Moroccan platform, received the same number in three days," she continues. Personality tests complement the offering. HR managers and company CEOs all agree that beyond the large number of CVs collected, the visibility and media impact are perhaps even more important.
Figures and results:
1 million dirhams is what it cost ReKrute to create and promote such an event. "It's an American solution that we bought; it had to be translated, promoted, and then the clients had to be trained." And clients didn't wait: 21 out of 25 stands were sold within the first 15 days. "We had a very positive return following our participation as a Gold sponsor at the first edition: 11,165 visits to our stand, 41,786 pages related to Dell were visited," details El Obbade.
But at what cost? "The Gold stand we reserved cost us 80,000 dirhams," says Mikael Naciri. For the Renault stand, the investment was 50,000 dirhams, according to the HR director. He argues that it would be damaging not to be part of this event. Especially since, with the economic crisis in Europe and the resulting wave of immigration, IDays reported 20% of applications from outside the Kingdom, or more than 30,000 people. The platform generated an enormous influx, perhaps a little more than necessary. This is the main difficulty highlighted by recruiters, but also by the IDays team. A massive amount of data that was difficult to manage, as confirmed by Houmaini's testimony: "The CV conversion rate, even with a team working in shifts for 72 hours and after the event, proved very difficult. Because it was necessary to filter all the CVs, and the work of the funnel, in my opinion, should be done upstream." For Naciri, it was rather the chat that was demanding.
"The next edition will include virtual conferences, PowerPoint presentations from each company. We will also create Platinum and Diamond categories following client requests," explains Charlotte Lefort, Operations Director.
Expert opinion: Jamal Amrani, CEO of Jadh consulting firm
Physical forums have certain constraints due to the real world, limitations that are, conversely, strengths with the interactive and virtual: geographical distance for candidates and confidentiality. With the virtual, these two major limitations no longer exist because anyone, from anywhere, can attend an interactive online fair and apply confidentially. This is a real and undeniable strength of interactive fairs.
Regarding the viability of interactive job fairs, ReKrute succeeded in bringing together 21 large companies in the first edition. Therefore, there is no reason why this should not become a new tool for HR managers who wish to recruit, but also simply to work on their employer image. Monster, the world leader in online recruitment, has been using this solution for over 5 years and the feedback is so positive that it has developed it in all the countries where it is present. The only risk would be that the technical solutions are not up to par. The virtual is indeed a profession, and if one wants to reap all the benefits, one must work with specialists. As for the future in Morocco in times of crisis, it is debatable. What is clear, however, is that 100,000 visitors in three days is a sign that people looking for new career opportunities have adopted this tool and will continue to use it, crisis or no crisis.
Published July 1st, 2012.
Essor
