we.CONECT: The pop in your job – you work as Tech Talent Acquisition Partner at Zalando – which tasks would you highlight as particularly interesting? What is most exciting about your role, and why are you passionate about your job?

Tomas Christodolou: The most exciting part of my role is definitely being part of the Early Careers Team within Zalando or as we call it #FutureZalent. This means I recruit working students, interns and graduates across the whole of the business from marketing to data science! Learning about new teams and job roles and finding the next superstar for them to grow is the most exciting part of my role. Zalando is the most diverse and inclusive company I have worked for so far in my career and I am passionate about being part of something bigger and making a positive impact when it comes to hiring diverse entry-level talent in Europe.

we.CONECT: You will present “60% female developers – how did the Early Zalent reach this milestone?” at Tech Rec 2022 . How would you define your approach?

Tomas Christodolou: 60% of our tech roles being female is an important milestone for the team but it’s also a necessary one. There is not one approach or one strategy that we could have put into place to achieve this. We had a multi-pronged approach which relies not only on collaboration with senior management but also developed systems to educate and train teams on how to hire more women into early careers tech roles. Market data and recruitment process analysis was also key which I will go into in more depth on the day but overall I would say our approach was a data-driven one. You need to be meticulous and analyse every step of the recruitment process to see what we can change or what we can do better to achieve the goals even if that means making mistakes along the way.

we.CONECT: What are the biggest challenges and how have you overcome them?

Tomas Christodolou: The biggest challenge has been changing mindsets! Just as the world of tech changes, so does the recruitment market. We have more women entering the market but it’s also our duty to collaborate with our partners such as Universities to help aid them in attracting more women to tech related courses. It’s incorrect to say that to have a fair recruitment process you must treat every candidate the same – a recruitment process must be about equity rather than equality. There has been so much change in how people study, what people want from employers and recruitment processes that we must ensure that everyone within the organisation shares the same growth mindset and is proactive in achieving the same goals of hiring more women into our tech roles. Although a challenge, thankfully Zalando’s culture and way of working is built around innovation and a growth mindset.

we.CONECT: Looking to the future, what topics and upcoming trends in tech recruiting do you expect in the next 12 months – what is the market development?

Tomas Christodolou: The tech market has been a little shaky lately due to a plethora of reasons but I remain extremely optimistic that the market will pick back up again as we enter 2023. From a recruitment aspect, I believe this space will get more competitive with more people than ever wanting to get into tech roles. Tech roles are well paid and we are fully into a digital age where companies need to raise the bar through great recruitment processes and marketing to attract and hire the very best in these fields. We have more women now studying tech related courses at University such as Computer Science as well as individuals utilising bootcamps and reskilling/upskilling programs like the one we have at Zalando so hopefully this means a larger pool of women within a competitive yet healthy and buoyant market. I will be talking a little about coding tests and the general tech recruitment process which I believe may be the biggest change in the market in the future with recruitment continuing to move to a more strength and potential based mantra.

we.CONECT: What are your learning expectations from Tech Rec 2022? Which topics are particularly important for you?

Tomas Christodolou: I am interested to see what other companies are doing to hire more women into tech roles as this should be a collaborative space or topic. Although, of course we will be battling over the best talent when it comes to women in tech, we should be focusing as a collective on how to make the pool bigger and what we can do better to attract, retain and hire the very best women into our organisations. I am particularly interested in data and how companies are using both market data and recruitment data to create their 2023 strategies and how the current climate may have shifted their objectives.

we.CONECT: The pop in your job – you work as Head of EMEA Hire Ahead Recruitment Team – which tasks would you highlight as particularly interesting? What is most exciting about your role, and why are you passionate about your job?

Chelsea Bain: I am incredibly excited to lead a team that partners with talent across a plethora of channels; Apprenticeships, Internships, Dual-Study, Military Veterans and Graduates. Connecting these diverse folks to exceptional opportunities with upward trajectory to launch their career paths. What excites me most is that ability to give folk with little to no prior work experience, a space in which they can genuinely be recognized for their core skills and gain positions that invest in their long-term growth.

we.CONECT: You will moderate the interactive session “Early career recruiting in tech – how to attract, develop and retain junior talent?” at Tech Rec 2022 . From your point of view and experience, what is the best approach?

Chelsea Bain: Planning is everything in Early Career hiring, if you do not know your numbers when season opens your chances of fully achieving hiring goals substantially decreases. Pair this in with increasing competition, low unemployment at point of graduation and ongoing reputational challenges – the need to identify talent and create space before graduation is a must. Through programs such as; Dual-Study, Apprenticeships and Internships, the relationship with future graduates is starting long before they actually step into the working market. Planning with intent your hiring four years from now and investing in early talent is what I consider to be the best approach to market.

we.CONECT: What are the biggest difficulties in this regard? What do you see as particularly problematic?

Chelsea Bain: Companies cannot always know what they will look like in four years, even understanding your total need for hiring in this year can be a hurdle! Adding in facets like the changing world of tech and that elements studied at University may even be outdated by the time the student graduates, and you see the divide between supply and demand widen. For Hiring Ahead strategies to work, there needs to be an upfront agreement of what percentage of attrition can be hired ahead of taking place, and an acceptance of risk that there may be areas of over hiring. Getting the right balance and appetite is an ongoing challenge and impacts planning efficacy substantially.

we.CONECT: Looking to the future, what topics and upcoming trends in tech recruiting do you expect in the next 12 months – what is the market development?

Chelsea Bain: . The next 12 months will see increased representation of Gen A, a heavily social, global and mobile workforce that will add pressures to businesses unprepared for their expectations of the work environment. Research has demonstrated Gen A will be the most diverse generation to date in every sense, and engaging and retaining this talent will require companies to move beyond diversity agendas and authentically demonstrate inclusion in all forums. This generation is Tech savvy and have grown up with coding as an elective curriculum. Though very results orientated and confident, there is a risk in the quality of work when there is lower consistency in education consumed through online resources over structured courses. The next year will call on us all to look at; flexibility of working environments, rotational programs to maintain engagement and inclusive teams prepared to hold the largest spread of generations ever.

we.CONECT: What are your learning expectations from Tech Rec 2022? Which topics are particularly important for you?

Chelsea Bain: I am keen to learn what initiatives folk are considering to maintain engagement of early talent. Any disruptive ideation, technologies or strategies that we’ve not heard before.