Meet the Recruiter - Salim Hansen

Categorie: Meet the Team

We have shared a lot with you about our company, our events, the Netherlands as a country and their traditions. We feel like it is high time you got acquainted with some of our colleagues. This blog will give you more insight into the life of a recruiter, the challenges they face, their most memorable moments and their guilty pleasures. This week we will introduce our Utrecht recruiter, Salim Hansen. Enjoy!

1. How did you end up in recruitment?

I started as a candidate in 2017, landing a job through Undutchables. After covid, like many others, I was again on the search for a new opportunity. I was recommended by a friend to apply for an open recruiter position at the Den Haag branch. I had a wonderful first call with Katja and then an unforgettable 2nd interview with Nick and Rodrigo. We instantly connected through our humor and candidness. I was always urged to be myself and I’ve been doing that for almost two years now - being myself and taking advantage of the opportunity to help others the way Undutchables helped me during my first year in a new country.

2. What are the most/least enjoyable aspects of recruiting?

The most enjoyable part would be when a candidate is accepted for a new vacancy, and when it all works out later on, when both candidate and client develop a mutual, healthy and pleasant working relationship. The opposite is naturally the worst part of recruitment. Letting down those with such zeal and fervor to work is often equally heartbreaking. Assuming the candidates’ point of view in this situation can be disturbing, but more often than not it helps you to keep their zeal going for the next opportunity.

3. What is the biggest challenge of the job?

Finding the correct match can sometimes be due to luck, but more often than not requires attentiveness, patience, and effort from a recruiter. This can be challenging as we struggle with various challenges both work related and not. Searching for and finding the correct candidate takes from the mental reserves at whatever level they are at on any given day. Keeping those reserves sharp for the job is challenging.

4. What has been your most memorable moment in the job?

My first placement at the Utrecht office seemed impossible to me. The requirements were the most challenging part, the distance and the language skills requested all made it seem like a herculean feat. To my surprise, a deep search landed me the perfect candidate in one shot. This is my favorite placement until now.

5.What do you think is key for a successful recruiting process?

Compassion. Recruiters are often thought of as being result driven. But the entire process, from beginning to end requires compassion. Compassion to understand someone’s situation, their vulnerability, their need for a new opportunity, creates a deeper sense of urgency in your mind. You begin to care about landing the placement, not for reports at the end of the quarter, but for the candidate you’re fighting for.

6. If you were to have a job outside an office environment, what would be your dream job?

I would be a nature photographer. I would travel to remote locations, or just new ones, and capture moments most people go their entire lives without seeing.

7. What's your guilty pleasure?

Staying up late, even when you know you need to be fresh in the morning. There’s something about being awake when everyone is asleep that I can’t get enough of. (Until I fall asleep)

Quickfire questions

Q: Coffee or tea

A: Coffee

Q: Sun or snow?

A: Snow

Q: Are you a morning or a night person?

A: Night

Q: If you could go any where in the world where would you go and why?

A: Venice, it’s still my favorite place on earth. The rivers, no cars, the different chances to discover something new.