About a year and a half ago, when Dirk Fischer began to doubt whether his work for an automotive supplier in Bremen would still make him happy, a friend of his gave him some advice.
"'Barghorn', he said to me, 'take a look at them, they're always looking.'" Fischer first had to go to the company website to find out what the medium-sized 100-man machine and metal construction company in the Wesermarsch actually did exactly made.
He got stuck on the company's careers page.
No wonder.
Because what Barghorn offers there is guaranteed to attract attention.
The complete application process is reversed;
the company applies to potential candidates.
If you are interested, leave no more than your name and contact details;
it is also possible to write a short comment in a free text field.
A complete application folder can then be downloaded;
an application by the company to the employee, mind you.
Nadine Bos
Editor in business, responsible for "Career and Opportunity".
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"When we were looking for people who support us in our actions and work, we noticed you.
And that's why we're applying to you as an employer," says the cover letter.
This is followed by a "curriculum vitae" of the company from its founding in 1941 to the "planned expansion" of the workforce by the applicant.
Company events and further training are listed under "Interests and Hobbies".
Further back in the folder, potential employees find out details about the Wesermarsch region, right down to tongue-in-cheek reference to the 17,000 sheep that the area has to offer.
The fact that the labor market has turned from an “employer market” to a “candidate market” has been talked about for years.
Reference is then made above all to demographic change;
the baby boomer generation is retiring and there are fewer and fewer young professionals to follow.
When it comes to companies like Barghorn, there is often the need for academization and young people's lack of desire for apprenticeships, which increases the need for staff.
In 2020, for the first time since records began in 1977, fewer than 500,000 new trainees began dual vocational training throughout Germany.
With a decline of 6.5 percent compared to the previous year, trade was even less affected than industry and trade.
More demanding applicants
“Nowadays the boss has to apply to the candidate” – this wisdom has long been a thing of the past in HR manager circles.
However, experts such as Henner Knabenreich find that it is quite rare for someone to take it as literally as Gunnar Barghorn, the owner of the company of the same name.
Knabenreich has been advising companies on digital personnel marketing for years, and in the current Corona period he is feeling a significant increase in demand for his service.
"Many people realized during Corona that they don't want to continue working like this," he says.
Some would even have resigned without having a new job up their sleeve.
"My impression is that people are increasingly questioning the purpose of their job and what the new potential employer is doing to ensure that I can pursue this purpose with them."
For Dirk Fischer, these questions were gradually answered in the reverse application process.
After leaving his contact on the Internet, his phone rang in the afternoon, and it was Gunnar Barghorn, his current boss.
"We chatted briefly and he tapped: Who am I?
And then he said, 'Would you like some coffee?'
Two days later I stopped by for a coffee.” During this meeting, which lasted at least two hours, he didn't have the feeling that he was in an applicant situation.
“It was a conversation to get to know me as a person.
Gunnar actually introduced me to more about the company than he got in the way of information from me.” That's exactly how it's intended.
"It's like coming to visit," Barghorn explains his concept.
"It's not your typical job interview situation, which always has a bit of stiffness to it.
It's more like: Come around, I'll show you everything and we'll chat.
This relaxed atmosphere is very important to me.”