The job interview. It's a nerve-racking experience, often for both job seekers eager to make a good impression and employers searching for their next employee. So the professionals at Insight Search aim to remove the stress from the process to ensure a smooth transaction.
Established by Ryan Yurich and his partner, Peter Learn, a decade ago, the Sudbury-based human resources firm grew out of a passion for talking to people.
“People are nervous and timid in interviews, and what I try to do is take away all the emotion and get them to focus on what they should be doing, and that's asking what will you be doing (in the job),” Yurick said. “It's taking away the surprises for the employer and the candidate so that it's a two-way street. That's what I love to do, making it fit so it's a long-term union.”
If the company name is unfamiliar it's because its partners, who both hail from Sudbury, prefer to fly under the radar, deferring to word-of-mouth referrals over splashy advertising. But as commodity prices rise and the mining industry responds with a flurry of activity, so too does the company.
Moving its focus to mining and industrial construction, Insight is responding to client need by engaging in searches to fill a widening gap in the industry. While the company's mandate has traditionally been executive searches, more clients are requesting help filling short-term positions to meet the labour crunch.
“We're feeling the pinch because all the companies here are competing with each other, but then the problem is we're competing against the Matachewans and Detour Lakes, Saskatchewan, Alberta,” Yurich said. “Everyone is fighting for the same people and it's just who's got the best offer.”
Rather than engage in tug-of-war over the same pool of workers, Insight casts its net beyond Sudbury in the hope of attracting new people to the area. “We would rather bring people in than shuffle people around internally,” Yurich said.
But recruiting people to the North can be a challenge, because Sudbury's religious and cultural support for newcomers is meagre in comparison to that of larger centres like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, said Learn.
That's why Insight aims to work on a long-term basis with companies to establish a trusted relationship over time that allows for ongoing collaboration.
“Recruiting's a tough business up here in terms of educating the client, educating people that it's a long-term relationship,” Learn said. “If you get a recruiter on board who's a good one, they can be a value-add for the whole life of your organization.”
Part of the challenge is moving beyond the pervasive attitude that a Toronto recruiting firm can better meet the needs of a Sudbury company. While big city agencies may have representation in a number of cities across the North, they don't have the same insight into the intangibles that an employee might encounter here, Learn said.
“Somebody from Toronto, sure they can find somebody, but do they understand what it's like being here?” he questioned.
Insight boasts a low rate of falloff, which occurs when a worker placed in a job doesn't work out and a new one has to be found, and as a contingency-based agency, it doesn't charge a fee until the right candidate is hired.
Northern Ontario recruitment manager Stephanie Rondina believes that's because Insight does its due diligence, ensuring a good fit between employer and employee.
“We treat candidates as our clients too because we want to be in line with their career expectations,” she said. “Instead of it taking two weeks to fill a position, it might take six weeks, because we want it to match up at both ends.”
Yurich said the company also aims to strengthen employee retention by aiding clients in establishing policies and procedures that are palatable to workers so they remain content in their position over the long term.
