Product Feature:
Reverse Recruitment

The standard process of executive search begins with a need on a client's part, and through a comprehensive process, the right candidate is found for the client. Reverse Recruitment, on the other hand, is an exercise in proactivity, finding a candidate whom John Clements clients may find suitable for their operations.

This service was first offered in the mid-90s. "It was a time when we were getting inquiries from Filipinos living outside the country who wanted to come back to the Philippines," says Mario Biscocho, Vice President and Managing Director of the Executive Search and Selection Division (ESSD). "We also received resumés from locally based professionals, and these were very good candidates. Unfortunately, we didn't have the readily available openings for them." Faced with an abundant supply but with little demand, John Clements then thought of ways to tap these talents besides waiting for positions to open up.

First, John Clements examined what the candidates had in common. "We noticed that most of them were high flyers, and were either educated in the U.S. or had been working there for a while. The local candidates were also very qualified and experienced in their own right, and we saw that we had some of the best resumés in our inventory," continues Mr. Biscocho.

"We then identified which among the clients of John Clements may or may not need these candidates, and we started farming out the blind resumes of these clients," Mr. Biscocho recounts. “The aim here was to whet the appetite of our clients, because the availability of a highly qualified candidate might trigger a demand in a company. It may also expedite a need for a professional executive. A company may be contemplating on filling a certain position a few months to a year down the road, but if the right talent becomes available today, the company might move up its timetable.”

The full potential of Reverse Recruitment remains to be unleashed. Given the successes that it has gained from John Clements’s clients across different industries, however, Reverse Recruitment has exhibited that it can be a worthwhile product of John Clements Consultants, Inc.

Today, many highly qualified Filipinos living abroad are just waiting for the right offer to convince them to return home and build a successful professional life in the Philippines. Through Reverse Recruitment, John Clements can circulate their resumés among the clients who may need them the most. These days, 11the call center or BPO industry holds the most promise for those who want to return. In this industry, Reverse Recruitment should prove to be a valuable tool for them to fill management openings brought about by the tremendous growth that offshore outsourcing is currently experiencing.