News Release
New Recruitment Summit for Francophone African Talents in Paris
June 2010
The place to be for any Francophone African talents last month was the Careers in Africa Summit in Paris, which took place 16-18 April. The reputation and success of the Careers in Africa Recruitment Summits throughout the world is unparalleled, however the launch of a new Summit was always a risky enterprise, especially in the current climate. However, the gamble taken by Global Career Company quickly paid off:
Rupert Adcock, Managing Director at Global Career Company says: “With companies starting to confirm their presence as early as last November, we knew immediately that the event would be a success. Multinationals and African companies alike were eager to meet with the talented pool of African candidates present at the Summit, to recruit and add value to their operations in Africa. They didn’t hesitate to bring in large delegations, involving Country Managers, HR Directors and Line Managers to prove they were serious about recruiting.”
Over the course of the week-end, there was no time for sightseeing, as delegates and candidates were busy attending company presentations, networking, exchanging CVs and business cards, and more importantly proceeding to scheduled and spontaneous interviews.
Over 20 companies recruited at the event, including the likes of G.E, Lafarge, Total, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Citibank, MTN, BGFI and many more. Over formal 500 interviews took place, all for opportunities in Francophone and North Africa.
The ECOWAS delegation, who interviewed over 85 candidates, was impressed by the level of expertise brought by the candidates and planned to take over 50% of them through to second stage interviews. Another great player in the African market, Orange, managed to interview candidates for 6 Francophone countries and multiple functional areas. Their HR Business Partner for Africa was very positive about the whole event: “I really enjoyed the Summit. Everything from organisation, welcome, contacts to interviews was managed professionally, efficiently and in a friendly manner. I would like to thank the Global Career Company team for such a great event!”
Sana Chakir, Recruitment Lead for Global Career Company explained: “Some candidates travelled a long way to attend the event… We were impressed by the motivation of some of them, who had to catch several flights and use various transportation modes to be there, despite the tough travel conditions that week-end. They visibly took this opportunity very seriously, which proves they are extremely determined to find their new career opportunity back in Africa.”
The Careers in Africa team is now getting ready for the next stops on its busy calendar of events: in London, New York, Johannesburg, Sao Paolo and Houston. They are also planning to renew the Paris experience next year, to help many more candidates find their dream job in Africa…