Blue Recruiting directors Graeme Marais and James Hobson talk about their latest offering: CAs Online.
Tell us in brief about Blue Recruiting, how you work and what makes you different from other recruitment businesses.
“Blue Recruiting is a specialist financial recruitment company aligned with one of the Big Four, with a specific focus on recruiting chartered accountants at all stages of their careers. Blue Recruiting is a market leader in introducing technology into an industry where little innovation has previously existed. On 3 October, at the Finance Indaba, we are launching our latest offering, a digital platform called CAs Online. It is an online market place for the hiring of newly qualified CAs.”
Pictured above: Graeme Marais
What is CAs Online and how does it work?
“CAs Online is an online candidate catalogue that Blue Recruiting has developed to streamline the hiring of young CAs. It is our vision that CAs Online will become the digital marketplace for all potential employers to hire recently qualified CAs in South Africa.”
“How it works is simple: registered employers upload a job for a newly qualified CA onto their company profile on the CAs Online platform, free of charge. Our catalogue of hundreds of third-year article clerks who are seeking employment are then notified of the details of the job, via email and WhatsApp. These candidates are then able to assess all aspects of the opportunity online (industry, job function, distance from home, etc.) and either opt in or decline the opportunity. Once a candidate has opted in, his or her profile then becomes visible to the employer, who is able to filter these applicants, view their CVs and watch their introductory video interviews (which aim to give the employer a sense of the personality behind the CV). The shortlisted profiles can be forwarded to other decision-makers in the business for their review and approval. The CAs Online team will help set up interviews for the candidates that clients would like to meet, while unsuccessful candidates are notified automatically.”
Pictured above: James Hobson
What value does your organisation offer to those in the finance profession?
“CAs Online provides a perfect platform for companies looking for young chartered accountants. Some of the benefits include:
- Employers have access to a wide selection of newly qualified CAs, ensuring they can reach the best candidates in the market.
- Each candidate profile includes a short introductory video, which allows employers to assess a candidate’s “fit” before the first interview.
- Candidates are verified, while specific filters allow for refined and targeted searches to find only suitable candidates matching the company’s requirements.
- This offering comes at a fraction of the price of normal recruitment fees.
“From a young CA’s perspective, finding employment after articles is daunting. CAs Online simplifies this process for candidates. Through our platform, they are exposed to a greater number of opportunities while providing them with the transparency that is seldomly seen in the industry.”
Please share your thoughts on the company’s role regarding talent and talent management in today’s ever-changing business environment.
“Our aim is to be at the forefront of innovation in recruitment. A century ago, paper CVs were submitted to potential employers. Today, very little has changed in the process, except that candidates now email their CVs as opposed to delivering them by hand.”
“We believe that massive opportunity lies in using technology to make recruiting simpler, quicker, more cost effective and more targeted for our clients.”
“Through introducing video interview technology over the past year, we have already changed the way that our clients hire their staff, and we will continue to implement ways to improve our services offering going forward.”
Why did you decide to partner with the Finance Indaba and what are your expectations of the event?
“The Finance Indaba attracts finance professionals who have discomfort with the inefficiency of the status quo. They are link-minded in that they are inspired by peers and companies of a similar mind-set to strive to be better and find solutions to these inefficiencies, whether technological or institutional. We believe that these are the early adopters who are going to realise the value that CAs Online offers. Through our exposure at The Finance Indaba we hope that potential clients will realise that we provide the most logical and efficient recruitment offering currently on the market. It is our vision that these finance professionals will realise that the earlier they adopt, the better the calibre of newly qualified CAs they will attract. Never has it been truer that the early bird catches the worm.”
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