Building Your Professional Future: Some Tips from Hays Italia

Professor Antonella Salvatore hosted Hays Italia representatives Valerio Tabascio and Pasqualina Lepore in her class Professional Skills for Career Development on Friday, November 3. A multinational HR company with 239 offices all over the world, Hays’ core business is to find job opportunities for candidates and match companies’ needs with potential employees. Hays’ consultants advise candidates not only on available positions but also on the best working environment based on their skills and personality.

Hays Italia

Candidates who want to use Hays’ services are included in the company database and put in contact with firms operating in different industries in Italy as well as abroad. Each Hays consultant specializes in a specific field and target segment.

Tabascio and Lepore explained how important it is to meet with client company representatives before opening a job search; Hays needs to know which profiles the client company might need, in terms of both soft and technical skills. After acquiring this information, Hays opens the search for potential candidates, using its databases and sharing the position on its website. At this point, when they start receiving applications, they have to understand if there is a match between candidates and companies’ expectations. Once they have a shortlist of candidates, they send it to their client company and arrange the interviews.

Both Tabascio and Lepore strongly encouraged students to highlight their soft skills during job interviews, as these are fundamental to finding the best internship or job opportunity for their profile. They also emphasized that candidates should always look at the “big picture” when they apply for a position, and that they should read the job descriptions carefully.

According to the Hays representatives, one of the most important elements to building a career is self-understanding. Candidates need to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, in order to make it easier to find the best career solution for their needs.