Recruitment and selection at the IMT

The applicant market and its challenges

The fact that the labor market is increasingly competitive and it is difficult to find the best talents is not a new condition and so we had to draw the right conclusions in the past to set the course for sustainable growth. The fact that the management took the important step of opening a branch office in Schwerzenbach (ZH) in addition to our headquarters in Buchs (SG) enabled us to attract qualified professionals in the Zurich area to IMT. We focus on engineers (FH/Uni) in the fields of software, mechanics, electronics, or control engineering (see IMT's career page). In order to ensure our qualitative growth, we are present on the job market all year round.

Furthermore, since we want to make an important contribution to the future skilled workforce in Switzerland, we train apprentices in the fields of electronics and IT at our main location in Buchs (SG). Depending on the possibility, we give apprenticeship graduates the opportunity to stay with IMT and accompany them in their further career steps.

In addition to classic job advertisements on selected job portals and visits to the contact exchanges of regional universities of applied sciences, we also maintain close cooperation with selected professional personnel partners. Our personnel recruitment measures are rounded off by supporting existing employees, who benefit from our “employees recruit employees” offer.

The requirements of our applicants have changed in recent years. In addition to the desire for exciting development projects in their daily work or their own professional development, there is also the desire for more flexible working hours, health promotion measures, and possible workload reductions for a balanced relationship between private and professional life. We meet these requirements and offer our employees a broad and varied range of options on an individual basis.

For us, the focus has always been on qualitative rather than quantitative personnel growth. Only if we manage that a team harmonizes humanly and professionally, the best performances can be achieved and exciting interdisciplinary projects can be realized for our demanding customers.

In order to ensure this, we have divided our application process into 3 sub-areas.

• The first round of HR talks
• The second round of talks
• Trial day on site

Out of the approximately 600 applications received each year, in addition to an initial general interview with HR, we organize a second round interview with the potential team leader for the most suitable profiles. This gives applicants, but also us as a company, an initial overall impression of each other. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also very flexible about which interviews are organized on-site or digitally over MS Teams for example.

If both parties are still interested, we organize a whole trial day at IMT, where candidates also have the opportunity to get to know the team and the working atmosphere in the office, as well as a lunch with the team. Candidates get an insight into current projects and work on a small professional task, which serves as a basis for a professional exchange with the specialist manager, the respective specialist team, and HR.

We do not take this effort on the part of the candidate for granted and give every candidate who visits us on a trial day a financial reward for their valuable time.

The success of a long-term cooperation does not end with the signed contract

Every new team colleague will also be looked after in the best possible way until his or her first day at work. Any questions regarding the employee handbook, the first working day as well as the induction by the specialist manager and the personal *Göttis* (mentors) during the probationary period are discussed in advance and organized internally with our specialist department and IT.

IMT employees are kept up to date via our intranet “imt.inside” and new employees are welcomed with a personal postcard.

At IMT, we maintain a first-name-basis culture from the first day of work and want to convey our appreciative and open nature to potential employees from the very beginning. IMT is certified as a family-friendly company, we place great importance on offering flexible working hours, part-time positions where possible, as well as a future mix of home office and physical on-site work. Our employees await a wide range of employee benefits which are continuously being expanded.

Our very low fluctuation rate and the high number of long-term employees show us that the mix of exciting projects, the opportunity to develop oneself at IMT as well and the central and individualized support are bearing fruit.