INTERVIEWER: MAHMOUD MANSI
PHOTOGRAPHY: AHMED KALIFA
EDITED BY: AYAM AMIN
About Target HR:
“Target Recruitment & HR Agency is the most trusted recruitment agency in Egypt. Founded in 2006, the Agency prides itself in providing unmatched services in the areas of recruitment, human resources, management and labor conflict resolution. Our mission is to provide our clients with world class human resources and managerial solutions while upholding high levels of integrity, trust and professionalism.” (www.targetdhr.com)
THE INTERVIEW
1-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Why are organizations now moving towards outsourcing recruitment instead of doing this themselves?
Mohamed El Derwy: Organizations now seek accuracy and speed; they want the best. Recruitment companies have now become specialists in understanding the market and the people, as well as creating a list of choices for the organizations. At Target, we have our own HR professionals who even work on analyzing the personality of the candidate upon the request of our clients.
2- HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: From your point of view, what is the reason behind the gap between the increasing number of vacancies and the increasing rate of unemployment in Egypt? What are your personal suggestions to treat and tighten this gap?
Mohamed El Derwy: There are several reasons behind this gap. The most important ones are the laziness of our fresh graduates, and the nonexistence of a solid will to work. Around 70% of our youth when offered to work in a place that is far away like in Borg El Arab, they automatically refuse because they demand a job that exists within the boundaries of Alexandria. They want to work either in Alexandria or in Cairo. Any other nearby option is forbidden. Another major factor is the lack of language. Young people looking for jobs might know other languages besides Arabic such as English but they do not master it. This lowers their chances of finding a decent job since most of the computer programs and the modern business world demand a qualified English language speaker.
3- HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: How did the story of constructing Target start?
Mohamed El Derwy: I used to work as the Deputy HR Director for one of the multinational companies in Alexandria, and my direct manager was always in conflict with me. He was trying to handicap my talents, and would acknowledge all my success as his own. In the end, this attitude led to my resignation and thankfully to the birth of my dream, Target for Recruitment Solutions.
4-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: When Target was first launched as a project, how did you succeed in winning the trust of the market with all its organizations to become your clients? How did you make them trust you on the most valuable thing, The Human Capital?
Mohamed El Derwy: Winning their trust was through our ability to choose the “target”, the best candidates for them. This was done through focusing on the candidate’s personality and not only the skills, but also the ability to match this personality with the culture of each organization in the market.
5- HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: As a recruitment company, you receive a lot of CVs. How do you evaluate these CVs? How do you evaluate the person during the interview? And what are your criteria for measuring the level of the candidate?
Mohamed El Derwy: The standards used to evaluate and measure the CVs of fresh graduates differ from that of the experienced. Fresh graduates must know the basics of writing a CV, and preferably have training experience during their summer vacations, in addition to having advanced computer skills and mastering the English language. As for the experienced candidates,we look at how many years they spent in the same company, and how many certificates and courses they attained that are directly related to their career, for example the CMA certificate in the financial field.
6-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What advice do you have for fresh graduates who cannot find a job in their own field?
Mohamed El Derwy: Accept any available job that is offered to you by the market, even if it is not suitable and in a far place. You need to acquire work skills, and these skills are common in most jobs. You will know how useful this is after around 6 months and, God willingly, you will be offered another chance by the market; one you have been wishing and searching for. As for me, the first job I ever had was located in (النهضة الصناعية) with an EGP 220 monthly salary.
7-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: As the Founder of the Alexandria Human Resources Association (AHRA), what are the biggest challenges that face the HR employee in Egypt? And what are the challenges that the HR department faces with the other company departments?
Mohamed El Derwy: The challenges that face the HR department in Egypt are exactly similar to the challenges the Police Department faced before the revolution. The HR department is blamed for any modification in the organizational chart or the system, the downsizing of employees and the reduction of allowances. What really happens is that the HR employee only works on writing analysis reports, and implementing the plans of the upper management.In many cases, the line managers and upper management point the finger at the HR department. Because of such reasons, most multinational companies moved around 70% of the HR authorities to line managers. Examples of these authorities are performance appraisals and promotions, which will make the line managers in direct contact with their employees as regards to their decisions.
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Mr. Derwy, thank you so much for this interview and for enriching the society with your activities.
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