Challenge
NSK Steering Systems of America, a subsidiary of NSK Bearing is based in Bennington, VT. This worldwide global leader in steering system technology, supplies the automotive industry with a wide range of advanced steering products.
NSK Steering Systems was seeking to fill a Manufacturing Engineer Level B position with a candidate who was either a recent grad possessing a Mechanical Engineering degree or someone with 2-3 years of manufacturing experience or automotive production and assembly line experience in a manufacturing plant. As the recruitment process was well underway, the company soon realized that what seemed like a basic recruitment task soon became a real challenge.
NSK Steering Systems attracted candidates that were more design oriented and not those with an understanding of manufacturing processes. Some of the candidates lacked plant assembly line experience. But more of a concern was that the company was attracting many candidates that were over qualified, having more senior-level experience. NSK Steering Systems wanted to train the successful candidate from the ground up. Hiring a Level B Manufacturing Engineer with a lower-level of experience was important because the company wanted to train and educate the successful candidate on its own specific plant processes, policies and procedures.
Solution
RCI Recruitment Solutions, Inc. was brought on board to implement its innovative recruiting methods to source and attract candidates that best matched the specific needs for the Manufacturing Engineer position. The agreement was that the task would be completed within 30 days. In order for RCI to fully understand the criteria set for the position, RCI's Executive Recruiter Angela Hill began with a comprehensive intake, encompassing a thorough interview with Greg Laurin, SPHR, manager of Human Resources at NSK Steering Systems.
A detailed research stage ensued. RCI not only contacted candidates that showed interest, but went beyond that and directly recruited potential candidates from competitors. Utilizing a variety of innovative sourcing methods, Hill located an industry competitor that had recently closed a manufacturing plant and was conducting significant layoffs in another. RCI accessed potential candidates from that organization and invited them to respond to the opportunity. Each respondent was then pre-screened and those that showed greatest potential were contacted directly.
Utilizing RCI's extensive sourcing and screening strategy allowed Hill to find candidates that were not only recent graduates, but who also had previously completed internships at the competing company. She also found candidates that had about 2 years of experience at this company, specifically meeting NSK Steering Systems' criteria.
Once the candidates were screened, they were presented to NSK's hiring managers for further interviews and consideration for hire.
"I feel that Greg and I developed a successful business rapport and he began to rely on my professionalism and expertise in going through the complete recruitment process for the Manufacturing Engineer project," Hill said.
Result
This project was very successful. The position was filled in the requested timeframe. According to Laurin, the company made one offer and took another candidate through to the final phase of the interview process. Emerging from the RCI project is a candidate with eight years of experience being considering to fill a Senior Manufacturing Engineering role that would assist in the training and development of the new hires for the Engineering Level B opportunity.
NSK Steering Systems was so satisfied with RCI results that the company has sought the assistance of RCI Recruitment Solutions for another project. "I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with Greg again and to assist in providing qualified and talented candidates for the NSK organization," Hill said.
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