FINNAIR—Finding the right match while respecting candidates’ privacy

Candidate data privacy has been a top priority for Finnair already since day one and it’s deeply rooted in the company’s DNA. They themselves describe data privacy as their common goal and a state of mind to which the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is now providing an official framework.

Finnair works only with partners who take candidate data privacy equally serious and there cannot be any collaboration unless the partner commits to their privacy policy. “Recright fulfills even the most strict data privacy requirements and respects our applicants’ data privacy the way we do”, says Sanna De Luca, Talent Acquisition Trainee, Finnair.

For Finnair, it’s crucial that all employees and partners understand what GDPR means in practice and how to apply it in everyday work. They see it also as a means to build trust between candidates and Finnair as a potential employer.

Becoming a trustworthy recruiter

Recruitment can be time consuming especially in the screening phase so whenever the process can be streamlined, it’s always appreciated. “Besides helping us being a trustworthy recruiter, Recright offers a way to save time both for the candidates and for us by using modern methods, like video interviews, in the initial phase of the recruitment”, explains Jaana Anttila, Talent Acquisition Consultant at Finnair.

Finnair is a heavy-user when it comes to video recruitment and video interviews. To give you a little bit of perspective of the volumes; 2800 candidates were video interviewed for Cabin Crew positions. Finnair has been using video interviews to fulfill close to 100 open positions since 2014.

More truthful view on skills and personality

According to Finnair, video interview gives candidates a more thorough image of the company and also more diverse information about the hiring team. In turn, also candidates can reflect their true personality better with video interview. At the end of the day, finding the right match both for the candidate and for the company - is what counts.

“In some positions we emphasize more e.g. presentation skills and personality whereas in some positions we put more weight on the content of the answers. Recright video interview fits in different purposes, but always giving a broader image both ways. Another aspect which makes Recright a useful tool for us is that English is increasingly becoming the main working language at Finnair and with Recright we can gain a better understanding of candidate’s language skills”, describes Sanna De Luca.

Sanna De Luca, Talent Acquisition Trainee & Jaana Anttila, Talent Acquisition Consultant

Teams at the core

At Finnair, preparing video interviews is a joint effort where hiring managers and team members all come together in creating videos and questions for each position. This allows recruiters to provide insights to the hiring team already in the video interview phase of the process.

For teams to be efficient and successful, diversity is everything. Different kinds of personalities and opinions are needed to improve team maturity which is ever more crucial. Making sure of diversity in teams, the current ways of working can be questioned and in the end, improved.

“Recright’s video interview gives a more profound view on candidate personality and whether a candidate is bringing something new and different to the team or not. Even though the team members participate in making the video interview, we always consider carefully when it’s appropriate and required team for members to gain access to the actual video interview answers”, enlightens Sanna De Luca.

For Finnair, it’s important that only relevant people who are part of the decision-making have access to the candidate videos. The decision on who to invite to a personal interview is always made by evaluating the candidate as a whole; CV, application, video interview and possibly assessments.

Hiring the right people is everything

For several years in a row Finnair has been named as one of the best airlines and customer experience is a cornerstone of their strategy. “We believe that well-being, capable and motivated employees create excellent customer experience and workplace that Finnair aims for, and Recright is a great tool in helping us find the right people to reach our goal”, summarises Jaana Anttila.