New approaches to talent acquisition
In early 2018, we announced a new employment campaign for 2018. DB Group will hire about 19,000 new employees this year in Germany alone. About 20% of all new hires will be trainees as well as students completing a dual course of study. There are several reasons for the high demand for new hires: DB Group is growing and also expanding job profiles with new IT skills, for example; at the same time, many employees will go into retirement in the coming years. There is particular demand for professions such as train drivers, traffic controllers, electronics technicians, engineers, command and control technology technicians, service personnel, track construction engineers or IT experts.
People above 50 years of age, college dropouts, former soldiers or lateral entrants: DB Group is increasingly focusing on new target groups when recruiting new employees.
In May 2018, we transferred our application management to a new software. Submitting an application is now much quicker and more transparent. It is even possible to apply via smartphone. Applicants can check online where they are in the application process, and can update data and upload documents. There is also a new option where an applicant can create a job agent that notifies the applicant by e-mail regarding new positions that fit the applicant’s profile.
DB Group plans to forgo the cover letter as of this year, initially for trainees. After all, writing an application is a substantial hurdle for many applicants without actually saying much: a résumé and interview are much better suited to determine applicants’ skills and their motivation. This step is based on the findings of the successful DB application marathon in November 2017; the informal application process was particularly well-received by the candidates.