One topic a lot of candidates applying for a job with the adidas Group are especially interested in is our recruitment process. Therefore we want to give you an insight into how we operate and some tips to make your experience a little easier. You can imagine that as a global business with leading brands we often have high volumes of applications and unfortunately getting back to you can sometime take a little time. That being said we do take the journey our candidates take through the recruitment process very seriously. We recognize how much time, energy and emotion you invest when applying and our mission is to invest the same level of care into evaluating your application and supporting you through the process.

The application process

Over recent years we got better at understanding what our candidates want from us – and based on this we have developed our Candidate Experience guidelines. So far these have been successful in driving the message of how we treat our candidates, so much so that this year we won the Candidate Experience Awards.

Our aim through the guidelines is to provide a world class service to our candidates and to ensure that each candidate receives communication from us within two weeks of application.  Once you receive our automated acknowledgement of your application one of our recruiting team members will review your application and send you a message informing you of your status.  Don’t get disheartened if you receive one of these mails rather than a call directly from the recruiter as this is just the first stage in the process.

If the decision is to continue to evaluate you as a potential candidate your details will be shortlisted.  The next time you login into our recruiting system your status will show as being “under consideration”.

We then have a couple of steps to the shortlisting process.  First the Recruiter will review your application and may give you a call to discuss particular elements further. Based on that review your application will either be declined or passed to the hiring manager. If it’s declined you will receive a reply notifying you of such.  Due to our volume of applications it is not possible to give individual feedback at this stage.

Together the recruiter and the hiring manager will then compile a list of finalists.  From here if you are selected for further consideration you will be invited to an interview. This can happen in a couple of ways: either via a telephone interview or a face to face interview. Sometimes we might even ask you to connect with us via Skype. Either way we ensure all candidates at this stage go through the same process ensuring it’s fair and transparent to all involved. Often we will then hold second and in some cases a 3^rd round interview to ensure that we are measuring candidates against the required skills needed for the position, and that we are hiring the very best talent for the business. One point to note here is as a global organization many of our managers travel frequently and often at short notice and so this process can sometimes take a little time.  Our goal of course is to give you as much notice as possible and move the interview process forward as expediently as possible.

Tips for candidates

We also often get asked about tips our candidates can consider to move through our application process as smoothly as possible. In order to make your application as successful as possible it’s important to carefully consider the positions you want to apply for; review the requirements of the position and the qualifications or background to ensure you meet those requirements. A cover letter with your application should pull out the relevant experience from your CV so the HRHuman Resources (HR), is the organisation within the adidas Group which is responsible for the management of our workforce. Responsibilities include attracting, selecting, training, assessing and rewarding employees as well as fostering a corporate culture of performance, passion, integrity and diversity. and line managers can see it very easily.  Keeping your CV concise to a maximum of two pages and ensuring it’s formatted in a way that makes it easy to read will score points.  The more targeted the easier it is for our hiring managers to determine if you fit the job; it also shows our hiring managers that you are focused.  And last we encourage you not to get discouraged if you don’t find the perfect fit right away.

We are always looking for great talent and if you are as passionate about our brands as we are then chances are you will some day find that perfect job for you with the adidas Group.