Chris Janneke is celebrating 21 years of making the stars align for his candidates with his recruitment company Virgo Personnel. With passion and diligence, he has been able to pair people with their dream jobs.
For the past two decades, Janneke has been assisting companies to find the best qualified employees by placing candidates in positions that they desire to exceed at. He does this by getting to know candidates during the interview process and he finds out what they really want to do in their careers.
Recruitment is more than just hiring someone.
“It changes people’s lives,” explained the Deep Freeze resident. “It’s now 21 years and when I make a placement, it’s still something really exciting for me.”
He knows all about how recruitment can change your life, as it changed his as well. He did not start his career as a recruiter, originally Janneke studied hospitality and worked in the hotel industry during the mid- and late-90s. It was in 2000 when he took a leap of faith and started at PAG Staff Service, where the 48-year-old spent three years learning the recruitment ropes.
When Janneke mastered the skills that the company taught him, his entrepreneurial spirit kicked in. “I thought why work for somebody else?” explained the recruiter. “When I woke up the next morning, I said I’m going to open my own business.”
However, merely having the idea to start a business was not enough to make his dreams a reality. Janneke lacked the capital, and it is something that he struggled with during the early stages of setting up Virgo Personnel.
That did not stop him, as Janneke’s knack for recruitment made it possible for him to jump over all of the hurdles that running a fledgling business brings.
He did so by focusing and upskilling his candidates from the community of Macassar.
Janneke does so through his partnership with Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM), as he oversees the local RDM depot’s on-site Community Career Centre, in his capacity as centre facilitator.
Youth unemployment is a major issue in South Africa and Macassar is no exception. Candidates that haven’t completed their high school education present a major problem to Virgo Personnel.
This is the reason that Janneke prioritises young candidates and provides them with the necessary skills to find employment. These skills include interview training and computer literacy among others.
Janneke believes by instilling these skills in his candidates it will not only benefit the candidate and the companies he is recruiting for but also himself. “I’ve got good relationships with all my candidates because I believe they will become my clients at the end of the day,” added Janneke.
The reason Virgo Personnel has been able to exist and thrive for 21 years is because its owner understands the passion for finding the perfect job and the benefits of the perfect career. That’s because he himself has found his calling.
“This is what I love doing,” concluded Janneke. “If I have to choose between a doctor and being what I am now, I would want to be a recruiter, because I can see the quality of my work and I can see the changes that I’m making.”
