Well, we had an interesting summer from a business perspective in Hungary.

Many of our assignments were stopped, or put on hold and obviously not much new business landed on our desks. We had lost half of our expected business by May - comparing it to the volume we had in H1 2019.

Over the past 6 months we had many Teams meetings with our Friisberg colleagues, globally. I spoke many times with my friend and colleague, Alexander Matthies (Friisberg Germany) about the trends impacting us in Hungary, the similar trends affecting his business in Germany and yet how he continued to be so successful – seemingly Covid proof.

He shared Friisberg Germany’s strategy designed to keep their 2020 revenue plans alive - or even exceed them.  In all honesty his advice sounded a little at odds with my own instincts:

• continuous and systematic business development;
• active discovery of new business segments;
• accurate analysis of sales activities;
• actively recruiting the best consultants on the market during the downturn;
• being in contact with clients who see you as a trusted advisor.

I was astonished!

Could it be that simple?

Then I thought about how much it would cost if we simply waited passively for the pandemic to be over. The answer was indeed simple: if we waited, it would cost us a lot.

So, we actively adopted Alexander’s advice and it resulted in several new mandates. Then he called us with two cross-border Searches which we quickly and successfully delivered. Now, we are currently meeting prospective consultants in Budapest to further enhance our team.

Our existing clients have increasingly turned to us during this crisis. We are objectively able to highlight the weaknesses within their organisations by suggesting they talk openly with us as a trusted partner. By sharing ideas and openly discussing future decisions with trusted friends and colleagues, we can all adopt new and successful strategies.

We decided to shape our future instead of simply reacting to it.

We can all shape our futures.

Over the past six months Friisberg & Partners International has interviewed many candidates remotely.

With coronavirus infections rising again, working from home looks likely to continue for a while longer - and so will online interviews.

Recently Mary Keane and Lorri Lowe, both Partners in Friisberg, spoke about this shift.

They discussed the advice we now offer to candidates:

Mary Keane, Partner Friisberg Czech Republic:

• Even if we are by now used to virtual meetings, interviewing is very different from any other professional conversation, so make sure you prepare. By mitigating technical, camera and body-language-related factors, you improve the odds that the interviewers will focus on the substance of your answers and what you could do for the company.
• Body language and eye contact is very important during a in-person interview and to convey similar connection during a video, it is important to avoid the instinct to look directly at the image on the screen, instead you should look directly to the webcam when speaking.
• With prompt start and end times to online meetings, there is less opportunity for small-talk, so make every question and answer insightful and relevant, be clear and concise but friendly and optimistic. Smiling is contagious and can relax the mood of the interview.
• In addition to the usual research you’d do about the company investigate what the firm has done / is doing in response to Covid-19 and ask about the onboarding and induction processes in a WFH world – it really matters now.

Lorri Lowe, Partner Friisberg UK:

• I am often asked about the dress code for video interviews. Dress as you would for an in-person interview – most people feel most authoritative, credible, and competent when wearing formal business attire. However, I would suggest choosing a neutral background for your interview – amusing virtual backgrounds are rarely appropriate!
• It is worth remembering that during the interview, you won’t be getting the same level of non-verbal information from the interviewer and there’s lots of research that shows when we don’t have feedback, we tend toward a more negative bias. So for the same reason, you want to practice being relaxed during the interview. Your goal is to appear natural and entirely at ease with the circumstances.
• The crisis has made people more eager to connect with colleagues on an emotional level and your interviewer may have a higher expectation about how much warmth you convey during the interview. It’s more difficult for the interviewer to understand your enthusiasm through the screen, so make sure you’re expressive when answering questions.
• Ultimately, preparation is vital - from ensuring the technology works, to conducting adequate research before the meeting, sitting down at your computer poised and ready for any and all questions  - these are the basics to help set you apart from others.