The jobs behind the science
The HR Recruitment Unit has launched a series of short videos designed to attract the very best talents that CERN needs to pursue its cutting-edge research. CERN is very well-known for hiring physicists, but engineers, technicians and professionals working in diverse sectors in our 21 Member States are less aware that they too can have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work in this unique place.
(Video: Jules Ordan, Jacques Fichet/CERN.)
“The Jobs behind the Science” is the first of a series of videos presented by the Recruitment Unit of the HR Department's Talent Acquisition Group, aiming to promote CERN’s image as an employer of choice for all science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professions.
“Difficulties in recruiting in the STEM market are a Europe-wide problem, and CERN is particularly affected by a common, well-established misconception: that this is a place only for elite physicists and engineers,” explains Anna Cook, the Section Leader of the Recruitment Unit, who wrote the videos’ scripts. “We are constantly facing recruitment challenges, especially in the fields of electricity, radiofrequency, cooling and ventilation, civil and mechanical engineering, and materials science, so we need to position ourselves prominently on the Europe-wide job market in these fields.”
Five more videos have been produced, featuring scientists, engineers and technical operators going about their professional lives and sharing their happiness and pride in working at CERN. “That’s what the videos are all about!” Cook affirms. “It’s the pride that people have for being part of CERN.”
The video, directed by Jacques Fichet of the Communication group, includes original music composed and played by Jules Ordan, the freelance film-maker who was instrumental in creating all the films. “Imagine working in a place like nowhere else on earth”, starts the video’s voice-over, and the expectations thus created are fulfilled in a crescendo of music and images, until the conclusion: “Could this be the place for your next professional challenge? Take part!”
This initiative is not specifically linked to a current recruitment campaign: it’s part of the Recruitment Unit’s constant drive to remind specialists in every relevant sector that CERN is an employer of choice for several other professions besides physics and engineering. “For example,” Cook explains, “an operator in cryogenics, a radiation protection technician, a lawyer or a software developer wouldn’t necessarily think of CERN as a potential place they could work. We want them to keep in mind that CERN can also be on their career aspirations radar.”
In the context of the promotion of CERN’s employer brand, the Recruitment Unit also hosts HR outreach activities. In this context, they have set up the Recruitment Outreach Service using the Service Desk as a tool to provide support and general branded material that CERN people visiting schools, universities or attending events or job fairs can use to foster CERN’s image as an employer for a large audience of professionals. So if you’re thinking of visiting your school or university, get in touch so that you can be equipped to be a CERN Ambassador!
See all the Recruitment Service videos on the CERNJOBSTV YouTube Channel.
