partner newsletter january 2015

IDCN Newsletter January 2015

IDCN Highlights

The 11th IDCN event, hosted by Amcor, was held onNovember 13th at Priora Business Center, Kloten.

As an introduction, Martijn Roseboom, IDCN PartnerCommittee President, provided the attendees withthe latest IDCN news. He announced that ETH, thenewest strategic corporate member, recently joinedIDCN. Madeleine Luethy, from the Dual Career AdviceOffice at ETH Zürich attended the event. Martijnhighlighted the importance of ETH for IDCN partnersas they have a broad experience in international dualcareers and can also provide information abouteducation opportunities for interested partnermembers.

The presentation continued with a discussion on thevalue of networking as one of the key aspects of IDCN.Martijn noted that networking is an opportunity toconnect with a large variety of people, includingcorporate recruiters. He remarked that the IDCNLinkedIn group is the most important networking tool.The LinkedIn group has 325 members and IDCN getsmany requests from recruiters looking for specificprofiles. IDCN encourages representatives ofcorporate partners to join the group and tap into thepotential of the talent pool. All spouses who have notyet done so are also strongly encouraged to join so asto maximize the benefits they get out of IDCN.This was followed by a presentation of the latest IDCNfacts and figures: 17 active corporate members arerepresenting the major multinationals in Zug-Zurich-Schaffhausen; the membership has seen animpressive growth from 176 members to 416 spousesand 56 partners have found a job.Next, Martijn mentioned that the IDCN administrationteam is currently updating spouse information andcalled for spouses to inform IDCN about statuschanges. Spouses who have found a job or who are nolonger active in IDCN are kindly asked to inform the

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administration by sending an email [email protected] .

It was also announced that IDCN is continuouslyexpanding globally. In the year 2015, three new hubsin Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong will be opened.The Zurich and Basel hubs will be closelycollaborating, therefore the Basel hub spousesattended the Zurich event for the first time and wereimpressed by our network.

Finally, Martijn suggested that spouses visit therecently launched global IDCN website atww.idcn.info, to get information about IDCNcorporate members and to watch videos about recentevents.

1 IDCN Highlights2 Welcome to Amcor and Recap of a Success Story3 Candidates – Recruiters : Make Each Other successful!4 Succeeding in Interviews Through Storytelling

In this issue:

Next Event

The next IDCN event will be in February 25th 2015,hosted by Mondelez International.Before coming to an IDCN event, we stronglychecking corporate member websites to be aware ofrelevant job vacancies and updating your LinkedInprofile.

Alexsandra Ameli, in his new role as volunteer adviser,welcomed spouses who are interested in participating

in the voluntary IDCN partner committee.

Avoid gaps in your CV, develop new skills, connectdirectly with corporate members, and raise yourprofile within IDCN by volunteering for IDCN.There are four groups managing the day-to-daycoordination of IDCN; Administration,Measurements, Events & Communications teams.Email [email protected], Ifyou are interested and/or skilled in one of theseareas.

Call for volunteers


Hilary started off by presenting Amcor, one of thebiggest packaging companies globally. Facts andfigures illustrated that they are globally active in 43countries with 28,000 employees and more than 180manufacturing sites. Melbourne is the head office,complemented by 3 other important offices located inUSA (Washington), Zurich and Singapore.

To introduce Amcor’s product line, she explained thatthey are specialized in two types of packagingproducts; flexible packaging, related to food andvegetable packaging, such as salad bags, and rigidpackaging, related to plastics, containers and water.All of the products are fully recyclable, based onfeedback and a strong relationship with customers.She stated that “our ambition is to ensure that thepackaging we make enhances the lives of theconsumers of the final products".

She explained the values of the company and said:“For all of us I think we can find a company thatmatches our personal values and that makes us morehappy to work in that organization.” Amcor has 4 corevalues. It is a manufacturing company and uses bigmachinery, therefore safety is priority number one,second; team work, third; social responsibility - workwith communities for more environmentally - friendlyproducts - and fourth; innovation. “New packagingideas help and delight consumers in their everydaylives. “

Hilary also explained the career perspectives withinAmcor and stated that there is a very goodproposition for Amcor employees. Amcor gives theiremployees challenging opportunities to encourageprofessional growth and development and a fullrealization of their potential. She mentioned thatglobal reach, diversity, training and developmentand an out performance culture are the values thatdraw people to Amcor as an employer.

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In the second part of her presentation, Hilary sharedan interesting story about her own personal journeyto Amcor in Switzerland and the reasons for herrelocation and her new career orientation.

Hilary worked in financial services her entire careeruntil just 1 year ago, when she moved to Amcor, amanufacturing company. Her move to a new sectorwas a big driver to gain experience in a new area after23 years of experience in management roles.

Hilary then recounted her relocation experience. Overthe years, she had left the United State and startedher career in Scotland, and then later moved toAustralia. She actually moved to Australia twice. Thesecond time was because she had met her Australianpartner, Dave.

During a restructuring process in the bank whereHilary held her last position in Australia, she decidedto move to another organization. Around the sametime she and her partner came to Europe on holidaysduring which she spent a few days in Geneva and meta friend with lots of relocation experience. After thisconversation she got the idea that it may be possibleto work in Europe. They went back to Australia andsoon after she was informed about a job opportunityat Amcor and got an interview for a 6 month contract.It was interesting for her because it was a learningopportunity in a new organization and a new sector.She explained how a LinkedIn connection that she hadmade a year before, helped her get this interview.

Hilary highlighted how one connection she madethrough LinkedIn was key in enabling her to securethis 6 month contract in a new sector and ultimatelyto start this journey. She wrapped up her speech byemphasizing that although most people are lookingfor work on a permanent basis, nothing is reallypermanent. After a short term contract you candemonstrate your skills and delivery capacity and getpeople interested.

She finished her presentation with a Q&A session.

Welcome to Amcor and Recap of asuccess story

In this section we will recap thespeech held by Hilary Crowe, VPGroup HR at Amcor, in which shepresented Amcor’s business andshared her experience in landing ajob in Switzerland.


Candidates – Recruiters : Make eachother successful!

Sandrine van den Oudenhoven & Valerie Rodriguezfrom Job4U2 were the next speakers of the Amcorevent. They presented practical tips for a win-wininterview.An introduction to the speakers:Sandrine is managing director and consultant atJob4U2 which she founded in 2010. She came toSwitzerland 8 years ago. Her husband is working atAmcor. Sandrine says: “Career change will come toyour life because of your own choices“. She is themother of 2 kids and she has an engineeringbackground but her career path so far has includedbusiness development, direction of purchasing andcareer consulting.Valerie is a consultant in Job4U2 and is a Swiss citizen,born and educated here. She has worked in the HRfunction on the recruitment side in international andnational companies. She has a few relocationexperiences in London and in Canada for a couple ofyears and is the mother of two young children.Sandrine stated that Job4U2 is supporting individuals’and corporations’ mobility challenges. “We specializein supporting spouses’ career transitions, whichmeans giving facilitated access to the job market.What is important for Job4U2 is to make of relocationa project for both partners. “She encouraged the spouses to join the IDCN LinkedIngroup and explained: “There are people in that spaceand we are a very rich network in the industry. Ourpartners are looking to fill specific roles and are askingus. If you are in the group we can find you, so it’squite important to be there, because throughorganizations like Job4U2 recruiters do find you.”After the introduction, they started an interactivepresentation about what makes an interviewsuccessful and how we can make each othersuccessful when it comes to interviews.They started this part by explaining the importance ofbeing prepared for an interview and noted: “You feelsuccessful after an interview because you couldexpress everything you have planned.”They provided the spouses with techniques to preparefor an interview situation. The first practice was anexercise in leading and following on both therecruiter’s and the candidate’s sides, demonstrating

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how an interview is an activity similar to dancing.

They also explained other useful interviewpreparation techniques such as:

• STAR technique: This is a technique to answerinterview questions in a concise and convincingway. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action andResult. The situation is the context; the task is theresponsibility or the mission; the action is how youresponded and the result is the outcome. “It's niceto take a little “bag” of prepared anecdotes ofachievements to help you actually use the STAR”.

• Preparation in a structural way: Give the recruiterwhat they need to assess your experience andfacilitate their understanding. For example, whenasked about your experience give specific ratherthan general answers. This will solidify theirunderstanding and make it seem more real.

• Gather knowledge about the company: This is thefirst activity before an interview. Look at thecompany’s career page, annual report, LinkedInpage and, especially, try to approach people whowork in the company where you are applying for ajob.

• FAQ: They asked the recruiters who were inattendance about the most important questionsthey ask in the interview. These questions aremostly in the area of achievements, motivation onthe job and experiences in challenging situations.

• Attitude and behavior: It's not just what you say inan interview that is important, but also yourattitude and behavior. Try to prepare yourself tohave a positive attitude during an interview.

Sandrine and Valerie then gave the dos & don'ts ofbehavior during interviews. Please see the full sharedpresentation on this topic on our LinkedIn page.


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Join LinkedIn or update your profile indicating yourjob/career aspirations and become an active memberof our LinkedIn Group. Please send your feedback [email protected].

IDCN Zurich-Zug-SchaffhausenCommunications Team

Succeeding in Interviews ThroughStorytelling

Angela gained experience in this area while workingas a Human Resource specialist before she became aprofessional coach. For her second time speaking atan IDCN event, she contributed valuable informationon making interviews successful. In this section wewill present the general idea behind her rich andengaging presentation.

The main idea is that you have to engage people inyour success story. How can you do this? Angelarelated interviewing to dating. You are successful indating when you want to meet again. She explainedthe advantages of storytelling by asking: why do wewant to hear stories? The attendees providedanswers such as: “they make us dream”, “they speakto our imaginations”, and “they touch our hearts”.Angela then used the Lord of the Rings, a story thatinspires her (and many of the attendees) as anexample to explain the structure of a story.The first thing we need to know about the stories isthe structure because “we like structure”. A storystarts with a situation. Each story then has a supermoment and there is a price you pay, in other words,some sort of suffering or loss. However, there is alsousually a price you win, and that is the happy ending.This structure is the basis of a good story. Such storiescan and should be told in relation to your professionand your work achievements.

Angela then led a practical session. In pairs, attendeespracticed telling stories about an experience at theirjobs or in their personal lives. Then, their partner gavefeedback about what really engaged them in thestory.

Angela Weinberger of GlobalPeople Transitions GmbHpresented insights intosucceeding in interviewsthrough storytellingtechniques. Angela is knownin the German-speaking worldas a global mobility expert.

Networking and the CV-Clinic at theAmcor event

Amcor started the day off with amorning networking session. Thiswas an initiative taken by Amcorto be more visible and have morecontact with attendees. About 20open jobs were communicatedwith the spouses during theevent. The event was veryinteractive.The CV clinic took place at the end of the event withthe cooperation of recruiters from Amcor. The CV-Clinic was very successful and in high demand fromthe attendees. It will be repeated at future IDCNevents.

Angela emphasized that it is important to talk aboutwhat you learned in a situation and what you woulddo if the same situation arises again. The workshopclosed with a Q&A session.

IDCN Zurich Corporate Members: