E-commerce Talent Magnet: Award-Winning Recruiter Shares Winning Strategies

Zdenka Krejčiková, awarded Recruiter of the Year 2018, is an experienced professional in Talent Recruitment whose methods deliver results even in the dynamic world of e-commerce. Currently, she works as a Talent Manager at Taste, helping companies find the right digital professionals – from e-shop developers to online marketing specialists.

With 7 years of recruitment experience, she specializes in identifying above-average talents in the technology and digital environment. Since January 2021, she has worked as an independent Recruitment Consultant for companies in the e-commerce sector, helping them attract top talents in a highly competitive market.

During her time at Seznam.cz and CN Group CZ, she gained valuable experience building teams for digital projects and platforms. Her approach to recruitment, based on quality rather than quantity, is particularly relevant for the e-commerce sector, where the right people can dramatically impact business growth.

We sat down with Zdenka to discuss the unique challenges of recruiting digital talent in a competitive landscape. Here are the key insights every e-commerce leader should know about building winning teams.

🎤 As Recruiter of the Year 2018 and an experienced talent hunter, you have extensive experience in the field. Could you reveal how you perceive the specifics of talent recruitment for the e-commerce sector compared to other industries?

Recruitment for the e-commerce sector is:

• faster, more flexible, and more creative
• requires knowledge of digital fields and environment
• candidates often expect authenticity and strong employer brand
• it’s common that positions aren’t filled by HR, but by hiring managers through their own LinkedIn

I see a great advantage in that the talents I’m looking for are traceable, primarily on LinkedIn. And if I can get them excited about the company, it only depends on me. How I do it, you’ll learn in the following questions.

🎤 You once mentioned that properly set recruitment leads to getting 5 great CVs instead of 100 average ones. What are the biggest mistakes that companies (including e-commerce ones) make when setting up their recruitment processes?

The biggest mistake is a generally formulated job ad. The company should “reveal its cards” as much as possible in the ad, show authenticity, the team, offices, and mainly truthfully describe the job content. It’s perfectly fine if such work style or team doesn’t suit someone – we don’t want exactly those people.

If a candidate already evaluates while reading the ad that the position doesn’t interest them, it saves us time with prescreening and rejections. Every rejection, even the best communicated one, is still a rejection. Recruiters should write ads so that they transfer responsibility to the candidate – so they can calmly decide from their couch whether they want to work at the company. This saves time for everyone involved. Unfortunately, many companies still don’t understand this, so candidates apply for positions they’re not ultimately interested in – because due to the general ad, they have no idea what really awaits them at work.

🎤 I think it’s quite difficult to write a really good and creative job ad. How specifically do you approach writing job ads for technical and marketing positions in e-commerce to attract real talents while deterring unsuitable candidates?

Candidates must see team photos, ideally also a video from the office or environment where they’ll work. We gladly introduce the manager too – what they can do, what they’ve written, and what they share. We always mention technologies, project types, education opportunities, and flexibility – how we handle home office and attendance.

It’s important to know what makes us better than competition and state that in the ad. Internally, we should also know where we have reserves and work on gradually eliminating them.

🎤 Nowadays, “employer branding” is often discussed. What role does company culture and employer brand play in attracting talents according to you, and what employer branding strategies would you recommend to small and medium e-shops?

The more famous the company and stronger the corporate culture, the easier it is to approach quality talents. You know what you’re selling and why candidates should join you specifically. Every company should have something authentic – their “why”. Why people work for you. Companies should know their EVP (employee value proposition) and build recruitment communication according to it.

🎤 In your work, you often mention the importance of referral programs not only within the company but also outside it. Can you describe how an e-commerce company can effectively set up a referral program and use its online community to acquire talents?

Many companies today have a well-set internal referral program, but few deal with external ones. Freelancers often work in marketing – they have clients but aren’t bound to any company. Even if they’d like to recommend someone from their circle, they have no one to recommend to.

I offer these people a conference ticket to Restart – according to their choice. Freelancers pay for education from their own pocket, so this offer is usually attractive to them. And I get to talents earlier than competition – right when they’re considering a change.

🎤 How specifically do you use contacts gained when checking references? Do you have any tips for recruiters in e-commerce, where they often meet candidates working in global online companies?

References are a great opportunity for me to interest fascinating people I wouldn’t otherwise reach. We verify them mainly for higher positions – team leaders, managers or company owners.

It’s important to make a good first impression during the call and ask meaningful questions. After each call, I send the person a LinkedIn connection request along with thanks. And if this person is in my sights, I remind them within 14 days with a concrete offer. Thanks to this approach, we’ve gained the very best candidates.

🎤 As you once told me, attending networking events is key, according to you. How do you recognise which events are worth your time, and which do you consider most effective for finding digital talents and how to optimally use them?

It’s best when the company organises its own events – meetups, workshops or conferences that attract people from the industry. Recruiters can participate in any event where people from the target segment concentrate. And thanks to event applications, it’s easy today to identify who you want to approach and arrange a meeting right away.

🎤 You once mentioned that maintaining relationships is fundamental for you, and I completely agree. I think this applies in both professional and personal life. In the changing e-commerce environment, it’s important to maintain connections with talents. What digital tools and strategies do you use to maintain contact with online commerce professionals, even when you’re not currently filling any positions?

For me, building a personal brand is key. Thanks to that, you don’t disappear from sight. It’s good to consistently express yourself on a certain topic so people know who you are, what you deal with, what your values are, and what you stand for. And when you’re then searching, they know exactly why to connect with you.

🎤 In recruitment, it’s often discussed whether it’s better to be a specialist in a specific area or a generalist. What’s your opinion on this question from the perspective of effective Talent Recruitment? How do you approach finding such “hybrid” professionals, or how do you verify their competencies?

For me, it’s better to be a specialist in a certain area but also have general overview. Everyone should develop their strengths – only then can they be truly exceptional. And how to find talents? They’re visible, audible, active, even without looking for work.

🎤 What trends in talent recruitment do you see currently and how do you think this field will develop in the coming years? How can online stores use new technologies (AI, automation) when searching for the right people?

AI will be everywhere. Recruiters should focus on what AI can’t handle – building relationships, authenticity, empathy. And mainly learn not just to recruit talent, but also retain it. Talent management isn’t just about recruitment, but about long-term work with people and utilizing their strengths.

🎤 Finally, you work with companies trying to get the best talents in the rapidly developing world of e-commerce. If you had to summarize everything we’ve discussed – from employer branding, through referral programs to maintaining relationships – what is that one key characteristic or approach that distinguishes successful e-commerce companies that attract digital talents like a magnet from those still struggling with piles of average resumes?

Companies where hiring managers themselves attract talents are successful. If a company can retain a person with a personal brand who is respected and people trust them, it’s a huge win. And if the entire management is like that – experts who can talk about their work publicly (on networks, in podcasts, at events) – then such a company is truly a talent magnet.

Thank you, Zdenka, for sharing these valuable insights on e-commerce talent recruitment.