Interview with the HR director of a large gambling company – Casino and GAmbling articles

The editorial team of Casino.ru continues a series of publications dedicated to various professions in the gambling industry. The hero of the second article was the personnel director of one of the CIS gambling companies.

– How long has it been since you got into the gambling industry and what role do you currently have? in the company?

– In fact, the function of the human resources department and the only recruiter is in one person. For me, this is a single process as it is much easier to adapt, motivate, and even fire people when you know the employee from the moment of the resume and the first interview. In general, I've been working in HR/recruiting for almost 10 years and in gambling for around four years.

– How did you start your professional career?

– From a clerk in an international personnel agency, then as an external recruiter, then as a recruiter in a food IT company, first without technical subjects, then with them and beyond (non-technical subjects), then + technical and then HR. In fact, there was no formal transition to the position – there was a turning point when it came time to make a decision to take responsibility for yourself and move from being a recruiter to becoming HR on your own.

– What are your responsibilities? What does a typical working day look like?

– Responsibilities – a full recruiting cycle from opening a vacancy to an offer and a full HR cycle from onboarding to firing. There are many tasks, but there is always room for creativity. The company supports any initiative that has a positive impact on the entire business.

I build a normal working day for myself. I start the morning with myself in the sense that I have to check social networks and websites with news. Then I take 2-3 hours to parse the résumé, correspondence with the candidates, and the appointment for an interview. In the afternoon I dedicate myself to more global tasks in the HR area. However, this division is conditional, as communication with employees both during and outside of working hours in the form of personal communication or correspondence provides support in solving their problems.

In 2014 alone, 350,000 people officially worked in gambling in the USA.

– How does HR in the gambling industry differ from other areas?

– The gambling industry is a special niche, and specialists in it are really different from others. Due to the specifics of the company, you often have to act quickly in order to be able to make important decisions in a short time. For this reason, specialists are generally not “processors” but “results” – they focus on the end result and think with results, this applies to any position. In addition, there is a minimum of bureaucracy, which makes it possible to constantly seek and find new tools for digitization and automation, and this is supported and appreciated by the management.

– Do you already have experience with hiring foreign skilled workers? What are your main differences to employees from Russia and Ukraine?

– I've had experience working with English speaking applicants, it's like a personal challenge. For an interview in a foreign language, it is a little more difficult to find the right words and to get a feel for the candidate's character and soft skills. It takes a little longer to understand if your candidate is. I don't see any difference between employees from Russia and Ukraine, they all have the same goals. Locals have a more mature approach, they have a better understanding of what exactly they want, and they are more open about what they are looking for. Maybe the situation has changed now, but when the locals realized about 4 years ago that there were few of them around, they felt the game was on their side, they acted more confidently.

– How have the approaches and methods of recruiting changed over the years in the last 10 years? What changes can we expect in the coming years?

– There are more sources to find specialists, the sites themselves get better, new features appear, which really saves time. For example, an online chat with a candidate on the Rabota.ua website. I am not a fan of phone calls with candidates as I have to go to the meeting room which is distracting and the online chat makes it possible to clarify the necessary details in the form of a correspondence with the candidate while solving other problems. I think more and more necessary and useful automation tools will emerge. And that's good news.

– Which channels do you use to find staff? What works best

– It all depends on the specifics of the position. The benchmark for development and top positions is Djinni. Dou is better suited to find marketers, Telegram channels work well for them. Linkedin was not canceled either. It takes longer to work with, but it's still a good tool for finding rare specialists. Job boards remain relevant for beginners. And of course, employee recommendations work very well.

– What causes most hiring problems?

– Niche specifics – not all job seekers want to work in gambling. And the inability to openly name the product that needs to be worked on. For example in the job description.

– How high is the staff turnover in gambling and why?

– We have a small turnover. Basically in the support service, and this is mainly due to the internal rotation: the growth of the employee's skills and, accordingly, the transfer to a higher position.

– What are the main problems you see now in finding new people?

– It is difficult to find specialists when it is imperative for a candidate to have relevant experience in a niche because no one publicly profiles a gambling company based on the NDA.

– If a person wants to work in the gambling industry, how do you get there?

– A lot of people start with the support service because that's where you can study both the product itself and the audience as best you can.

– Are the salaries of specialists in online casinos different from similar salaries in other areas?

– Yes, they mostly differ upwards for the same positions. At the same time, the market price for technical specialists in development does not depend on the niche.

– Recruiting requires a lot of communication with people. Are there moments of burnout and fatigue in people? How do you deal with that?

– Of course there are moments like this. The possibility to switch between tasks and a change of scenery helps here. If I feel that I am not ready to communicate emotionally, I switch to analytical work, study or develop something new. A change of scenery also helps – driving out of town for the weekend, spending time with loved ones in a tight circle.

– What are the main advantages and disadvantages of your job? What is the most difficult and what is the most expensive?

– The professionals are communicating with specialists from different professional fields, with interesting people. The opportunity to help both an individual specialist and a company become better and more successful. The ability to act out of the box, to be creative, to research or to develop various features, the implementation of which facilitates certain processes. Driven by people, unusual tasks, freedom of action and the ability to come up with new ideas.

Of the minuses – the work is quite stressful, given the niche, often everything is needed “yesterday”. At the same time, when solving a business problem, the human factor must not be forgotten. Even if you feel stressed inside, you must be able to forget these emotions when communicating with employees and switch to the positive. Of course, the first dismissal of an employee was very difficult. This is something that will be remembered forever. Dismissing an employee is now the door to something better for them. The ability to say goodbye nicely and correctly is a winning skill.

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– Why do you most often fire people and how to get it right?

– Mostly for lack of work results. The dismissal must always be done correctly and carried out independently by the manager or by three of us (employee & # 8211; manager & # 8211; HR). Be sure to state the reasons for the dismissal.

– Which is better: a beginner with no experience with burning eyes or an employee with experience?

– Ideally someone with experience and burning eyes.

– Are there more negative or positive emotions, routine or creativity in your work?

– Of course positive emotions that I can find even in the most stressful situations. Routine and creativity – 30 to 70. I try to make my life easier and find ways to shorten the routine, I like to automate processes – that is part of creativity for me.

– What advantages should the HR department have for effective work?

– Efficiency, stress resistance, flexibility, creativity, tolerance, acceptance of responsibility and admission of mistakes.

– How much does HR earn on average? What constitutes his income – a fixed part, bonuses for a hired specialist, something else?

– In my case the position combines both recruiting and HR, so there is no point in making a bonus for a hired specialist – I am looking for people for my own company. If the company has a recruiting department that deals exclusively with search and selection, then yes, the bonus for the hired employee should be paid out after the probationary period. So the recruiter will be interested in the newcomer's quick adaptation and will help him with that.

There should definitely be an HR award, but without a time reference – solely with a focus on results: development and implementation of a new feature, implementation of a tool to automate any routine tasks, etc. The salary fork naturally depends on the level of the position and the performance , benefits, and business impact – from $ 1,500 to $ 3,500. Yes, the scope is wide, but the position in different companies implies different roles.

The oldest gaming company in Monaco is the Monte Carlo Casino

– What is considered unacceptable in this profession?

– Dislike of people, unwillingness to understand the business in which you work and which you help develop through constant collaboration with employees. It's cheesy, but discipline is very important to both HR and any leader and team leader.

– How do your family, relatives and friends feel about your work?

– Great, because usually nobody knows the scope of the company. And those who know their stuff are niche neutral.

– Do you play yourself?

– Rarely and exclusively for testing your company's product. I like it, but not so much that I can spend my free time playing the game. I treat the gambling industry as normal, business as business.

– Do you have experience playing in a land based casino?

– Yes, but only for fun. Was in one of the oldest casinos in Monaco. It would be silly to be there and not play. An incredibly colorful place and a pleasant atmosphere.

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