This year we celebrate our anniversary with 10 years of building brands. A milestone that inspires us to reflect on our past, appreciate our present and take a sneak peek into our future at Vibe Group. In short, here are 5 takeaways on our shared culture by Yoram Zijtregtop representing Visser & Van Baars in the Netherlands:
- We can be of real value through our focus triple niche focus on that what we mastered
- Greediness can make you lose focus and miss other even bigger opportunities
- In times of crisis, you can keep the spirit high through clear and open communication
- Synergy is key for a multinational like us, because teamwork makes the dream work
- We can never be fully satisfied to remain market leader in a competitive market
Does this interest you? Then make sure to read every letter and find out all you must know about Visser & van Baars, the OB (original brand) that started the Vibe in 2011.
Yoram, why is Visser & Van Baars so successful?
Visser & van Baars was the first to see an opportunity in the lack of niche specialists owning the IT market. This gave us the chance to pioneer in Amsterdam and its surroundings with what we proudly present as our triple niche focus. Before we knew, we had a team of 7 top dogs who were all specialized in Search & Selection, primarily focused on Business Intelligence. All knowing the ins & outs of the industry, being perfectly able to match the high demand of the market with the right man for the job.
How do you explain the fact of Visser & Van Baars being a pioneer, doing what it does best before anyone else?
I think I would explain this as a lack of focus. It’s pretty natural for sales professionals to see chances everywhere, trying to get everything they can, but this greediness can also blind you for other, even bigger opportunities.
At Visser & Van Baars we just learned the principle of quality over quantity at the right time and place. By integrating this into our core business, we did not lose our focus on the market. Its demand was already very high, but through our triple niche focus, we were the ones who could say no to parties that did not fully align with our expertise. This way, we could only focus on that what we mastered, and be of real value to our both clients and candidates.
So, what’s Visser & Van Baars specialized in?
Basically, what we do is helping our clients and candidates in all fields of data, connecting the right Data professionals to the right organizations. Due to the world constantly evolving, we now niche focus on Business intelligence, Databases, Data science / Machine learning, Data engineering, Data analytics and Data governance / Management.
For example, there is not one recruiter that knows all the ins & outs in the market of Data Governance, other than Laura Reijn. She is really the best of the best within her niche.
In terms of success, a wise man once said failure is even better. Can you tell us more about the biggest lessons you have learned in terms of setbacks?
Well, for the last 2-3 years before corona, we have only had and known success, just because our team was so strong and dominant, outperforming any competition. When the crisis hit, for the first time our winning team was confronted with loss, not reaching our goals, which was hard.
To turn tables, we got the whole squad together for the conversation that was most needed. Due to our team effort, everyone giving input, being high spirited, we were able to get the output in 2020 we aimed for.
Now the market is opening again, and the crisis seems over, we are back on our track of success. Last month of May we have had a best ever. In the end, you only “pick the fruits” if you are really determined to make the climb and lift each other up.
What’s the impact Visser & Van Baars making now?
Visser & Van Baars has a recruitment team like no other. We own a market share in the vacancies for data professionals that is unmatched. Like last 2 years we have staffed 400 data professionals at 200 companies. Since we are such a dominant force, our network is growing equally to our success. You could say that everyone in the industry knows our name and what it stands for.
Why is that you think?
Because we are just absolute winners, being on top of our game. We just love winning on an honest and healthy way. By wanting to win and persistently giving our best, we create a flow of success. The synergy within Visser and Van Baars is crucial, because we share leads and candidates geographically in all cities, like Amsterdam and Rotterdam, etc. Together, teamwork makes the dream work.
So, what does the future hold for Visser & Van Baars?
Well, of course there are big things coming up. Data is a hot topic, there is a lot of scarcity due to relatively few specialists. All companies are making the switch to data-driven work within a tight labour market.
Being the most dominant with the future in our own hands, we always have an edge over the competition. However, we can never be fully satisfied. We should never forget that we ourselves were a small fish once, with the major recruitment parties in our sight. Just like we took over the industry, others are now looking for the kill as well.
Really, we are now the man to beat, so we should stay sharp on all details, always looking for opportunities, and cannot get complacent. This way, we will not only remain a market leader, but also grow even further in all niches.
Any goal you like to round this up with?
The goal is to be as dominant in all domains as we are now in Business Intelligence. For example, we have 12 people on BI, while for now we only have 3 on Data Science, but even BI can do better. You see, there’s always room for improvement and growth to build our brands.
Work at Vibe is knowing a lot about a little
Become a specialist within your IT field. On our Working at Vibe page you can find out how we do our work and how we make sure all our new colleagues grow just as fast as our company.
Take me to the working at vibe page or Check out the vacancies at Vibe group
More about Visser & van Baars?
Want to find out more about Visser & van Baars and the current opportunities? Read more on our website for careers in BI, MI, Data and Analytics
