From interviews to contract signing, Great Eastern takes digital route in recruitment process

A Great Eastern employee showing how it conducts interviews online. Potential financial representatives must still pass a test and be licensed through the Monetary Authority of Singapore before they are hired.
A Great Eastern employee showing how it conducts interviews online. Potential financial representatives must still pass a test and be licensed through the Monetary Authority of Singapore before they are hired. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

The days of facing a stern interviewer in a cold boardroom may be over, with companies such as insurer Great Eastern moving towards an entirely digital recruitment process.

The firm said it began to digitalise its hiring procedures as part of an overall transformation effort even before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

It introduced an end-to-end recruitment solution at the start of the year, which means the entire process - from requisition to interviews to even the signing of the job offer document - is digitalised.

Great Eastern is also looking to launch a platform enabled by artificial intelligence, with video interviews, in the fourth quarter of the year.

The tool will assess body language and verbal responses, while offering gamified assessments.

This aims to enhance virtual recruitment in a data-enabled environment, said Mr James Lee, managing director for group human capital.

Contracts are also signed through digital signatures.

Meanwhile, the firm continues to reach out to job seekers through monthly thematic career webinars, which cater to different demographics such as undergraduates, fresh graduates and mid-career workers looking to switch industries or jobs.

Mr Ben Tan, managing director for regional agency, financial advisory and bancassurance at Great Eastern, said: "Our seamless pivot to digital, with the use of online interview platforms and digital forms for hiring financial representatives due to the pandemic, has facilitated the recruitment process in a business-as-usual way, to support our recruitment needs."

He added that the potential financial representatives still go through the same stringent qualification process, which includes taking a test by Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services, before they can sell insurance products.

They are also licensed through the Monetary Authority of Singapore, before signing the contract and undergoing training that covers adviser, product and system skills and knowledge.

The firm has been hiring for both corporate permanent positions and around 200 positions under an SGUnited traineeship programme.

It is also offering internships for more than 100 students from institutes of higher learning.

The permanent positions span divisions such as IT infrastructure and security, digital-related roles such as UI/UX development and analytics, risk management and business development.

From January to last month, Great Eastern hired 217 permanent staff and 110 people under the SGUnited traineeship programme. It has also taken in more than 500 financial representatives since April.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 21, 2020, with the headline From interviews to contract signing, Great Eastern takes digital route in recruitment process. Subscribe