IKEA: Not interested in the grades or CVs of new talent

IKEA. For some, the mere name of the Swedish furniture retailer will send shivers down the spine as memories of entire Saturdays lost to manuals for Dockstas and Billys come flooding back.

Whilst the store is known for their eclectic blend of DIY furniture, as well as for their meatballs and warehouse-style mega-shops; they’re not as well known for their unusual recruitment methods.

Yet, say it quietly, the world-famous brand is making waves in the hiring world by starting to look at people, rather than CVs. For Marilyn Schröder, Manager for Recruitment at IKEA Deutschland, she believes the application process is a dialogue which needs to ask the candidate: “Do you have a talent that you can use at Ikea to find a home with us?"

Speaking to Business Insider, she said: "Every human being develops certain values over the course of his or her life. The more values match those of IKEA, the greater the likelihood that a new employee will actually be happy with us."