Smartphone bank Revolut wants to launch a retail offering in Switzerland. Those interested in clinching a job with the fintech are forewarned: the start-up requires its employees to prove they can earn their keep.
British finance start-up Revolut has traditional banking hot under the collar for undercutting incumbents on price. Now, the «neo bank» is raising eyebrows for its unconventional methods for recruiting staff.
Revolut appears to be asking job applicants to demonstrate they can acquire 200 new clients for the start-up before they can proceed to the next hiring round, according to reporting from Spanish outlet «Eldiario».
Best and Brightest?
Effectively, this means Revolut is making applicants work for the company if they hope to clinch a job. The start-up justifies this method with its desire to hire the best and brightest candidates for the job.
Testing job applicants through practical experience is the best method to identify quality, according to Revolut. «Anyone can say how amazing they are, but the employer has to know if they truly have the skills,» a Revolut spokesman told the Spanish outlet.
Seeking «Influencers»
Revolut is targeting graduates with digital and social media skills in its job search. In particular, the start-up wants to harvest the «influencer» skills of the incoming generation of workers.
The fintech is looking for 30 to 50 business developers, according to an «Eldiario» calculation. If each of the new hires is able to hit the 200 new client target, the neo bank would automatically have as many as 10,000 new clients without spending a cent. For comparison, traditional banks spend hundreds for the acquisition of each new client.
«Amazing Feedback»
One job candidate rejected Revolut's suggestion that she begin acquiring in order to kickstart her job prospects with the company. Revolut's head business developer Andrius Bicelka responded to her objections by saying he regretted her decision, and that she had been the only one of 350 candidates to reject the practice.
«We always had amazing feedback from [sic] the home task,» according to an email quoted by «Eldiario». Bicelka said he won Revolut more than 5,000 new clients before joining last year. As a result, his job interview lasted just two minutes, he told the luckless applicant.
