Our Experts Answer Your Most Frequently Asked Questions

Partnering with a hiring agency is an effective way to increase your chances of landing your ideal job. Hiring agencies act as intermediaries, connecting you with employers seeking candidates. Many employers opt to advertise job openings through agencies to save time on the complex recruitment process and ensure they find the right fit.

Alternative Recruitment offers a range of services, including employee assignments (agency work), HR consulting, and event & logistics services.

• Agency Work: Includes temporary staffing (based on either an administrative model or effective working hours model), Try & Hire services, as well as preselection, recruitment, and candidate selection. This service also covers creating and posting job ads, selecting candidates, collecting documentation, drafting employment contracts, handling pension and health insurance applications, salary calculations, salary payments, and other administrative tasks.

• HR Consulting: Includes recruitment services, potential assessments, organizational diagnostics, and custom HR solutions tailored to clients' needs.

• Event & Logistics: Includes promotions, event management, and various market research methods.

Once you apply, our recruitment consultants review your CV and application to ensure your experience aligns with the job requirements specified by our clients. If shortlisted, you’ll be invited for an interview. Based on your knowledge, motivation, and fit for the job, you may either be recommended or not recommended to the client. In some cases, depending on the client’s requirements, you might need to undergo a psychological assessment or take a skills test. Afterward, the client conducts additional interviews and negotiations. If you accept the job offer, and the process concludes successfully, we notify the other candidates about the outcome. Your CV will be stored in the Alternative Recruitment database until the job selection process is complete, or up to five years if you consent to keep your information on file.

Absolutely! You are welcome to apply for as many jobs as you feel qualified for. If a job offer is made, you can decide whether or not to take the next step.

When submitting your CV, whether through an open application or for a specific job, ensure it includes essential personal information such as your full address (street, city, state), phone number, and email address. Additionally, provide details of your education, including the school, degree, and year of completion. Include a comprehensive work experience section, highlighting the employment periods, company names and locations, job titles, and a brief job description. Make sure to mention your proficiency in foreign languages and include your driver’s license details if relevant. Lastly, any additional pertinent information, such as personal skills, hobbies, interests, and ambitions, should be included to give a well-rounded picture of your background.

If you email your CV to one of our contact addresses, you’ll be redirected to the Alternative Recruitment career page. Here, you'll need to create a profile. This process is quick and simple. We use specialized software to manage candidate databases and selection processes, making them more efficient. Logging into the career page is essential for reviewing how your personal data is used and for consenting to its usage.

Employers often prefer anonymity in job ads to maintain professionalism and minimize disruptions in their daily operations. This ensures discretion and eliminates any external pressure on stakeholders, preserving the employer's integrity. The agency keeps applications confidential and only shares employer details with selected candidates privately. You then have the option to decide whether to pursue the job with that employer.

Alternative Recruitment conducts online interviews and meetings, as well as online testing and assessment of knowledge and skills. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, this way of working was reserved for the first interviews with candidates outside Zagreb. Since March 2020, we have been doing interviews via video call almost exclusively. Alternative Recruitment uses the Microsoft Teams platform, which is very simple and practical. After arranging an interview with the consultant by phone, you will receive an invitation to the meeting with a link to join. If you use a mobile phone, you need to install the application; the installation will not be necessary while using a computer or laptop.

Alternative Recruitment, as an intermediary that has recruitment as its primary activity, constantly strives to carry out the recruitment phase (advertising and inviting candidates) in the shortest possible period, which can last 2 to 3 weeks. Following the recommendation, the employer determines the pace of further steps. It depends on how the employer will organize his time and conduct interviews with the recommended candidates, and also how much time they will need for the next rounds of interviews and making the final decision. This process can sometimes happen quickly, but it takes 5 to 6 weeks on average.

Agency work is a model involving the agency, the client (company receiving the agency worker), and the employee. The agency and the client sign an agreement outlining the terms of employment, which complies with labor laws. The agency then hires the employee, and the worker is referred to the client to start their assignment.

The agency is considered the employer of the worker and is responsible for registering them for compulsory pension and health insurance. However, in terms of workplace safety and health, the client is regarded as the employer, according to the Labor Act.

No, the agency does not charge any commission to the worker, as stated under Article 44 of the Labor Law and EU directives.

No, our services are free for candidates. You can register on our website or apply for job ads at no cost. We will contact you and offer job roles that align with your experience and education.

Alternative Recruitment does not cover travel expenses for attending an interview, whether it's with the agency or the potential employer. Some employers may cover transportation costs for final-round interviews, but typically, first-round interviews do not have travel allowances.

Salary, as defined by the Labor Law, refers to the gross salary, which can be categorized into three distinct forms: NET salary, GROSS I salary, and GROSS II salary

NET salary refers to the amount an employee receives after all mandatory deductions have been made from the GROSS salary, including contributions for pension and health insurance, income tax, and surtax. GROSS I represents the salary amount from which these deductions are calculated. Specifically, contributions for pension insurance are split into two pillars: 15% of the GROSS I amount is allocated to the first pillar (used to fund current pensions), and 5% goes to the second pillar (deposited into a personal pension account within the mandatory pension fund). GROSS II salary includes the total cost the employer bears for the employee, and it is calculated by adding 16.5% health insurance contributions to the GROSS I salary.

A personal deduction is the portion of income that is exempt from taxation and is therefore not subject to income tax.

ITo work a student job, students must visit a student service office and fill out an enrollment card and a declaration form. They must also provide a valid student ID (X-ica), a certificate or electronic record confirming student status for the current academic year, a national ID for verification, two passport-size photos, and proof of a personal bank account (either a contract or bank-issued certificate). Unemployed graduates must submit a diploma or graduation certificate. Students residing in Croatia but studying abroad must present a court-translated certificate from their foreign institution. Non-residents of Croatia must register their local residence and submit proof along with the other required documents.

The student contract must be signed before the start of the job. It is concluded between the student, the student service, and the employer, and must be renewed monthly. The contract is essential and serves as the official authorization to begin work.

By law, employers are required to pay for student work through the student service office no later than 15 days after the job has ended. The student service must then transfer the funds to the student’s bank account within three days of receiving the payment.

Yes. According to the Income Tax Act and relevant regulations, student earnings are tax-free up to a certain annual limit. If a student earns more than this threshold within a calendar year, their parents may lose the right to claim them as a tax-dependent. Furthermore, the student’s income only becomes subject to taxation after exceeding a combined limit, which includes their personal deduction and the non-taxable earnings cap.

There is no restriction on the number of contracts a student can take during the year, provided previously issued contracts have been properly returned to the student service office. A student may receive up to three contracts per month for the same employer, assuming they return previous contracts on time.

Yes. Students are legally entitled to a 50% pay increase for work done on public holidays, night shifts, Sundays, and for any overtime hours worked.

Yes, students who work six or more consecutive hours in a day are entitled to a 30-minute paid break.

Students may receive reimbursement for travel expenses, a hot meal allowance, and other benefits—if such allowances are agreed upon with the employer.

Absolutely not. It is strictly prohibited for anyone other than the contract holder to work using a student contract. A student who misuses their contract by allowing someone else to work under it may face a one-year suspension from using intermediary employment services and may also be required to repay the full amount earned under the misused contract, along with other possible penalties.