What do you do when you take over a company and find that you are short of staff?
Search of course .
If only it were that easy…
The year was 2013. Marco Angeli, who would later become Riverstate CEO, joined his father’s family-owned company, ep-cm project management GmbH. ep-cm specializes in project management and consulting, focusing on the planning and implementation of projects and plant shutdowns for industrial plants. At that time, ep-cm employed 13 people in Germany and around 30 internationally, which hardly met its order book: inquiries were constantly coming in. More people were needed. But recruiting was just as difficult then as it is today, especially in the areas of engineering and construction. Marco quickly realized that he had to take action himself.
Through Xing, he meets a recruiter who offers to teach him the basics of recruiting. Armed with this knowledge and with her at his side, he sets out to find a scheduler – one of the most difficult vacancies to fill in Germany for a long time.
He begins contacting suitable candidates via Xing. He has a lengthy conversation with the third candidate, during which the third person decides to switch to ep-cm. It’s a lucky shot, but the company has gained a scheduler. And Marco has tasted blood.
Premium recruiting for engineering and construction
Most skilled workers are in permanent employment. They aren’t actively seeking a new career opportunity. They want to be approached, persuaded, and bettered. All of this requires immense effort and an entire orchestra of different tools and approaches, not to mention empathy, intelligence, patience, and humor.
In times of skilled labor shortages, it’s already difficult to recruit good staff. This makes the situation a real problem for German SMEs, especially in the engineering and construction sectors. Marco experienced this firsthand with ep-cm and learned how to manage it from the ground up.
The successful search for schedulers at ep-cm led to a change of mindset and the idea of founding a new company: to apply the tools of executive search, normally used only for high-profile positions, to the search for “regular” positions as well. The motivation was to provide support to precisely those companies that need it most: companies that don’t have their own marketing and recruiting departments and therefore present themselves less favorably to the outside world compared to large corporations. Premium recruiting for German SMEs. The birth of Riverstate.
Panta Rhei – Everything flows
Perhaps Riverstate’s most defining characteristic is its spirit of discovery and pioneering. Taking nothing for granted. Questioning things. Making things better. And doing so again and again.
This has been the case from the beginning.
In 2014, the first office opened in Düsseldorf-Lohausen. Many things were tried out, every conceivable path was explored, and the company attempted to go even further. The ship in the original logo represented a new beginning. The name Riverstate refers to the fact that everything is in flux—especially the job market. Anyone who wants to be successful must recognize the currents and know how to harness them. Over the years, this has become a Riverstate specialty.
Michael Hütsch joined the team in 2015, followed by Christian Kaya in 2016. Michael started as a working student, while Christian originally came from a philosophy background and subsequently worked as a consultant and coach with his own practice.
What no one knew at the time: big changes were coming with them.
The Riverstate of the Art
When Christian and Michael joined Riverstate, they found a recruitment agency that was already performing well, but still far from reaching its full potential. Initially, they were fully occupied managing entire departments. Together with founder Marco, they analyzed the situation and implemented groundbreaking changes that transformed Riverstate into what it is today.
“Recruitment consulting often has a reputation for being cold and distant,” says Michael, “we wanted to break that barrier. It was clear to us: We had to go to the clients, see the companies, and really get a good understanding of the circumstances and the position they were seeking.”
Since then, for every direct search assignment, Riverstate recruiters first conduct on-site research to gain a thorough understanding of the company and the position being sought. They conduct in-depth interviews and develop the profile as precisely as possible. Only then do they begin the search.
This and a few other innovations took Riverstate’s work to a new level. And so did those involved: Christian is now CDO and Head of Executive Search, and Michael is COO and co-owner.
Full speed ahead for the construction and engineering industries!
Since then, things have been on a steep upward trajectory. In 2017, Riverstate opened its first branch office in Konstanz. Daniel Dercho, one of its top recruiters, came on board. Shortly thereafter, in 2019, another office opened in Berlin, followed by one in Hamburg in 2021. The product range was diversified by spinning off social media recruiting as a separate department. With EU recruiting, the Riverstate method was extended to the Polish labor market
New players bring new inspiration: Yasmin Hoffmann and Philipp Schindler in Direct Search, Tatjana Meling in the restructuring of the Premium Recruiting service and in the development of EU recruiting. New offices are being built in Düsseldorf and Berlin, another in Poland, and the Hamburg office is moving to Frankfurt, the metropolis on the Main River. And as luck would have it, all of the offices are located on the water. Everything is in flux. The Riverstate of the Art.
With a clear vision for the future
Riverstate will remain true to its guiding principle in the future: the best quality for every type of search – without barriers.
“Why should direct contact, including personalized video interviews, only be used for top positions?” says Marco Angeli. “Especially when it comes to urgently needed specialists, recruiting shouldn’t be done with the handbrake on. Riverstate relies on all methods – for all searches, depending on the needs and objectives. Because in recruiting, only one thing counts: success. And success means when the right employee comes, signs, stays, and both sides are satisfied.”
That’s why Riverstate continues to continuously test, adapt, and integrate new approaches, optimize processes, and support its customers with foresight.
A reliable partner for measurable impact – for SMEs, engineering, and construction.
Are you looking for qualified specialists in the engineering and construction sector? Better yet, turn to the experts. Contact us, and we’ll work with you to redesign your staffing process.
