At Landhotel Diever, hospitality comes first. The team’s mission is to be one of the friendliest hotels in the Netherlands — and to deliver high-quality service every day. To keep that promise, they needed new staff.

Hotel manager Heino Woldhuis first tried to handle hiring himself. But when that didn’t work, he turned to Jobilla — and hasn’t looked back since.From filling in to leading the hotel

Heino Woldhuis now runs Landhotel Diever, located in the province of Drenthe. After graduating from hotel school, he worked in various hotel chains.

At one point, he had some extra time on his hands. A friend — the head chef at Landhotel Diever — told him they needed help on the floor. “That’s how I ended up here in 2020,” says Heino with a smile.

Creative staffing solutions in a post-COVID world

That temporary help quickly turned into something more. Heino noticed that some things could be done differently and took on the challenge. He joined the hotel full-time and helped turn it into a standout spot: fully booked in the summer and highly focused on delivering great food and warm service.

“I started just before the second COVID wave,” Heino recalls. “We had to get creative — many people were leaving the hospitality industry altogether. To keep our team busy and employed, we came up with a long list of maintenance projects.

And once things reopened, we introduced flexible hybrid roles due to staff shortages. For example, someone might serve breakfast in the morning and clean hotel rooms at 11, or a receptionist might help during the lunch rush. People liked the variety, so we kept the system in place — even after lockdowns ended.”

Time to grow the team

“Once business picked up again, we needed to expand our team,” says Heino. “I tried using Indeed to find candidates, but didn’t get any results. That’s when Hans Heijnen from Jobilla got in touch and asked if he could help.

I was a bit stubborn at first and wanted to keep trying myself — but when things got urgent, I called Hans back and said, ‘Okay, show me what you’ve got.’ That’s when I caught the Jobilla virus.”

What makes Jobilla different?

“On the surface, recruiting seems easy — just post a job ad in the local newspaper and on social media. Sure, people clicked and liked it, but most of our followers are guests, not locals. Their likes didn’t translate into applicants,” Heino explains.

“Jobilla knows how to use the right channels and algorithms. Their two-part strategy was smart: one part focused on reaching jobseekers within a 30 km radius, and the other helped raise awareness for the hotel brand. Some people later said, ‘I saw your ad again and again — I figured I should finally stop by.’”

Collaboration that delivers

Jobilla quickly set up a campaign with just a few small tweaks. “If I had questions, I just sent an email or made a quick call. The team responded right away or adjusted the campaign as needed,” says Heino. “During the three-week campaign, I had weekly check-ins with our Customer Success Specialist, Ka-Wan Hau.”

The campaign generated 10 solid applications. “We only needed one person, but ended up hiring two,” Heino says. “Then another team member left, and I went back to the applicant list. I had spoken with everyone personally and contacted one candidate who had made a great impression — and we hired them too.”

What Heino appreciated most was how candidates could choose whether they wanted to be contacted. “When I saw a response come in, I’d immediately send a message: ‘Thanks for taking the test! Mind if I give you a call tomorrow?’ If they said yes, the call was less intimidating because they already had my number.”

Happy with the people — and the process

“Sure, there are other companies out there offering cheaper solutions,” Heino admits. “But they don’t do what Jobilla does. The amount of time, energy, and hands-on support I got throughout the campaign really stood out — and the cost was more than worth it. We didn’t just get great candidates. We got more visibility, and more guests too.”

“From the first conversation with Hans to the campaign setup and the support that followed — I couldn’t be happier with Jobilla,” Heino concludes. “I’ll definitely be recommending this to others.”