Recruiting global candidates is becoming more and more common, and for good reason. Why restrict yourself to only recruiting within your own country when expanding your search offers so many benefits? International hiring can grant you access to a diverse talent pool, provide opportunities for global expansion, and improve the overall productivity of your workforce. It’s not without its challenges, but with all that global recruiting has to offer, companies would be missing out by only hiring locally.
The challenges of global talent recruitment
When looking for international talent, there are a few challenges that companies need to be ready for. It’s important to make a distinction between recruiting international candidates to have them relocate to your primary location and hiring remote talent abroad. Both have their advantages and unique challenges.
If your company is going to recruit global talent to work in person in the United States, one of the most immediate challenges is finding the ideal candidate who is willing to relocate. Sometimes, everything about an international candidate will be perfect except for their willingness or ability to relocate. In that case, you’ll have to choose between moving on to another candidate or allowing that person to work remotely.
For candidates who will relocate, navigating work visa requirements can be a lengthy process. The onboarding process is often much more time-consuming with international hires compared to domestic hires. Your new hire will also need time to adapt to a new culture and integrate into their new community.
Staying on top of the varying federal and local employment regulations in each country is another significant challenge associated with global talent recruitment. International employment regulations can differ greatly from one region or country to another. Payroll rules abroad, for example, are often different than those in the US. Your HR team will need to be aware of all applicable laws before proceeding with an international candidate.
5 tips for global recruiting
1. Establish a strategic workforce plan
Strategic workforce planning is all about analyzing your current workforce and determining what your organization must do to meet its current and future workforce requirements. Taking the time to develop a strategic workforce plan is worthwhile for any company, but it's especially important for companies interested in recruiting globally.
Creating this plan will help you determine your organization’s workforce needs and what skills or competencies the HR team should look for in international candidates. It’s the guide you need to find global hires that perfectly fill the gaps in your current workforce.
2. Build a strong company culture
Building and maintaining strong company culture will help attract talent as a general strategy. To recruit international candidates, you’ll need to go a step further and demonstrate that you have a welcoming and inclusive company culture. Consider implementing a diversity training program or hosting cultural awareness workshops so your whole team is on the same page about inclusivity. If your company is hiring internationally for remote roles, it’s equally important to foster a strong remote culture.
3. Engage with global talent
Social media recruitment is increasingly popular among hiring managers, and the strategy can benefit your global recruitment efforts. Building a strong social media presence and connecting with potential candidates from all over the world will help establish your brand’s reputation and elevate your global recruitment process. Candidates in high-demand fields, like tech, often receive multiple offers from potential employers. It can be hard for smaller or less familiar companies to compete for top talent. Engaging with global specialists in your field on social media can make it much easier to recruit tech talent.
4. Adapt your candidate selection process
Complying with all relevant employment laws is one of the greatest challenges of global recruitment, whether you’re planning your first international hire or adding a new country to a growing list of outposts. Certain interview questions, for example, are legal in some countries and illegal in others. Personal assessment tools are also regulated in some places and usable without restriction in others.
During global recruitment, your HR team may have to adapt the candidate selection process depending on where each potential hire lives. They may also have to amend their scoring metrics to offset variations in the process and ensure compliance doesn’t inadvertently count against the candidate.
5. Choose the right technology
Having the right technology on your side will help make your global recruiting process seamless and effective. Instead of relying on spreadsheets and outdated software, your HR team can use a streamlined HR management system to make global recruitment much simpler. These systems can help your HR team manage relocation assistance, localized health benefits and currency conversions, and other compliance issues while recruiting globally.
Are you interested in better, more efficient global recruitment? Try Oyster’s global employment platform.
About Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform designed to enable visionary HR leaders to find, engage, pay, manage, develop, and take care of a thriving distributed workforce. Oyster lets growing companies give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches and expense.
Oyster enables hiring anywhere in the world—with reliable, compliant payroll, and great local benefits and perks.
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