The process of finding skilled workers is no mean feat. To discover, connect, and hire talented people is an incredibly complex process and there are a number of steps that have to be taken in order to find and retain the right person for the job. When you open up your search to candidates around the world and widen your focus to international talent, things can get a little tricky —but the rewards can be huge.
5 reasons you should hire international talent
By opening up positions to anyone in the world, you increase your chances of finding the best talent.
Hiring people with different backgrounds equips companies with employees that can approach challenges in new and unexpected ways.
Diversity in the workplace can foster a non-judgmental and open-minded environment where people of different gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and culture can truly excel.
Diverse teams better understand diverse markets.
Demonstrating that your company values and understands different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences is very appealing to prospective candidates and can in practice reduce turnover.
“For me, it is very important having leaders who value and respect difference, which in my opinion, is crucial to making people feel like they can be themselves in the workplace.” – Barbara, Editorial Manager.
How to curb the challenges of a global hiring process
While acquiring talent from around the world has its many benefits, there are of course some challenges that come along with it. You may, for example, encounter more applications in your hiring process than is manageable, or find yourself competing against tech giants to get in-demand job-seekers. Here are our top tips to avoid these pitfalls while still attaining the right person for the job.
Use the right channels
There are many channels through which you can acquire candidates, but it’s important to use specific ones in order to refine your search and attract the right people. LinkedIn, for example, allows you to set specific skill requirements and limit the reach of your advertisements so that only people with matched skills are targeted. If like us you at times require German native speakers, you might, for example, utilize Indeed.de in order to refine your audience to German job-seekers. For recruiting people with technical skills, specialized platforms such as talent.io and Honeypot can be great tools to approach candidates. Whichever channel you choose, it’s important to define your requirements and to review the success as you build on your talent acquisition strategy.
Perfect your job descriptions
To avoid an influx of applications from the wrong people, put the time in at the beginning to curate the perfect job description and job advertisement. Target people on platforms, such as LinkedIn, with keywords that will connect you to the right candidates. Do you need someone to have experience in PHP, Adobe, or specific writing frameworks? Make sure you include those. And if you’re still not getting the right applicants through, revise and test new versions of the description until you do.
Build a strong company profile
Candidates will likely be reviewing you as much as you are reviewing them. That’s why it’s important to ensure that you have a strong company profile that clearly defines your work culture and is discoverable through multiple channels—be that on LinkedIn, recruitment sites, or your own website. We recommend creating a catalogue of blog posts that help to build a clearer picture of your current projects and workplace culture so that candidates can get a feel for the type of place they could potentially be a part of. Social media platforms can also be great tools to use when building a strong company identity. We, for example, utilize Instagram and have a company-dedicated account, gimmemore_team, through which we share business updates, behind-the-scenes insights, and introductions to our different team members.
Harness the power of your connections
Draw in candidates instead of going out of your way to find them. If you have established your company as a desirable place to work, be that through your brand identity, employee review, or market presence, then talented candidates will find and come to you. You could even incentivize your existing employees with benefits or rewards to aid you in your search, by asking them if they can recommend any eligible candidates.
Never limit your team to the confines of geographical borders
Our team, at present, consists of 35 colleagues from 17 different countries with a total of 19 languages spoken. We pride ourselves in this diversity and believe it has played a huge role in our success, strength, and growth as a company.
“Working with people from different parts of the world (as is the case at 360 Digital Starters) helps you to have a different perspective on things. People are more open to your opinions and are more understanding when you face difficulties or challenges. My colleagues are open and kind and are always willing to help. The main thing is that we keep learning from one another!” – Jackie, Graphic Designer.
We strongly believe that if you expand your search beyond local sources and position your organization as the workplace of choice, then you too will find your company brimming with global talent.