Being from an Indian family where 80 percent of men are working in the middle east and some others in US, I pretty much know how their international job search process was.
It was a choice that my family members preferred considering the broader experience that they can get and prospects for career development. But more than that the obvious factor is the opportunity to obtain a more lucrative salary and benefits which can be almost 4 times more than they can get from their home land. Now you know why they sacrificed their time with family and which is an whole another story that I can pull it in another blog. But here I would like to target the barriers that recruiters face when they do international recruitment.
Here is blog from Workforce that says that companies struggle to recruit internationally based on a recent study by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of KPMG titled “Rethinking Human Resources in a Changing World”. 3 out of 4 executives say their workforce is becoming increasingly global, but just 1 in 4 believe their HR teams excel at sourcing and retaining international talent.
5 Barriers for international Recruitments
Not knowing the audience
Unlike domestic or local recruitment where you know your established talent pool, you may not necessary know how to find your talent in an international market. The recruiting techniques that worked in US may not necessarily work in India or any other country. When a decision to work overseas has been made, majority of the job seekers relying on online job boards, a very few of them contact recruitment consultancies. Now social recruiting might be highly successful for a developed country like US but what if other countries are not as advanced as yours? Where is their talent? Where do they seek for jobs? That’s worth some research!
Cultural Barrier
When you decide how best to publicize a vacancy it is vital to know that candidates don’t automatically think for looking at a job boards. Everybody is tied with their cultural rituals and attached with the way they live and they make decisions based on that, which can vary from country to country. And when it comes to creating a willingness to work abroad an enticing job board can really attract them but it’s really all about tailoring the job board according to the factors that motivate your target applicants. .
Language Barrier
Languages spoken in international countries are different. For example, in India they speak almost 29 different languages. So if candidates are not well versed with English language or the language of your home country that is a big gap in letting the recruiters communicate to candidates and vise versa.
Legislative problems
Dealing with immigration laws and regulations, getting sufficient work permit for the targeted candidates and having them work in your country for a longer period of time is always a challenge and most often a tiresome process to go through.
Background Checking
Verifying the experiences that candidates present is legitimate or not, checking the company and verifying its existence, the details that mentioned about the salary and most importantly has the candidate been involved in any felony in his home country. Finding answers to these questions are highly necessary to avoid fraud representation and avoid future problems. This involves cost and time.
To deal with all these barriers It is good to consult with the local experts in the country you are targeting and get the process in line with local norms too.
Have you faced any other barriers while doing international recruitment and how did you solve those? Share here, would love to hear from you.
