The International Checklist: How to Hire Top Talent from Around the World

Hiring top talent from other countries can be tricky, so you need to be aware of all the hidden hurdles before you hire and bring someone in from outside of your country’s borders. To ensure that your business hires international employees that are the right fit for your organization, consider using the 4-step checklist below when hiring international candidates. By following each step, you’ll minimize your risk as you hire from overseas and maximize your chance of hiring successful team members who will help your business grow!

Step 1 – Understand your company’s needs

Step one for international recruiting should be understanding your company’s needs. Are you looking for someone to fill a position, or do you need new business leads in a specific area of expertise? For example, if you are looking for someone with accounting experience but don’t have any in-house talent at the moment, then look abroad. You will have less competition and access to talent.

Step 2 – Create a profile for your ideal candidate

Talent is everywhere in this world, you just need a way of finding it. Your job as an employer is not just to find the best people who are available and match them up with vacant positions but also to make sure they get an accurate picture of what life will be like in your organization. It’s all about assessing their needs and desires, giving them honest feedback and information about your company, as well as what’s expected of them once they join.

Step 3 – Have a job offer ready

Do your homework. If you don’t speak the same language as your potential employee, ask someone who does (or find an automated translation service) and learn everything you can about their culture, customs, and more. Knowing these things will help you create a competitive offer package that they’ll have no problem accepting. Remember that pay scales are often different abroad so you may need to adjust your offer to reflect the country’s standard wage for similar positions. Your hiring manager should also consider using other incentives such as higher vacation time, better health care benefits, or shorter work hours.

Step 4 – Reach out to them!

Great! You’ve found your perfect candidate. Now what? Reach out and get in contact with them. Send them a message via LinkedIn, introduce yourself, and ask if they’d like to chat further about the opportunity. From there, it’s just a waiting game! If you were successful in catching their attention then the next step is setting up an interview. There are many platforms where this can be done (Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom) or even by phone if needed. Once again reach out to set up an appointment and let them know you’ll have all of the logistics worked out for their arrival before that meeting date comes around so there won’t be any surprises on either end of things!