Firms who are not currently making split placements, or those not making them internationally will occasionally wonder what is involved in making an international split placement to determine how to incorporate them into their business model, and if it is worth the effort. Here is a real-life example of how one such deal came together. The recruiters were based in Jakarta, Indonesia and Brisbane, Australia. The story is shared below:
The Jakarta based recruiter received the job opening from their client. Their firm had filled a role for them within their region, which resulted in receiving this new job opening in Brisbane. As members of an international split network, NPAworldwide, they posted the job, and a recruiter in Brisbane picked it up.
Initially, this placement was not an easy one as there were too many people involved. The recruiter in Jakarta was the point of contact with the client in Indonesia, but they also had involvement from HR in China, HR in Singapore, the headquarters in Sweden, plus a hiring manager and finally the recruiter in Australia working with local Brisbane candidates. They had about 2-3 attempts at the job and lost some good candidates because the process was too slow due to all the different people involved from different locations. Once the recruiter in Brisbane was able to take direct control of the interviews with the local hiring manager, everything ran smoothly.
Overall, it took about 3 months from the start to the offer/acceptance. The client needed some assistance and advice in packaging the offer to make it acceptable to Australian candidates that the local recruiter was able to aide with, and some additional hires were even made from the final shortlist of 3 candidates. The client was very impressed with the caliber of candidates that they put forth. Both candidates are still working for the client, and both have been promoted.
In terms of the candidates, one candidate was originally from the UK but had just recently moved to Brisbane where the job was. The other candidate was an Iranian living in Sydney; he did move to Brisbane. No visa issues occurred, but they did provide real estate information for housing.
The firm in Jakarta has been able to keep expanding their services geographically with this same client with help from their network trading partners. They have made placements for this client in Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia and are now working on a role in India. Collaboration with partners helps them perform well for their clients, leading to more roles, leading to more collaboration – it is a very positive circle!
The recruiting process is basically the same whether you are working locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally. Sure, there may be some additional elements, like time zones and visas, that can lengthen the process. With the right partners, recruiters should feel confident saying YES to the clients and to an international split placement!