As a recruiting firm, have you considered working internationally but haven’t “pulled the trigger?” Maybe you’re a solo recruiter with limited resources and don’t think you can take on international recruitment. Or maybe your firm doesn’t want to have to navigate the legalities and regulations of another country. Yes, these can be challenges, but the fastest and easiest way to surmount them is to work with a trading partner who has experience in international recruitment and understands the local laws.
A valuable international recruitment partner will be able to find top talent, screen the candidates, and manage the interview and hiring process. This can save you time and money, and help you satisfy all of your clients’ needs.
Here is an International Recruitment success story that happened recently between two NPAworldwide members:
A member in Brisbane, QLD, Australia had been working with an Australian-based global business within the airline cabin technology and inflight entertainment arena for several years. The company has been going through rapid organic growth but recently made a major acquisition of a well-known competitor in the field. The company identified that a new VP Manufacturing, Quality and Supply was necessary as an executive in the business based in the US. This role would also have a focus on the manufacturing plant, crucial to operations just across the US border in Mexicali, Mexico and would spend substantial time there in the beginning.
The Australian member immediately thought to turn to the NPAworldwide network to find an international partner. Coincidentally, the regional NPA conference was happening in Melbourne, Australia, and both NPA’s president and the Chairman of NPA’s board of directors were there, who both recommended an NPAworldwide member in Chula Vista, CA as a partner to reach out to.
“We discussed his previous experience and I felt he had a good understanding of the market, and the role we would be recruiting seemed to be a signature strength of his,” the Australian member said. “There was a period of negotiation around fees and process and we came to a mutual agreement on how to proceed. I then prepared the brief with the client and shared it with my NPA trading partner. The client then met with my trading partner in person while on a trip to the US to round out the contextual information about the company, acquisition plans and his leadership style in more detail.
“My trading partner and his team embarked on the candidate search and a number of high caliber candidates who were all capable of doing the role were presented. The client had an initial round of interviews with all 5 candidates. I became involved in a second interview of 3 candidates also with the CEO and CFO of the company via Skype. From there, we selected one to go through to reference check stage, which was undertaken diligently by my trading partner, with my firm conducting psychometric assessments and debrief on these results.
“From there, the candidate was offered, and a start date confirmed. The whole process was thorough, with my trading partner and his team doing a great job. Communication was easy considering the time differences, not only between our two firms, but the client and the candidates all being in different time zones.
A great achievement from both of us, with the client very impressed with the collaborative approach and the outcome reached.”
This is a great testament to how a recruiting firm can make an international placement and share a split, one that they may not have otherwise closed if they didn’t have a trading partner with local expertise and international experience.