If the pandemic has highlighted anything, it’s the scarcity of tech talent. With all systems moving online, we’ve crammed 10 years of tech development into just a couple, and at this rate, we’ll experience a tech talent shortage of 85 million workers by 2030.
Although the situation seems dire, with a bit of creativity, up-to-date research, and a willingness to expand your recruitment efforts globally, you will be able to find the most talented candidates for your business. This article will explore 5 best practices for recruiting and relocating international tech talent.
1. Identify new sourcing platforms
According to a recent study on Linkedin, filling an open tech position can take over a month for most companies. That’s a lot of time (and money) most companies don’t want – or need – to part with. With the days of solely relying on Linkedin messages and job ads behind us, it’s crucial for companies looking to attract top talent to start by identifying new sourcing platforms. Here are some of our favorites:
International job boards
Despite Covid-19, relocation remains popular for potential employees, and job boards will be the first place they look for employment. For platforms dedicated solely to tech professionals, try out Dice, Hired, and Relocate.me.
Geo-targeted advertising on social media
If you know you want to hire from a specific area, you can use available online data to target potential candidates through their Twitter, Google, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.
Direct outreach via social media, online forums, localized industry groups, Slack groups, etc.
Aside from the usual recruitment suspects like Linkedin, talents congregate in online communities that you can find for example on dedicated Reddit boards.
ATS with built-in sourcing functionality
Implementing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) with a built-in sourcing tool allows you to run your own Boolean searches, looking for specific education requirements, skills, and markets.
Reverse hiring platform
Reverse recruitment might be the future of tech hiring. On reverse recruitment platforms, a company publishes its job details and matches with previously screened talent. Check out sites like Honeypot.io, OfferZen.com or Talent.io to learn more.
2. Provide a localized candidate and user experience
With the importance of company diversity ever-increasing, efforts must begin at the start of a potential candidate’s journey. When hiring internationally, you need to speak many languages, be aware of cultural differences and understand that different cultures have different workplace priorities. A couple of things you can do to provide a localized candidate and user experience include:
- Using an ATS with multi-language capabilities: You post one ad, the platform translates it into multiple languages. SmartRecruiters has this built-in functionality.
- Partnering with someone who understands international recruiting, hiring regulations, and cultural and social norms in target locations: While some candidates in one location value work-life balance, others might value things like stable income. Understanding these differences in values is just the beginning of providing a good candidate experience, and working to understand more than that requires a surplus of time. Look at platforms like TalentLyft, which does all that heavy lifting for you.
3. Recruit talent in emerging markets
An emerging market is a country with a fast-growing GDP rate, but it is not yet as mature as countries with developed economies which means these markets are perfect candidate pools. While many global regions may be experiencing talent shortages, emerging markets are set to share a surplus of talent, with Malaysia, Brazil, Kenya, and Turkey being some of them.
And emerging markets are working to prepare their candidates for the global workforce. For example, companies like Andela exist in countries within Africa to train software developers to place them in companies around the world.
If diversity and inclusion are top priorities in your company, then expanding your recruitment efforts to include candidates from emerging markets will not only fill talent gaps but provide a unique opportunity to solve the complex problems your company faces.
4. Highlight the location in your relocation package
When considering whether or not to relocate to an entirely different country, a candidate will need to think about much more than just their job. Take the opportunity to highlight how great the location of the workplace is by creating blog posts and guides showcasing:
- Quality of life
- Social and cultural norms
- Cost of living
- A list of attractions and things to do
- A list of communities they can join
This information should also be in your generous relocation package, which you should publicize to candidates. Potential talent will want to know whether or not you offer:
- Visa support
- Housing support
- Cover any moving costs
- Offer support to relocate family members
- Support with adapting to their new city
Commencing a new job is already stressful – add to it the need to navigate an entirely new city with its own set of regulations and norms, and you have the potential for a burned-out employee. Showing how you will set potential talent up for success will attract them to your company.
5. Develop an international employer brand
The current workforce wants more than a 9-5 that pays the bills; they want a set of values to align with and a mission and vision to buy into. That’s where an employer brand comes in, and if you’re a distributed or globalized company, you face a unique challenge: to ensure your brand speaks to a very diverse group of people.
If you are completely open to talent from anywhere and everywhere, your employer brand should highlight your values surrounding diversity and inclusion, as well as your willingness to learn and understand alternative cultural norms and what that might mean for your workplace.
If you know you want your candidates to come from a particular region, your messaging should reflect how your company’s values align with theirs. For example, in one region, collaboration is highly valued, whereas opportunities for growth stand as a greater priority in another. Overall, the messaging will remain consistent, but you’ll highlight different values for different targets.
Once you’ve defined your approach, amplify your message on your careers page, social media channels, in your job descriptions, on your company blog, and through employee advocacy. Keep it consistent, though targeted, and you’ll surely attract the right global talent for your company.
The bottom line
We’ve been in a global war for talent for a while now, but with every year that goes by comes a wealth of creativity and ideas for winning the best tech talent for your company. Investing a little more time into sourcing candidates through new platforms and from emerging markets, working to provide a great candidate experience, and optimizing your employer brand for a global candidate pool will be time well spent.
Commit to recruiting internationally and watch your talent pool expand exponentially, your teams strengthen their diversity, and your company’s complex problems resolve with new cultural perspectives and insights.
Now that you have a better idea of how to recruit global talent, get in touch with us to find out how you can seamlessly relocate new hires!
