Hiring the right people is not always easy for recruiters, and there are times when you need to look a little further afield in order to find the candidate that’s right for the job. That’s simply the way it goes sometimes. But if you are going to source international candidates, you need to know how to do it correctly. Here’s what you need to know.
Sourcing Candidates
When looking for professionals in a specialized field, using career portals and databases of relevant professionals is a good way to start. By far the biggest but certainly not the only option is LinkedIn. It allows you to tailor your search in many different ways.
One of the most important things to do when sourcing candidates in this way, apart from ensuring they have the relevant skills, qualifications and experience, is making sure they’re proficient in the language or languages you’re going to require them to speak. LinkedIn allows you to do this.
Gaining Work Authorization
When you eventually find a candidate that you want to hire and you’ve learned that they’re interested in the job as well, you need to make sure you gain work authorization. This is what makes them legal to work in the US. And without this, they won’t be allowed to live and work here.
Depending on the nature of the employment, you might be able to sponsor the candidate and help them get an employment-based green card, which would allow them to live and work here legally. It’s possible to get a green card for any job, but there are long waiting lists for many. That’s why sponsoring a candidate as an employer is preferential.
It’s important to look at all of the green card options and the procedures and requirements that surround them before you start sourcing employees you’re interested in hiring. This will allow you to prepare for the processes ahead. It might be easier than you think though if you’re hiring specialized employees in niche employment areas.
Mistakes to Avoid
It’s important to do extra research, reference checking and digging into a person’s resume before hiring them. And this is even more important when hiring international candidates. Make your processes stronger and don’t fall into the trap of hiring the wrong person through a lack of research.
Moving too fast and using a short hiring timeline is another mistake recruiters often make when hiring international candidates. If you want to do it right, you will have to accept that you need to spend a little more time on the process.
And the final mistake recruiters still make is cutting corners and not doing things legally. This is bad for the business, but it’s also potential disastrous for employees if they believe their employer is sorting things out for them, only to find that’s not the case later on.
Now that you have a better understanding of hiring international candidates for your business, you should start thinking about putting these concepts into practice. If you’re going to source and recruit international job candidates, it’s vital to do it properly and to obey the law.
