7 benefits of using an overseas recruitment agency

Evaluating and making plans to expand operations into other countries often requires rethinking your processes for recruiting and hiring workers. That’s because hiring internationally comes with a host of complexities—such as adhering to different employment laws, language and cultural nuances, different currencies and taxes. Rather than navigate it alone, more internal HR teams are enlisting help from overseas recruitment agencies.

It is a smart strategy. According to Forbes, not only is it beneficial to work with an agency that has boots on the ground in the location you want to hire in, it also gives you the ability to tap into the vast networks of candidates they’ve already sourced.

If you want to hire the best candidates in your new international markets, partnering with a recruitment agency with in-country resources and expertise can maximize your recruitment efforts and budget.

Related: 5 tips for optimizing your global hiring strategy

While hiring workers in your home country may be a familiar process, hiring workers internationally comes with myriad factors that you may be less familiar with. Working with an overseas staffing agency can save you time, connect you to a larger pool of qualified candidates, and reduce expensive risks, like bad hires or expenses related to finding and onboarding candidates.

Here are a few ways that recruitment agencies can elevate your recruiting and hiring process, particularly when hiring overseas:

Recruitment agencies maintain large databases of pre-screened and vetted candidates (including passive candidates who may not be actively searching for a job but are open to opportunities), which lifts one of the most time-consuming aspects of the hiring process off your plate. With initial evaluations, preliminary interviews, reference checks and, in some cases, even background checks completed in advance, recruitment agencies can quickly provide you with a shortlist of potential hires in the local market who match the job requirements.

Many recruitment agencies specialize in specific industries or sectors, keeping themselves up to date on the latest market trends, industry news and in-demand skillsets. Being plugged in in this way gives them the knowledge and skill to identify talented applicants, which is particularly useful when recruiting for specialized roles and spotting qualified talent in markets where you may not have in-country expertise.

Hiring overseas can involve various legal and regulatory requirements that must be complied with, such as employment contracts and labor laws specific to the country. Noncompliance (even if you simply didn’t know) can come with stiff penalties. Complying with regulations is much easier when you have help, and recruitment agencies already have processes in place that reduce potential risk and align with local laws.

Recruitment agencies often have in-depth insight into the local job market in the countries where they operate. This local knowledge and expertise can help your company prepare and set expectations with regard to available local talent, compensation standards, legal requirements and market trends. As your company expands to new markets globally, this insight can help in finding suitable candidates with the right skills and experience for your organization.

Related: Top 5 benefits of recruiting internationally

As different countries have unique business cultures, work styles and communication norms, a recruitment agency can offer you valuable insight into etiquette and cultural considerations, so you have a sense of what to expect when hiring internationally. For example, in business settings in Japan shaking hands is a less common greeting than the preferred slight bow without direct eye contact. Your recruitment agency can apprise you of language and cultural norms like these in advance, and help you identify candidates with whom your organization will most likely have a cultural fit.

The recruiting and hiring process requires significant time and effort to complete and it is difficult to predict how long it will take your internal HR teams to find and hire the right candidates. Partnering with a recruitment agency not only offloads some of the workload from your internal team, it also can give you a more predictable ROI for the resources expended during the hiring process, since candidates are sourced ahead of time and vetted. This allows the overall hiring process to move forward more efficiently and cost effectively.

As with hiring domestically, hiring overseas involves advertising the job opening, evaluating applications, coordinating multiple rounds of virtual or in-person interviews, scheduling role assessments if any, and eventually selecting candidates. This process takes on additional complexity if factors such as language, time zone or technology (like varying access to reliable Wi-Fi) need to be considered as well. By taking on these administrative tasks locally, recruitment agencies can streamline this process, anticipate and solve logistical challenges, and facilitate a more successful decision-making process for you.

Related: What to consider when turning to staffing outsourcing services for finding talent

Working with an overseas recruitment agency can connect you with a qualified talent pool, create a smoother hiring process, and keep you in compliance with local employment regulations. The recruitment agency’s expertise and processes significantly increase the likelihood (and speed) of finding the right candidates for your organization.

As you search for a recruitment agency for your overseas hiring needs, be sure to select a reputable agency with a track record of success in their industry and a collaborative, professional approach. An agency that communicates effectively and helps you build accurate expectations will be a partner you return to again and again for your hiring needs.

Want to learn more about how a global recruitment partner can help you meet your sourcing and hiring needs as you grow your team globally? Contact us today.