The challenges of international recruitment

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As a recruiter, you are trained to concentrate on process control. It's part of our ‘recruiter DNA’: candidate control, hiring manager control, HR control, offer control - the list goes on.

That list however, gets longer again when you are moving your candidates across the globe. Hanami International, and all our consultants do just that - international job searches within audit and risk. For some context, here are a handful of examples of some recent moves we have facilitated:

- Audit Manager – London to Bermuda
- Audit Senior Manager – Paris to Hong Kong
- Internal Audit Manager – Zurich to Singapore
- Head of Audit – Luxembourg to Dublin

Our concerns and the external factors stretch far beyond getting our candidate their dream job, or our clients the perfect addition to their team (as if that wasn't enough, right?). We are also responsible for being true consultants in relation to cost of living, visa applicability and application process, progression opportunities overseas, school availability and education standards, housing availability, local taxation and more. All this information is key for our candidates to be able to make informed decisions about their move.

And once you have struck a deal? Well then there are the joys of being an exporter of services. Currency fluctuations are probably the largest of the uncontrollable factors, and can have an adverse effect on your total fee at very short notice. But even beyond this, local business practices, time differences and taxes can all add their extra challenges to the process.

The above is just a snapshot of the extra stress factors added that we are not able to control in any of our recruitment processes. But what about the rewards?

In our experience, they are even greater when you pull the deal together. Only last night I was on a call with a candidate who has just secured a move to San Francisco from Toronto. The candidate’s excitement for their move and new career was infectious, and quite often you are helping your candidates move closer to their loved ones, or rapidly advance their career. When your candidate secures a move half way around the world, you truly feel like you have helped change someone’s life.

And the icing on the cake...? The international client visits. A chance to go and shake hands and meet the people you have moved by going a little further than 4 stops on the Central Line. So far in 2016, Hanami’s consultants have visited Hong Kong, Dubai, Paris, Singapore, Dublin, Amsterdam, Zurich, Hamburg and Dusseldorf, with more booked for the coming months.
It may have its challenges, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you want to try your hand at international recruitment, give Hanami a call on +44 207 048 7880

Written by Adam Nelson, Consultant, Hanami International