11 Global Recruitment Challenges and How to Tackle Them
03.11.23 08:25 AM Comment(s) By admin System
Gone are the days when organisations had to settle for local candidates even though they lacked the required skill sets. Thanks to the rapid evolution of technology, recruiting global candidates has become much easier now. Hiring international candidates serves as a strategic necessity for many organisations while they deal with talent scarcity and skill shortages in their local labour market. However, organisations may have to face certain international recruitment challenges in their hunt for top talent. In this blog, we’ll break down 11 challenges that you might face as an Australian employer and how to tackle them.

As mentioned above, setting up a local entity can be the solution to hiring talent from a foreign country. However, the process is often time-consuming and expensive and requires a lot of local expertise.
How do I overcome this challenge?
Communicating and coordinating with potential candidates who live at the other end of the world, across different time zones can be difficult. Rounds that include any test or assessment won’t be a big barrier in the recruitment process. However, hiring over the internet may not be the ideal choice for all stages of the interview. Some roles might specifically require the candidate to attend an in-person interview with the employer.
How do I tackle this challenge?
It’s ideal to have a structured hiring process for international candidates. Have face-to-face interviews instead of having the entire hiring process online to evaluate the candidates more efficiently. You should also consider partnering with local hiring agencies and employing an HR executive in the field.
The search for top talent is pretty competitive in all industries. Skilled and qualified candidates are often approached by multiple organisations and get hired quickly. Both local and global companies pursue them, further increasing the competition.
How do I tackle this hiring challenge?
Tackling such international recruitment challenges requires you to be prompt and agile. Make your hiring process faster and consider the candidates’ schedules while conducting interviews and assessments. Doing so will decrease the chances of your potential employees looking for other opportunities and create a pleasant candidate experience.
International recruitment challenges aren’t limited to tax laws and visa applications. It also includes navigating cultural differences and accommodating diversity. Culture here refers to both social and work culture. Different countries have different cultures and working conditions. What is considered as professional in your country may not be deemed as professional in another country.
How do I tackle such hiring challenges?
You should acquaint your organisation with the culture and customs of your international employees. Investing in such cultural awareness will help your team build relationships and work more collaboratively and efficiently.
Talent acquisition and management can be especially challenging when you hire international candidates. Attracting and hiring talent from different cultural backgrounds and then managing them can become a daunting task if not undertaken with the right approach.
Employees who have relocated to be part of your organisation will often take time to adjust to the changes. They are experiencing everything new – the country, the culture, the workplace and even the language sometimes. In such cases, employee engagement and retention become major challenges for employers.
Most employers start searching for global talent without a proper strategy or appropriate employer branding. As mentioned above, competition for skilled talent is quite high. A potential candidate has a higher chance of choosing a company she knows about rather than an organisation she has never heard of.
How do I tackle this challenge?
You must stand out to increase your visibility in the talent market. Raise your brand awareness, focus on making your organisation employee-centric, diverse and inclusive and make your existing employees your brand ambassadors.
Using the right tools to hire may seem like a general recruitment challenge. However, the intensity of the challenge doubles when you’re seeking international candidates. For example, advertising the vacant positions on job portals that aren’t popular in your target talent’s country can undermine all your hiring efforts. Similarly, finding the right overseas hiring partners is equally important for successful hiring.
How do I overcome this challenge?
Technology can be leveraged to solve some of the international recruitment challenges. Finding apt hiring tools is one of them. Using the right job portals, applicant tracking systems and people management suites is essential. To fill the vacant positions in your organisation, hire qualified staffing agencies that will find, hire and manage the ideal candidates for you.
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