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Articles
Recruiting and Staffing in the Global EMS Marketplace
Jun 02, 2008
If you're a Human Resource/Staffing Executive or a hiring executive in the EMS industry today, you're probably under more pressure to fill critical domestic openings & increasingly, international openings than ever.
This is the EMS industry and there's a very real need to fill your openings as quickly and efficiently as possible. The problem
is that the old methods used to find candidates, especially in another country, aren't nearly as effective as they once were. You can't expect to get online and search resumes on the job boards in the morning and come away with a handful of qualified applicants in the afternoon. Here are some tips that will help you improve your ability to more efficiently and effectively recruit in the global EMS marketplace.
Number one - does your hiring authority have the ability to extend an offer once your hard work has produced a successful candidate? Many times the best candidates aren't interviewing for jobs when you find them, that is, until they start interviewing with your company. They may start entertaining other opportunities during your interview process and as a result, if they're good, they won't be able to wait around after the interview process concludes for the requisition to be approved and an offer to be generated. Once you have approval to extend an offer when a candidate is identified, you can begin. Start by creating a recruiting strategy and write it down.
Get as much information about each search in advance. Don't get blindsided by potential obstacles that will come up in the middle of a search. If you're trying to recruit for positions in other countries such as in APAC and EMEA, familiarize yourself with some key factors that will govern the nature of your search. Does your recruiting budget include the added costs associated with hiring an Ex-Patriot vs. hiring a localized or permanent resident candidate? How soon will you need a candidate to begin their employment?
In many cases, especially with Asian and European candidates, you can expect that they'll need or want to provide up to a 3 month resignation notice to their current employer. You might be able to avoid this by offering a sign on bonus in lieu of an earlier start date, however that may not always work. If you're going to hire a candidate to work in a country where your company does not have a legal entity, find out in advance how you'll pay them. One remedy may be to hire a payroll service in that country and have them pay the candidate directly.
While posting ads on jobs boards will eventually provide a trickle of talent over time, that method only targets candidates that are actively searching. Those aren't the ones you want to reach. Continual and increasing layoffs, mergers & acquisitions, and companies permanently closing there doors in the EMS industry, has created an eerie quietness on the jobs boards. The most talented professionals don't have their resumes posted online, are currently employed and typically not going to respond to online ads.
Despite your best efforts to prepare for either domestic or international searches, you may still come up short. The pressure will always be on to find candidates "yesterday" but the degree of difficulty has increased significantly. When you have a critical and urgent need, this may be the time to partner with an international search firm that has a long standing solid reputation for delivering results and that specializes in the industry you're working.
In real estate it's said that the most important rule is location, location, location. In recruiting, the key is relationships, relationships, relationships. Better search firms have a large network of passive candidates that they've built long term and trusting relationships with. That trust opens a continual flow of information between the candidates and the recruiter to talk about opportunities as they materialize. By only looking out for what's in the best interest of a candidate and objectively investigating opportunities, candidates will many times agree to interview with a company based upon the recommendation of the recruiter where they may not have if they learned about the opening from an advertisement. These search firms are likely able to quickly and efficiently attract the best of the passive candidates that you're not able to reach.
Plan for the unexpected, make sure you have an approved requisition, write your recruiting strategy down. Advertise regular job openings on job boards as well as on your company's website. These ads will help with name recognition for your company and will, over time, bring in some quality candidates. Save your higher level and more sensitive/urgent openings for a quality and reputable industry specific search firm.
Biography:
Jerry Damron is the President and an Executive Recruiter with DCSI. He has been recruiting & servicing global high technology electronics companies for almost 20 years. Along with the rest of DCSI, he has a proven track record of building long term relationships and providing professional consultative services to both clients and candidates.
Contact:
Jerry Damron
DCSI
jerry@dcsiconsultants.com
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