Hiring employees from abroad requires accomplishing tasks and processes involving overseas recruitment. Also called migration services by human resources service providers, hiring employees from abroad requires navigating a number laws including labor laws, work visa, immigration laws and other applicable state, federal and local laws.
This is obviously not an easy task. A number of the processes for overseas recruitment, in fact, are so time-consuming, taxing and complicated that they take up several months of continuous work and follow ups. And not a few of these tasks need to take their due time and can’t be speeded up.
The basic skill needed, of course, is the ability to expertly navigate the laws mentioned earlier in order to protect the protect both the employer and the employee as well as to avoid law suits, penalties, possible government action, and other legal problems.
That’s why for a number of companies – from the small businesses to the larger ones – outsourcing or hiring a service provider for migration services is the practical, cost effective and sensible way to go. Some companies even hire a service provider for their entire HR tasks including talent acquisition or recruitment, handling rewards, health and safety, mergers and acquisitions, and remuneration.
What you should require your service provider is, at the very least, enough expertise and experience to effectively manage migration services. Experience and expertise mean fewer surprises and mistakes.
The service provider should have visa and immigration expertise and should be able to provide you with a comprehensive migration service solution. And you should get as much flexibility as possible – the services can be customized according to what your company specifically needs; you don’t have to settle for an entire package and can instead choose only the service that you need.
An HR consulting firm can handle the entire overseas hiring process from screening to conducting interviews all the way to the last processes or, if the client prefers, the consultancy can just handle specific tasks. Service providers can also manage multiple appointments or one-off placements. They typically have recruitment offices or agents in several countries across the globe where testing, screening and verification of skills is done. A number of these recruitment agents would recommend additional training for the candidates who did not quite make the cut and for those who need just a short course to improve skills and would then be ready for the vacant position.
Other migration hiring tasks include overseas job advertising, short-listing of candidates, initial briefings, interviews, verifying the work experience and references, selecting candidates, presenting job offers and arranging or coordinating travel arrangements. The other services may be considered extras, depending on what your company considers as priority overseas hiring tasks. Some HR consulting firms also offer assistance to successful candidates by helping them as they settle in. These would include getting tax file numbers for the new employee, setting up bank accounts, obtaining private health cover and relocation assistance.
