What Are Your Options When Hiring Talents From Offshore Locations For Remote Positions?

Fast-scaling global companies have expanded their geographical borders to access the wider talent pool. Statistics say currently more than 25% tech companies from US, AU, and EU have hired offshore remote staff, either through job boards, or with the help of a recruiting, staffing, outsourcing agency, or a digital hiring platform. 

Collaborating with hiring partners can expedite your hiring process and offer guidance during applications and interviews. This recruitment strategy simplifies the hiring process for global companies, making it easier to fill job openings without feeling overwhelmed, particularly when offshoring for certain roles. 

Now, the question arises: how do you choose the right hiring method? With the plethora of options available for hiring your next  offshore remote talent, the challenge here is identifying the one that’s right for you.

We will get to that, but first, let us discuss the seven most popular recruitment methods and their hiring process.

7 Popular Types of Recruitment Methods

1. Online job boards and professional networks
2. Recruitment agencies
3. Staffing agencies
4. In-house recruiting
5. Employee referrals
6. EOR companies 
7. Hiring platforms

Once you have created a detailed job description, you have the following hiring methods to choose for your recruitment strategy:

1. Online job boards and professional networks

Online portals like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor are reliable in sourcing qualified candidates from their internal databases. They require employers to register for their service and pay a premium for more assistance (dedicated customer support, faster talent sourcing, etc.)

Pros: Massive internal network helps in sourcing talents quickly, Easy to register and post your job listing

Cons: No vetting process to identify the right candidate, Does not help in tracking the hiring progress, No onboarding, admin, payroll, and compliance support, The talent may not be an active profile

2. Recruitment agencies

These organizations provide tailored recruitment services from their extensive network of profiles. They look for profiles that match your requirements and assist in interviewing and finalizing the right candidate. They usually have a freemium model for their range of services, which means a few services are free while others require a paid subscription (which may amount to 15-25% of the candidate’s annual salary).

Pros: Helps in sourcing a large number of candidates, conducts a preliminary interview round before sharing the talent’s profile 

Cons: Cannot find culturally-aligned talents, lacks a detailed vetting process, No onboarding support, Service charges can increase the hiring budget, Limited success in reaching out to non-active talents, follows traditional hiring methods, lack of resources for vetting technical proficiency, high chances of finding talents from the same region 

3. Staffing companies

You can rely on staffing companies if you have to build a large team very quickly. These agencies also help in finding freelancers or interns for short durations. They have a basic screening process but do not evaluate the candidate’s technical and cultural aspects deeply. 

Pros: Ideal for short-term demands, Temporary employee can help in meeting deadlines while you look for a full-time talent

Cons: Only useful for finding independent contractors, Not ideal for building a remote team, No guarantee of finding the right fit

4. In-house recruitment

Large-scale companies often build an internal team to manage talent discovery and hiring processes. The team consists of recruiters who work directly with the HR professionals to understand the hiring requirements. This method also demands building a seamless onboarding infrastructure to facilitate a smooth transition of the talent with the org culture.

Pros: More control over the recruitment process, Talents are aligned with the company’s values and culture

Cons: Takes a lot of time and resources to set up the internal team and infrastructure, No data-driven vetting process, Hiring cycles are usually long, and Increased overhead costs

5. Employee referrals

Several businesses have employee referral programs, wherein existing employees can refer their contacts for an open position (typically in exchange for a referral bonus). The biggest advantage of this method is that the existing employee will assess the candidate’s qualifications and cultural adaptability, saving you a lot of time and effort.

Pros: Leverages networks of existing employees for sourcing qualified candidates, The candidate has a better chance of aligning to the org culture 

Cons: Does not guarantee finding the ideal profile, Demands an incentive-based approach to motivate existing employees, High chances of finding talents from the same region 

6. EOR platforms

Employer of Record (EOR) platforms help recruiters onboard and manage the payroll of their remote talent. They help recruiters align with the local and international laws, and oversee the hiring formalities (employment contract generation, tax compliances, etc.) with no input on talent sourcing and vetting.

Pros: The recruiter does not have to worry about the intricacies of the relevant hiring laws, The entire payroll data is available in a single window with a clear breakup

Cons: Does not help in finding the right talent fit for the organization, Does not have the expertise in talent discovery

7. Hiring platforms

Some tech-enabled hiring platforms provide end-to-end hiring solutions for global companies when they’re looking to hire in offshore locations for remote positions. These platforms have their distinct expertise, some help in finding the best tech and digital talents, and some specialize in sourcing talents from a certain country. These digital platforms have a network of deeply vetted talents and provide candidate onboarding assistance, payroll support, and IT and compliance guidance. The hiring support goes one step ahead of EOR companies, more than 10% of companies need assistance with step 1 of the process i.e. in talent discovery and these hiring platforms help these companies with exactly that.

Pros: End-to-end hiring support, best to choose this model if you’re looking to hire full-time, offshore, contractual remote tech and digital talents. 

Cons: Best for hiring full-time remote employees, not independent contractors for a short-term assignment 

Step-by-step Hiring Process of Each Recruitment Method

Let us review the steps involved in the recruitment methods mentioned above and how long it takes to fill an open position using them.

Online job boards and professional networks (Average time for recruitment: 41 days)

1. Job posting on the job board/professional network
2. Review applications of the talents
3. Conduct initial screenings, typically phone or video interviews
4. Schedule in-person or virtual interviews with shortlisted candidates to delve deeper into their experience, skills, and suitability for the role
5. After careful consideration of all factors, choose the most suitable candidate

Recruitment agencies (Average time for recruitment: 30-40 days)

1. Briefing call to thoroughly understand the hiring needs
2. Utilizing its extensive network of contacts and sourcing potential candidates who match the desired profile
3. Conducting initial screenings of potential candidates, typically through phone or video interviews
4. Arrange in-person or virtual interviews of the client with the shortlisted candidates
5. Share detailed profiles and assessments of each individual with the client company
6. The client company makes the final decision on the most suitable candidate for the position

Staffing agencies (Average time for recruitment: 45-60 days)

1. Discussing the employers’ hiring needs, including the job title, job description, and required qualifications and experience.
2. Use the network of candidates, job boards, and other resources to source qualified candidates for the position
3. Screen candidates who meet the minimum qualifications for the position
4. Interview candidates for technical proficiency
5. Share the profiles of the qualified candidates to the company.
6. If the company is interested in a candidate, they will make them a job offer.

In-house recruitment (Average time for recruitment: 40-60 days)

1. The first step is to identify the need for a new employee. This may be due to a new role being created, an existing employee leaving the company, or a need to expand the workforce.
2. The recruiter defines the job requirements, this includes the skills, experience, and education of the ideal candidate.
3. The recruiter sources candidates from various professional networks.
4. After shortlisting several profiles, the recruiter runs a basic screening check to identify qualified candidates.
5. The next step is to conduct interviews with the most qualified candidates
6. Next, the recruiter will make a hiring recommendation to the hiring manager. 
7. If the hiring manager agrees with the recruiter’s recommendation, the recruiter will negotiate and extend the job offer to the candidate.
8. Once the candidate has accepted the job offer, the recruiter will help them to onboard into the company. 

Employee referrals (Average time for recruitment: 29 days)

1. Encourage existing employees to identify referral opportunities.
2. Employees submit their referrals in an internal system
3. Initial screening to check the candidate’s qualifications and experience.
4. In-person or virtual interviews of the candidate with relevant hiring managers 
5. Inform the existing employee about the status of their referral.
6. Select the most qualified and suitable candidate for the position.
7. Onboarding and training of the new hire
8. Recognize and reward the referring employee for their contribution

Hiring platforms (Average time for recruitment: 5 days)

1. Share the JD and discuss your preferences over a brief call.
2. The platform will share the most suitable profiles for you within a few days.
3. You choose the profiles to interview and hire without any obligation.
4. After the interview, you choose the final candidate to hire and the platform provides onboarding and post-deployment support.

The Tipping Point – Where Popular Recruitment Methods Struggle

1. Identifying the right talents
2. Ensuring a faster hiring cycle
3. Lack of data-driven approach
4. A smooth post-onboarding support 

We have discussed the basic ideas and steps behind seven popular recruitment methods, but there are a few things which they struggle to fulfill. These things dictate your recruitment strategies and must be addressed.

1. Identifying the right talents

Job boards, recruitment agencies, and professional networks do not go the extra mile to assess if a candidate is indeed the perfect fit for your organization. These methods are good for sourcing applications but ultimately you have to spend time and effort in evaluating the skills and abilities of the applicants. While you can trust your employees to find a cultural fit, you still need a helping hand in accurately testing the technical necessities for a job role. Hiring platforms like Uplers can guide you in this matter, with their extensive vetting process that filters the most suitable profiles efficiently.

2. Ensuring a faster hiring cycle

The current job market is so competitive that top talents are generally hired within 10 days. However, most of the recruitment methods we mentioned above take at least 30 days to close a vacancy. To beat large-scale companies with considerable resources, startups and small to medium-sized companies need to choose a dynamic hiring partner. The goal is to facilitate a faster hiring cycle that identifies and onboard the best talent in the shortest time.

3. Lack of data-driven approach

Job boards, recruitment agencies, and professional networks are good for sourcing a lot of applications. But ultimately the onus falls on you to assess, interview, and onboard the right candidate. You need a system that tracks the overall hiring progress and stores essential data, like an Application Tracking System (ATS). Such a system will also cut down your efforts on tedious tasks so that you can focus on decision-making.

4. A smooth post-onboarding support 

Onboarding is also a part of your hiring process, as it helps the talent fit into the company culture and paves the way for a long-term association. A survey reveals that companies with a good onboarding experience improve their retention rate by 82%. However, the majority of recruitment methods are good enough only for sourcing or scheduling interviews. For an effective hiring process, you need to choose a platform that assists with talent deployment.

Choose The Right Method For An Effective Hiring Process

India is currently the most preferred remote hiring destination, and at the same time presents a challenge for small and medium-sized businesses. It is very difficult to find the right fit for your organization when exploring such a vast talent pool. You will attract hundreds of applications for any job post, which puts pressure on optimizing the hiring process and gathering relevant resources. To save time and money, global recruiters usually use external recruitment methods while hiring remote talents from India.

As you can see, every recruitment method has distinct advantages. Job boards and professional networks are best suited for companies who are facing sourcing issues. Recruitment agencies are a good choice for those who need a helping hand in managing their remote hiring process. But if you are looking for a solution that minimizes your heavy lifting and perfectly matchmakes the right talent for your organization, choose a hiring platform like Uplers.