Staying connected in a global market

Good recruitment relies on staying connected. Working at BPS World has given me the opportunity to connect with people across the globe.

This has given me an insight into how people from different countries and cultures use different mobile apps to stay connected

I currently recruit for positions largely based in Asia, predominantly in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. Working across so many countries presents itself with its challenges such as time zone differences and language barriers. It is important that you adapt to the different ways that people from each country tend to work and communicate with each other, then tailor your day and the way you work to complement this.

When I am working on a role, I find it helpful to be able to have another method of communication other than telephone or email, for instance the use of instant messenger apps. It’s interesting to see how these vary across the APAC region, for example, people in Singapore and Hong Kong tend to use WhatsApp, whereas in China the preferred method is an app called WeChat. Many of my colleagues, who recruit predominately across Europe, find that Skype is better for them to keep connected to their candidates.

Personally, I use different methods as they are useful for quick communications between me and my candidates. As well as this, I find that occasionally communicating with your candidates over these applications can help to build a better relationship with them, as it is slightly more informal and personal and also makes it easier for them to contact you at any time if they have any questions or issues.

Another way to keep connected with your candidates when working in a different country to you, is to adjust your working hours. The roles I recruit are all based in Asia and therefore I have changed my working hours from 8.30am - 5.30pm to 7am - 4pm. This gives me more time in the day to contact my candidates and for them to contact me. This proves especially helpful when trying to arrange interviews that would otherwise have to be postponed to the following day.

What I have learnt from international recruitment is that in order to stay connected you need to be open to trying different means of communication, often dependant on where you are recruiting! The idea of international recruitment used to be quite difficult to achieve, the biggest block being ways to communicate. In addition to mobile apps, video conferencing has also changed the landscape of global recruitment, having the technology to hold ‘virtual’ meetings saves money and time and creates more connections.

We’re very fortunate now to have so many options available – WeChat, WhatsApp, iMessage and Skype to name a few. Recent technology has helped to bridge the gap between different countries and has made recruiting into the APAC region more possible. 

What mobile apps do you use to recruit?

For more information please contact Sam Stanley on 01628 857 329 or sam.stanley@bps-world.com