Technological advancement has challenged the geographic limitations which restricted talent to local markets. As remote work ascends to the new norm, companies across the globe are benefiting from hiring skilled professionals offshore. After all, talent is now available anywhere. This guide on how to hire Brazilian professionals intends to provide rich intel from seasoned recruiters who have experience navigating Latin American waters. Their expertise aids in a successful search to fill middle management and upward positions. Regardless of connectivity, advertisement, or online presence, candidate engagement, and quality hire are not guaranteed. Hence the importance of having experienced support to recruit talent in foreign territory.
More often than desired, decision-makers employ dated or not localized hiring processes to recruit candidates in new markets, as if past vetted strategies have no expiration date. Like any other business, recruitment is primarily about people whose needs, desires, and expectations transform over time. Disregarding the specifics of the locale will not only compromise the ability to attract top talent but also bring other negative aspects of the company’s recruitment culture to light. Whether you seek to know how to hire Brazilian professionals or talent from other parts of the globe, the matter of importance remains the same: your company is under the candidate’s evaluation. Aim to make a great impression. This brings us to the first and most important aspect of hiring abroad.
Understand the economic and political landscape
The search for Brazilian professionals isn’t only due to the workforce quality. As happened before with India, China, and Ukraine, the search for offshore talent reflects the economic movement toward new markets and the constant pressure to reduce operational expenses without compromising delivery. “Brazil has been targeted as well as Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela. We also have an interesting workforce source on the other side of Eastern Europe. Central businesses use these regions, especially now because of the pandemic and the fact that the working barrier has been somewhat reduced. It’s a way these companies have to optimize payroll and ensure skilled labor,” reflects Denis Cabrera Carrer, Combine’s Head of International Operations with over ten years of experience in talent acquisition and development in the global arena.
Brazil’s unemployment rate is another element favoring the country as a talent hub. According to the nation’s latest official data, 10.1 million (9.3%) Brazilians are currently out of the workforce and seeking job opportunities, which creates a relatively facilitated context for recruiting in the country. Not to mention that currency differences give foreign companies a head advantage in offering attractive compensation, while local businesses may struggle to keep up their payroll in a country plagued by inflation.
Be aware of your timing
As head of tech recruitment at Combine, Marcela Navarro Alday, who has been hiring high-rank professionals across countries for the past five years, points out that timing is the single aspect capable of making or breaking a company’s ability to hire top candidates. A rushed process may lead to unfit candidates, while lengthy ones can discourage even the most driven prospects. It’s a delicate balance.
To speed up the hiring process, sometimes companies resort to online job boards to find the best-fitting talent. However, the demand for tech professionals in Brazil and worldwide has created a power inversion in which skilled professionals now have the upper hand. “Brazilian talent has an excellent reputation in terms of quality and commitment. They’re in high demand. Developers receive an average of 17 calls per week from recruiters offering vacancies. Potential candidates don’t even answer sometimes. The demand is so high that tech professionals are rejecting invites to participate in recruitment processes they haven’t applied in the first place,” says Alday.
That means that if your company is solely relying on the power of LinkedIn to promote a job description, your recruitment process may fail before even starting. To know how to hire Brazilian professionals effectively, you must understand that often the best candidates aren’t even actively seeking new positions. “Oftentimes, we suggest a complete revision of the recruitment process. We know the culture. We know our people. We understand the candidate’s head. A standard recruitment funnel in other countries may not function here. You run the risk of losing good people who aren’t well adapted to a foreign way of getting things done,” added Carrer. At this stage, seasoned recruiters’ most crucial job is advocating for the vacant opportunity, creating awareness about the advantages of the project and of working for your company. Best recruitment practices have a lot in common with sales: you must boost the buying desire.
Trust local expertise
Relying on local recruitment experts saves time and generates better outcomes. That is because, along with having facilitated access to native talent, local experts know precisely how to build a seamless recruitment funnel that keeps prospects engaged. Due to their extensive knowledge, they typically have a ready-to-go network of top professionals to fill even the most complex positions. “For a recruitment firm like Combine, based in Brazil and serving the whole world, it is easier to navigate a scenario that we already know. We already have a solid talent network and know how things work in the national territory. That creates a competitive gain for those unfamiliar with our market. We can deliver quality work with efficient time. The way you strategize the hiring process. The way you structure the interaction with candidates. All of it has to be very well thought out so you can decrease any possible attrition. It is a consumer’s logic almost. We have to convince the candidate to buy your company’s project,” affirms Denis Cabrera Career, who is dedicated to middle and upwards corporate positions.
Build genuine connections
It isn’t uncommon for candidates to feel unseen by recruiters or that their candidacy will be handled as another file in the pile of resumes. The rush to find the right fit for positions has encouraged hiring managers to skim through thousands of prospects without giving much attention to the person who wrote the job application. If anything, after two years of global chaos and plenty of life changes, people are craving genuine connections, an experience that lasts more than the minimal glance hiring managers typically give to a candidacy.
For Alday, part of Combine’s success rate is attributed to how they create a lasting relationship with their talent network. “We have professionals who decide to return to the job market and come to us first. I believe it is the relationship we create and the process in which candidates feel welcomed. I always try to wear the candidates’ shoes. Hiring processes can be difficult, with thousands of stages in the funnel. Prospects feel overwhelmed. I am extremely transparent. I show the benefits and advantages of the position. I try to demonstrate a different perspective they haven’t considered. We build a partnership,” says the expert.
Building trust is especially important when companies hire abroad. It isn’t rare that candidates may not have heard about your company up until the first recruitment approach. So why should they prioritize your offer to the detriment of national ones? The competition is against familiar and famous brands, ones they have known throughout their lives. If you want to hire Brazilian professionals efficiently, you must treat each candidate as a person with hopes, dreams, and typical life challenges. Approaching prospects with disregard, as if they are just possibilities on a checklist, will only lead to a lack of candidate engagement and a weak employment reputation that is hard to revert.
The employment market is getting more complex by the minute. Don’t know where to start your search for Brazilian talent? Let Combine show you the way. Our recruiters have helped companies find the best match in over 30 countries. Click here to request assistance today!
