❌ Three signs you shouldn't hire an overseas talent agency

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Let me tell you something that shocked me this morning.

I was talking with my friend Dallin when I realized I’ve sat on calls with nearly 500 agency owners while building Go Carpathian the last two years.

That is A LOT of agency owners.

What shocked me this morning, is there’s actually a really easy way to tell if an agency should hire a recruiter to find them overseas talent– or even if they should be using overseas talent at all…

The Context

If you’ve been in the agency space for any amount of time, you’ve probably realized by now that the vast majority of agencies experiment with using overseas talent as a way to reduce labor costs, while improving the talent roster on their payroll.

Companies that succeed in getting international talent into their company get all these benefits and more.

Now while I do think that every agency should be hiring in Eastern Europe, you may not need to use a recruiting agency to do that.

Let’s dive in.

Three Tell-tale signs you don’t need an overseas talent agency…

1. You’re building out a one-time project

I see this one pop up for agencies thinking about getting into the software game. They understand that overseas talent, particularly the talent in Eastern Europe, is both cheaper than US talent and the same if not better talent-wise.

What they don’t understand is that managing a “simple” software project is significantly more complex than outsiders understand.

I’ve yet to see an agency that hired a software developer for a one-time project be successful.

Hire someone with experience to manage and own the project or else use an agency that uses Eastern European talent to bring their costs down while keeping their deliverables high-quality.

2. You have an established network overseas

If you’ve lived and worked overseas in Eastern Europe for several years (unless you only ever spoke with other Americans) odds are you know someone who knows someone who can fill your open role.

Ask your network for referrals.

Offer a gift card or cash bounty if you hire one of their referrals.

Done.

After living and working with Eastern Europeans my entire adult life, I “know a guy” who can help me find virtually anyone in any industry.

I built this network off of years of making connections.

If you have a similar network, try incentivizing the people you already know, like, and trust to send you referrals.

3. You have the time & money to build out multiple international recruitment funnels

My company Go Carpathian has four distinct funnels we use to recruit talent.

1. Job boards

2. Content

3. Headhunting

4. Referrals

These funnels are responsible for generating tens of thousands of talent leads for us each year. But they’re not cheap.

For example, one of our highest-trust ways of getting candidates is through our Instagram and YouTube channels.

We pay staff in the US and Eastern Europe to produce videos about the history and culture of Eastern Europe.

In turn, when we go to post a job, ask for referrals, or headhunt, we are always recruiting from a “warm” audience.

So while it’s not cheap to produce the content, it pays for itself directly and indirectly by building trust and our brand image among candidates.

If you have the time and the money to invest in on-the-ground funnels like these, you don’t need an external recruiter.

Instead, focus on making each of these funnels more efficient so your in-house recruiters spend their time interviewing and getting only the best of the best.

(If you have questions, feel free to reach out here or on LinkedIn. I’m an open book.

What if you do need to hire an overseas talent agency?

Now if you’re not hiring for a one-time project…

And you don’t have an extensive professional network in Eastern Europe…

And you don’t have the time or money to build out your own recruiting funnels…

Then you should definitely be using a recruiting agency that DOES have those things.

(You might also be a good fit for my company Go Carpathian)

→ Click here to see if you’re a good fit for our done-for-you recruiting service.

(We are not cheap but that's why our hires don't suck)

Each hire goes through several rounds of role plays, reference checks, and verification to make sure you get the right person without spending all your time doing this yourself.

The best part, each hire is guaranteed to stay with your agency for at least 12 months.

If you’d like to find out more, or get some advice on hiring overseas, just click the link above to get started.

Until next time,

Nathan

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Nathan
Co-Founder | Lean Leverage & Go Carpathian
Helping you hire the best & the brightest
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