“Burning Question”

From “C” comes this:

Some background – “C” and her husband are South Africans working and living in West Africa.

Is there a mind set about where you are currently located geographically in the market with recruitment agencies?

Yes. That’s the quick answer. And although we’re living in a ‘global village’ and recruiting practices have moved with the times to some degree with recruiting done by ‘remote control’ – the logistical factors of someone in the UK recruiting for a company in India and getting a job applicant from, say, Ghana – well you can imagine. And that happens a lot.

There are all sorts of factors:

• Ease or challenge of communication
• Prejudice against a certain country (may be see as a ‘backwater’ – despite the fact that this may be an indicator that you’re actually exceptional at what you do – succeeding in the harshest environments
• Wanting to interview you one-to-one
• Time frames – they may want someone to start immediately or within a week or two

People hire people, so recruiters will naturally go for things they’re familiar with first. If things are too foreign or too far away they may delay in responding or not respond at all.

So here are two strategies to tilt the playing field in your favor:

1. Persist – it’s the universal success law.
2. Narrow down your search to a particular industry – use the ‘net to research companies who likely need what you’ve got – identify the decision makers and approach them directly, via phone or e-mail.
3. Make your marketing message really powerful – aimed at delivering what employers really need; and really concise and to the point – “here’s what I do, and I’m fantastic at it – here’s why” – that should be your CV.

Hope this helps!