Outreaching and recruiting bilingual [Spanish+ English] talent for your organization is not difficult. Often, we take the easy left versus taking the harder right. Often, we depend on spamming everyone directly to their inbox. Often, we are looking in the wrong place and have no plan to get there.
First, bilingual talent is much like non-bilingual talent. We are motivated. We are determined. We are interested in better career opportunities. We just happen to be fluent in Spanish. Or Japanese, Arabic or French. Some organizations want to recruit on the cheap and put very little financial and human resources to work (both internal and external). If you are trying to recruit someone with a particular language skill is it cost efficient to advertise in general outlets or niche-specific outlets? If you are trying to recruit someone for a social media position, would you advertise on radio, TV, print or use Twitter and Facebook? Would you hire a non-bilingual headhunter for bilingual talent? Recruiting talent to your organization requires seriousness, pre-planning, foresight and persistence. But you can’t wing it.
Here’s some preliminary thoughts to help us walk through this, shall we?
- Email: Spamming people directly in their inbox with job postings one-third of what we currently make is a turn-off; more than what we currently make, a turn-on. While email still remains the most direct form of online communication, it shouldn’t be abused and it should be targeted. When emailing individuals about an opportunity put the bottom line up front on the subject line. Preferably it should come from someone familiar. *NOTE: forwarding emails and expecting to drive results is like spam.
- Print: Advertising in niche-specific newspapers for a career opportunity is smart, especially, if the paper has a regional or national market penetration and wide-reader base. Advertising locally might only produce local applicants, but it helps when the newspaper has adopted a social media campaign.
- Radio: Advertising on the radio, in particularly Spanish, might work given that Spanish-speakers predominately rely on radio for their news. The problem still remains that these announcements are gone after they’re announced, can often be expensive, and most Spanish radio is entertainment and music-based.
- TV: Advertising on Spanish-language TV about career opportunities is another outlet. However, brand awareness is more likely what we’ll be exposed to and if we get excited we may check out the company/organization’s website.
Social Media: Today’s bilingual talent is more tech savvy than our parents generation. These three are starters:
- Facebook: Join groups that you are trying to build a relationship with. Invite your friends to connect. Check in on them. It beats snail mail and is one of the pillars in social media, now carrying over 300+ million users worldwide. Mashable had a pretty cool article/video link on how Ikea used Facebook to build awareness.
- LinkedIn: Join groups that you are trying to build a relationship with. Invite your co-workers to connect. Write recommendations on others. Use the search box to find people.
- Twitter: Join Twitter and start tweeting and following people today. The key in Twitter is to tweet real-time info. If you have a position open, then say it, and put a link. Likewise, if you are interested in someone at say Dell or the New York Times it starts and ends with following them and getting to know them and their industry. Use the search box and the #hashtags to find people you are interested in learning more about.
However, the most efficient with the best return on investment still remains direct contact. Some banks, colleges and retail stores have figured it out. Their advertising inside the location utilize Spanish-marketing, their TV advertising transcends English and Spanish and their service representatives are bilingual. Their representatives are well known in circles of influence and great companies/organizations are quick to promote from within. The best leaders will groom their finest bilingual talent and unleash this passion onto the community, unabashedly promoting them in news releases, and the media. Taking the harder right, quiet often, still begins and ends with HR/recruiting. However, the buck for recruiting and grooming bilingual talent still remains a leadership priority.
David Molina is the Founder/CEO of BilingualHire. You can call me at: +1-503-708-4614 or email me at: david@bilingualhireco.com.
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