‘Difficulties with finding technical talent, scarcity and partly due to an aging population, the future does not look optimistic either.’ It is nothing new that there are major shortages of technical trained professionals. As a technical sector, we seem to keep repeating ourselves, but the solution, and in particular the future-oriented solution, is not forthcoming. Reason enough to further expand our International Recruitment success formula.
“Our customers have great difficulty to fulfil their vacancies.”, says Alrik Lamberink. He has been active in technical job placement for years. “We can support them from home by finding the right local technical professionals and thereby solving the capacity issue. We are good at doing this and it will remain an important service for the future.
However, we are experiencing that this is not enough. A needle in a haystack is still a realistic challenge, but we are more often in the situation where the needle no longer exists. And in that case you have to switch to other solutions. We started recruiting abroad about 15 years ago from our office in Eindhoven. Well-trained and highly motivated employees who are looking for an international boost in their career. Candidates who, in terms of background, can start immediately at dozens of companies.”
“Here in the region of Eindhoven, International recruitment is a widely supported and valued solution. In all those years that we have been doing this, we have mediated more than 30 nationalities and more than 1000 employees!”, says Ted Adriaans proudly. He has been recruiting international talent at Xelvin for years.
“Recruiting international candidates is a profession on its own. You have to pay attention to different things than when you work with only Dutch candidates. In addition to technical knowledge and motivation for a specific position, you also have to thoroughly test what someone’s motivation is to move to another country. This makes or breaks the success of the mediation.
In addition, the guidance in the first period that someone comes to the Netherlands is important. We supervise the employees intensively so they can integrate as fast as possible in the Netherlands. This includes support in finding housing, opening a bank account and applying for health insurance. In addition, we are an IND sponsor, which means that Xelvin can also carry out the IND procedure independently. This way we help our employees to get the right VISA. Here we learned our lessons through trial and error and we mastered it now. 90% Of the candidates we have mediated are still in the same position after 5 years. We put a lot of effort into this and we are proud of it, we want the best for our candidates.
To further expand the services of International recruitment, we have chosen to set up a Global Recruitment Centre in Eindhoven. Here in Eindhoven, we simply have a lot of knowledge of it. You could also choose to have every colleague in the country find out for themselves, which we think is a waste of time. Local contacts know their customers well and know what it takes to perform a job well. We know the business of International recruitment, so it all comes together nicely. In this way, we strive to be able to add an extra flavour, in addition to our regular services, to solve the challenge of our customers.”
In his role as Program Manager International Recruitment, Alrik is mainly in contact with customers. “Clients mainly have a lot of questions. Someone does not speak Dutch and it is a big step to move abroad. How does it all work? I experience the process up close and see that it offers many extra benefits that you don’t think about in principle. It brings an extra vibe to a company, many employees of our customers think it’s fantastic to work with someone from a different country. Every company I speak to, is impressed by what we can mean for them. It’s a solution aimed at the long term.”