The regional differences in recruitment: Europe vs. Asia
Often I am asked the question ‘What it is the difference between recruitment in Europe and in Asia?’ After having spent most of the past decade in both markets, first in Amsterdam (4 years) and then in Singapore (5 years), I developed a pretty good idea on what these differences are. In this article I will share with you what I have seen as some of the differences between recruiting in both continents. Before you continue reading…, my work history is all within agency recruitment: in full end-to-end roles in which cold calling, client acquisition, key account management, candidate attraction and stakeholders management have always been critical to succeed.
Personal relationships
The first difference that comes to mind is that Asia has a major focus on personal relationship hiring. I have never been on so many coffee meetings in my first months in Singapore as I have in my 4 years in Amsterdam. There was almost no distinction between the number of coffees I had with either job seekers or hiring managers (even more so, most ‘candidates’ became ‘hirers’ and it also happened the other way around). All of them loved to just sit down and share their insights on the market, their goals and ambitions, their plans and personal lives. Coming from Amsterdam, where the changes of meeting with the HR or hiring managers was zero to none, this was a much welcomed difference. Tip: find yourself a coffee place with a loyalty card...
Communication tools
There is more than one way to communicate, especially in Asia. I had always been taught that you can only reach your customers via calling or emailing them. After my first weeks in Singapore I felt hopeless, the responses I got on my calls or emails were minimal. What did I do wrong? "Ever heard of WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat?", my colleague asked. Apparently the vast majority of my network were using these platforms to communicate, and I fully understand why. It's quick, to the point and always available. Another tip: make sure you have a decent profile picture on these platforms...
Applications, applications, applications…
Another difference I came across is regarding job applications (and the amounts of it...). The times that I received more than 40 applicants on a single job in Amsterdam, can be counted on one hand. The number of jobs in Singapore that got me more than 40 applicants? All of them! Have I struck gold? The short answer: no. Asia, and especially Singapore, attracts applicants from all over the world and unfortunately not all of them were suitable for my roles.
Always looking out
I still remember my first manager telling me not to include any candidates in my shortlist that have been in their current role for less than a year. The assumption was that these candidates wouldn't be interested, that they have just started and might even get agitated by my approach. Clearly this wasn't the rule in Asia. Reach out to candidates that have just started their new job and I bet you they will reply with an open mind and are often willing to consider if your opportunity is better. This is both a dream and a nightmare for every recruiter.
Currently, I am back in Europe and curious to find out if the European recruitment market has changed over the years I was overseas.
Feel free to share with me your own experiences! I am sure there are tons of recruitment differences around the world and that's what makes it such an exciting job!
Stay safe for now and speak soon.
