Are you a business in Ireland struggling to fill essential roles that require specific language skills?
Do you need to face the reality that a highly sought-after candidate pool (like Dutch or German speakers) is simply not abundant locally?
If you or your recruitment team is hitting a wall with hard-to-find linguistic skills, particularly amongst those who might also need to relocate, it’s time to rethink your strategy. It’s key to understand the unique and complex challenges of hiring multilingual talent and how to solve them.
Let’s explore…
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❌Vacancies Going Unfilled Due to Language Skill Shortages
A primary way multilingual recruitment fails is the inability to find the right candidates, leading to costly unfilled positions.
How do the following stats impact you?
- 1 in 3 Employers Struggle to Fill Positions: A study found that one-third of employers had difficulties filling positions because applicants lacked sufficient foreign language competences.
- Wider EU Skill Shortage: Approximately 40% of firms across the European Union reported difficulties finding staff with the right skills (a broader category that includes language skills) when recruiting.
- (Sources include EU Commission Library Reports)
We know that when you have a vacancy, you need to fill it and fast. Whether it’s a Norwegian Digital Advertising Partner, or a German Customer Success Rep, these roles need filling and you can’t afford to take too long or get it wrong!
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🧩The Challenging Reality of Multilingual Recruitment
Hiring multilingual candidates, especially those relocating to Ireland, can be a demanding undertaking. It’s not simply about advertising a job; it’s about navigating a multi-layered process that requires specialist knowledge of candidates and the reality of relocating to Ireland.
- The Talent Shortage: For specific languages, the candidate pool residing in Ireland is often too small. You are competing in a fierce, global market.
- Salary Expectations: Candidates with highly valuable language skills often command high salaries. Ensuring your offer matches market expectations in their home country, or simply what the competition is offering in Ireland, is crucial.
- The Language Barrier Barrier: How do you accurately assess true fluency in a language you don’t speak yourself? A CV claim of “fluent French” or “native German” needs expert verification. A mistake here can be costly.
- The Relocation Hurdle: For many candidates looking to relocate to Ireland, particularly those from within the EU, moving to Ireland offers an exciting opportunity. However, the practical and emotional challenges of moving country, especially with current housing issues, are significant. Few Irish employers offer comprehensive relocation support anymore, and a misstep here can cause a brilliant candidate to withdraw.
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📉Why You Can’t Afford DIY Multilingual Recruitment
The challenges above illustrate why a ‘DIY’ approach to hiring multilingual and how relocating talent can be a risk.
You need a recruitment partner who can manage the nuance of this market. That’s where our decade of dedicated experience comes in.
We’ve already outlined why DIY recruitment, although tempting, can be costly or time consuming or both! It’s just too risky!
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3 Unique Multilingual Recruitment Advantages
You need more than just a list of English-speaking candidate CVs. It’s all about experience, and a rigorous but personal approach to hiring multilinguals.
1️⃣Deep and Relevant Recruitment Experience
Our Director, Emily, has over two decades of experience in recruitment, and our dedicated multilingual desk has been operating for 10 years.
She says:
Recent years have seen significant change in the Irish labour market. WFH, hybrid working, global hiring needs, and post-pandemic candidate expectations can really impact on hiring process. There’s quite a bit to think about when you’re hiring multilinguals. And that’s before you get into the nitty gritty of qualifying their language skills. And once you’ve done that, you need to manage these candidates carefully.
This experience, coupled with our unparalleled network and deep knowledge of salary benchmarks and candidate management techniques across various sectors, means we can quickly identify, engage, and manage the talent your business needs. We’re keen to help our clients get hiring right first time, on time. Thus giving you back precious time to manage and grow your business, especially in these times of rapid change.
2️⃣Rigorous and Robust Recruitment Process
Hiring a multilingual can be a lot more tricky than hiring native language speakers.
- Assessments: It’s critical that there is a focus on practical, role-specific language assessments. This adds massive value (and protection) to the recruitment process. Business who hire multilinguals need more than some who can get them CVs. They need a strategic assessor of talent.
- Level and dialect: You need to be able to assess and advise on the required level and dialect needed for your role, and of any adverts and job descriptions which are needed, during the recruitment and hiring process.
- Hiring, not just recruiting: You need to think wider than simply attracting the right talent. The whole hiring journey, even beyond the offer and placement needs a robust approach. The candidate experience throughout the hiring process – from interview, to offer, and beyond – needs managing with relocating and / or multilinguals in mind.
In short, these tips for you are what we get out of bed for. They are what allow us to effectively and professionally screen and help you place great multilingual candidates into your business.
3️⃣Let’s Get Personal
Beyond the technical expertise, you need a deeply personal approach. This may not simply be a new job, but a whole new culture and location.
Candidates making the life-changing decisions to relocate need a human connection.
- How involved is your recruitment process, right up until even after your offered candidate has started a job with you?
- Does your hiring process have space for mentoring / coaching / battle planning / nurturing? Candidates who choose to relocate may have the theory, but not the reality, nailed down.
We recently helped a young woman who relocated with no contacts here. We provide advice and support outside of work to help her settle in. This level of care builds trust and makes them far more likely to commit to your offer, and stay in post.
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📌Your Next Step to Securing Global Talent into Your Irish Jobs
The need for multilingual talent in Ireland is growing, and the competition is only getting tougher. Stop losing out on the perfect multilingual candidate because the relocation process seems too daunting for you and them.
We take the pain out of hiring multilinguals – in fact we thrive on it! We manage the complexity of the process and deliver candidates who are genuinely excited to join your team and embrace life in our beautiful Ireland.
Ready to attract the global talent your business deserves?
Let’s discuss your current language recruitment challenges and how our expert, personal approach can fill your key roles quickly and effectively.
Get in touch now!
Contact me for a chat about how we can help you find the best multilinguals for your business.
