Sunday, November 19, 2006

On setting up an Indian presence

I was reading a post on the importance of the recruiters to understand the nuances of the Indian job market and practices and can only reaffirm what Gautam expressed.

As a recruiter working across different industries, across the middle and senior management levels-and at times across different functions, my personal observations are

- the best FIT happens when the candidate fits the culture of the organization.
- the skills required for the start up team –to work in an uncertain environment, transplant and establish a system in place –may be distinctly different from those required to manage, motivate and retain a large pool of talent as the company grows!
- there is an increasing trend in mobility of Indian professionals –both within India, as well as those returning to India.

MNC companies setting up India operations would well be adviced to use international search firms with a strong India focus –or those with partners based in India. Or even pick a few members of the Executive Recruiters Association , representing over a hundred of the top professionally managed selection/search/staffing firms –some of them with pan India presence, and some others who work in niche markets, or with strong regional penetration.

As the war for talent increases, there is an increasing need to hire passive jobseekers who are more likely to be better fits than those who are actively seeking. One needs not just online recruiting tools to reach out, but also a very strong offline presence in India to be able to discern the best from the rest!

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