Why The Next Person You Hire Doesn’t Need to Be in Your Hometown

By Ken Zwerdling on Aug 25, 2018

In the old days, the hiring process was pretty predictable. You would look in the classified ads, see a posting for a job, send in your resume via snail mail and hope someone would contact you for an interview. Ten to fifteen years ago, most interviews were conducted in person. College interns would be hired from local universities and communities in the same towns as offices looking for them. Times sure have changed. Upon selling one of my businesses, we decided give up our beautiful office space and put the entire company and work environment in the cloud.  I went through the conversion and uploaded thousands of files and then had to figure out how to work in this new environment. First I had to understand the process as a user and then as an administrator. Once I felt comfortable working in this type of environment, my whole perspective on the hiring of new employees completely changed.

I wanted to be able to tap into the talent pool of not just one city but the entire country. About a year ago, I started hiring interns who were not in my city. Because I am in Greenville, SC my choice of multicultural and internationally aware talent is limited. However, around the country there are unlimited potential applicants all looking for the same thing – a virtual internship. I posted the opening on several internships websites and within a week had dozens of applicants. I interviewed them via Skype video and then determined which ones to hire. These applicants were seeking an internship to fit in with class schedules that could be performed from the comfort of a dorm room. This semester, we expanded the geography of the potential pool of applicants to other countries. Currently, we have interns in Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as interns in France and Korea. All four of them have access to the company network and we communicate via Skype each day. There is also have a group intern calendar so I can see which interns are working which days and times, and it takes into account all of the time zone differences. It’s a win – win for the interns and the employer. The company gets to pick from a larger talent pool and interns are able to find an internship not limited by geography that will really help them gain valuable experience.

At Foreign Staffing, Inc. we have now taken this strategy to the hiring of full time employees.  Because our business in not local and not regional, but fully national and international, we can pick from a larger pool of candidates than just in our hometown. And specifically because Greenville, SC is not a major metropolitan area, we can live where we want and work with anyone, anywhere. We recently posted a job across the nation and received dozens of applications from all over the country. We conducted Skype interviews and ultimately hired a candidate in California.  The candidate was attracted to this opportunity because it didn’t exist in his home town and he will have no commute. The value of working from home (and not just one day per week as some telecommuters do) means there are no commuting costs, there is a saving of time lost that ranges from an hour or two each day, and there are significant savings from not eating out for lunch, not paying childcare, no formal wardrobe, etc.

And for those who wonder if employees will really work if they are not being watched, I find that they actually tend to work harder and longer because they develop a way to seamlessly and effectively weave work life into home life.  Sure, they may be doing laundry during the day or fit in a workout but specifically because the overall stress goes up, full-time telecommuters, or remote workers, have been found to be more dedicated employees. Our company benefits greatly too. Not only do we now have access to potential clients in California, but we are open for business an extra 3 hours per day. Our next hire will be in Europe so that the offices will be open an extra 6 hours per day, followed by Asia which will keep us open an additional 12 hours per day. By having employees across the planet, we are not just a global company because of where our customers are but especially because of where our employees are.