How to Use Community Signals to Hire the Best International Talent

Using community signals, particularly peer recommendations about a candidate, can be a powerful tool for finding the best talent, especially when searching internationally. Considering international candidates for your remote-friendly job postings may be easier than you think. Below, we’ll explain how.

Imagine fully embracing the notion that talent is evenly distributed worldwide, that enhancing diversity in your company by hiring beyond the United States is advantageous, and that tapping into international talent pools untapped by competitors can yield a competitive edge. You post a job, emphasizing its remote-friendly nature to attract international talent.

Then, the tidal wave of resumes arrives. You don’t recognize the schools or companies listed, the formatting seems unfamiliar, and perhaps you struggle with pronouncing some candidates’ names. Faced with this, many default to consigning this stack of resumes to the “too hard” pile, never to be reviewed thoroughly.

While this reaction is understandable, it doesn’t align with your original goals. It prompts the search for a better way to assess the international candidate pool.

At Telescoped, we’ve discovered an optimal solution: leveraging signals from a candidate’s community. It turns out that gauging how a community perceives a person’s skills and strengths can unearth the best talent.

So, what community signals should you consider? At Telescoped, we evaluate a broad range of signals, including connectedness, event attendance, and peer recommendations. However, absent a purpose-built solution, focusing on peer recommendations can be a potent means of pinpointing top candidates.

Can a candidate provide three peers who will vouch for them? Are these peers accomplished individuals whose backgrounds can be verified via platforms like LinkedIn? How enthusiastically do these peers write about the person they are recommending? Analyzing such signals can transform a stack of incomprehensible resumes into a shortlist of candidates meriting initial screening calls.

International candidates eagerly seek opportunities with prestigious US-based companies. Requesting peer recommendations as part of the application process is something top candidates will gladly furnish if it enhances their chances of genuine consideration.

Now, you might be wondering: Won’t candidates simply cherry-pick friends, compromising the recommendations’ validity? The short answer is no, provided you approach it correctly.

For candidates with the strongest recommendations, verification is key. Firstly, confirm the individual’s existence and career accomplishments by requesting LinkedIn profiles. Secondly, ask specific questions upfront about the candidate’s collaborative experiences with their peers, ensuring recommendations aren’t merely from acquaintances. Thirdly, if a candidate progresses to the stage requiring reference checks, a well-conducted live call with peer references can gauge both the reference’s quality and the recommendations’ validity through probing questions.

Returning to the outset of this article, some may be tempted to dismiss this entire process as too complex, akin to discarding international resumes. However, for those embracing community signals to hire talent, the extra effort is perpetual. The technique is effective, and the rewards justify the endeavor.