A new survey has revealed that expats are now using recruitment consultancy agents as their main way of finding work overseas.
The Hydrogen Group recently published the results of their latest Global Professionals on the Move report, and one of the areas they explored was expatriate employment trends. They found that 36 percent of all the expats quizzed secured their current jobs via a recruitment firm or an executive headhunter, 16 percent found work through searching online, 15 percent were moved abroad by their existing employer and 14 percent gained work through the help of a friend or colleague.
When looking at the foreign job market and the ease or difficulty associated with finding work overseas the results were generally positive. Most current expats said they found work within six months of searching, and four out of ten claimed to have found overseas employment within one month of searching.
However, the current economic climate has certainly had an effect on the market, and many people feel there are less jobs available than before. However, this could actually be a misconception, as Hydrogen Group chief executive Tim Smeaton explains: ““It’s understandable in the current climate that people think there are fewer jobs. What we are seeing drop off on a local level is being balanced out as the number of global opportunities increases.
He added: “It’s more a case of perception than reality, as 59 percent of candidates surveyed in the report said they had secured a position within two months from the start of their search. The findings also support the CV to interview ratio being much better for candidates when finding a role overseas than when looking at home.”