Until this year, I had never recruited any candidates from Mexico in Mexico. I have recruited in many countries, however, this was not an area I had ever focused on in my 20 years of recruiting. I really wanted to learn more and talk to professionals who have been in the space for some time. One of my goals in the #globalrecruitment series was to focus on areas that I felt recruiters may have some interest in learning more about. I had connected with Francisco Fimbres on Twitter who works for Corporate Recruiters who introduced me to his President Jose Flores. I asked Jose a series of questions and he shared some terrific information about himself, the recruiting environment, social media and how to attract candidates in Mexico.  Jose, thanks for a quick interview!

1) Tell me a little about yourself and how you got involved in Recruiting and how you got involved with Corporate Recruiters.

Sure! I studied Industrial Psychology and since then I liked everything related with talent evaluation. In 1984 I was responsible to hire the key staff for Hasbro Start- Up in Mexico. Once I finished this project, I decided to open Corporate Recruiters. Corporate Recruiters was the first Executive Search firm in NW of Mexico specialized in the global manufacturing industry. We have grown tremendously and we now cover the entire country and other divisions such as Hospitality, IT and Commerce.

2) What are some of the harder to fill roles in Mexico and why?

Global executive positions that require multicultural skills and very specific technical knowledge. They are scarce and are in high demand globally. Our approach to recruiting these people is based in 3 major elements: Strategic Planning, technology and PR . We conduct an annual plan to determine market trends and key positions to plan for hiring. After that with the support of a CRM, ATS and Social Media apps our consultants start their prospecting action plans. We reinforce all this with PR programs focused to Universities, business clusters, Chambers of Commerce and key executives. The key of all this is consistency and a consulting approach both for clients and candidates. We commit with them to deliver our promise of hiring success for both parties.

3) Tell me about the economy in Mexico. How does this affect recruiting? What percentage of people are unemployed?

At the moment Mexico economy is attractive for foreign investment especially in the manufacturing sector. This is by far our main market. Mexico unemployment rate is around 5%. Around 9% are underemployed. After 2008, underemployment effected mainly baby boomers that were replaced by generation X and Y. Generally speaking, underemployment is higher in the City of Mexico and State of Mexico (25,000,000 = 21% of total population) because of graduates and employment competition.

4) What is most important to people you hire in Mexico? Benefits, Time Off, Flexible Schedule, Money or any others?

This varies according with the sector, demographics and region of Mexico. For instance at the center of Mexico companies provides more benefits than other regions. Talking about demographics, generation Y likes more flexibility and time off.

Can you talk about what kinds of benefits are offered to people in Mexico?

In Mexico we have two major benefits categories: by law and additional to the law. By law benefits are: Christmas bonus (15 days salary), Vacations (6 days /year with a 25% premium ), and medical care. Generally speaking, key positions will have additional benefits such as medical, life insurance, performance bonus, car, additional vacations premium, savings fund. Nevertheless a new trend in hiring is to outsource where key positions don’t have any additional benefits. They are simply compensated through the salary

5) What are some the obstacles with hiring in Mexico that you may not have in the United States?

Mobility. Family is very important to people in Mexico. It is not uncommon for people not to want to move because of their families.

6) How active are candidates on Social Media?

In Mexico only 38% have access to Internet, and mainly are young generations that use social media. Most candidates are found through newspaper ads, networking, sending applications and employment fairs.

7) What is the most effective way to attract candidates to a position in Mexico?

This varies with the generations and candidates age, generally motivations are the same than USA. At Corporate Recruiters we are sure of the effectiveness of Employer Branding, download our Building an Employer Brand Manual here.

8) What is the feeling on a Virtual Workplace in Mexico?

This is just starting. People still likes going to their companies to feel that they are part of them. In the other technology and business culture are not yet developed to support the virtual workplace.

9) Give me a bold prediction about recruiting in Mexico over the next 5 years.

The key will be to be able to engage with generation Y in a real fast pace economy and the ability respond quickly to customers.

10) How can people reach you?

joseflores@global-recruiters.com
Twitter: José Flores @RecruiterMexico @HiringSuccess
José Flores has 25 years of experience as executve consultant for the manufacturing, IT and Hospitality industries in USA & Mexico. He has worked and managed more than 2,000 executive searches with about 500 different companies.
Corporate Recruiters was founded in 1985.