International development is a people-centric business. And since the fate of any aid project stands and falls with staffing, recruiters serve at the gateway to success.
As Devex’s new assistant editor for careers and recruitment, I look forward to uncovering what matters most to you — HR experts, proposal recruiters and others tasked with staffing aid initiatives around the world. My goal is to start a conversation and share news, analysis and advice that helps put your mission on the path toward success.
Consider me your new champion; my take is that recruiters have a unique vantage point and a crucial role to play in international development.
My findings will be published right here on our new Recruiting Matters blog, and I look forward to your feedback and guest contributions.
In the past few days, my conversations with recruiters and industry officials prove that there’s no shortage of news in this realm.
As we prepare for the first-ever Devex International Development Career Fair & Partnerships Forum in Nairobi, many of my conversations have revolved around the theme of aid “going local” and how this trend is affecting recruiters and job seekers.
While international donors help to put communities in the driver’s seat of their own development, recruiters are increasingly hiring local talent — and that usually involves more than just posting an ad on the Devex jobs board.
It might mean walking a hand-written advertisement to a local newspaper. Or mingling with community members at a village gathering. Or adopting what one recruiter described to me as a “decentralized, centralized” hiring process. (How would that work, and how important is it for proposal recruiters to travel and recruit on the ground? Watch out for coverage on these topics.)
Retaining a productive staff means creating opportunities for colleagues to build capacity, advance their careers and communicate well with each other while making an impact on the lives of others. It means troubleshooting issues that arise in multicultural teams with highly divergent compensation structures and skills levels. And it may require upgrades to your organization’s IT — from your interviewing software to your candidate tracking system.
Adapting new technologies and processes is never easy, and I encourage you to share ideas and solutions that have worked for you. It’s a way not just to advance our shared cause, but to position yourself as an expert and a thought leader in this field.
Recruiters may not always enjoy the respect they deserve, but they are increasingly taking a seat at leadership tables. At Devex, we want to help elevate their role further, and I look forward to hearing your suggestions and covering the many changes impacting your work.
Please leave a comment below, tweet @devexcareers or join the Devex LinkedIn group for recruiters.
About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.
