I recruit a ton of remote talent. My residential cleaning company MaidThis has been fully remote since day one back in 2013.
Since then I have worked with dozens of fully remote people. Here’s the fact: there’s so much talent in the world — folks who are highly specialized and have a lot of different skill sets.
One of the best parts of running a remote local business is that you don’t need to rely on local people. My thought is, why not recruit the best talent in the world?
I set off on a quest to do just that and have found a lot of amazing people. My team is currently based in eight different countries. We have our sales team in South Africa (Americans love the accent) and most of our admin teams are based in Latin America (many of our cleaners are Spanish speakers so it makes things easier).
I wanted to share my advice for finding and recruiting remote talent: what websites to use, which countries are best, and what you can expect to pay.
Websites to Find Remote Talent
There are a ton of different places to look online:
- Upwork: My personal favorite for finding freelancers anywhere in the world. It’s one of the biggest marketplaces out there — I refer to it as the Indeed of finding remote talent. Make sure to come up with a solid ad so that you attract the best of the best.
- Dynamite Jobs: The quality of people on Dynamite Jobs may be a bit better than Upwork, but it comes at a price. You’ll have to pay between $200-$300 per listing, but that said the quality is there. I recommend using Upwork for short-term projects and Dynamite Jobs for long-term work.
- We Work Remotely: I’ve never used We Work Remotely but I’ve heard great things.
What Countries Should I Recruit From?
There’s no hard and fast rule about which countries are the best for recruiting. Nevertheless I have learned a thing or two over the years.
The Philippines: Best known for virtual assistants, the Philippines has a great reputation for having remote team talent. A lot of business owners recruit here because it’s inexpensive — most workers ask for between $600-$1k per month, which is a great wage there. Just be aware of the time difference. I unfortunately can’t hire in the Philippines because I’m based in LA and it doesn’t line up well with PST.
Honduras: There are a lot of US-based call centers there and as such many people have experience speaking with Americans and are familiar with US culture and customs. It’s a great place to recruit for operations.
Mexico: Another fantastic choice for operations as they really understand Americans.
Venezuela: There is unbelievably high inflation in Venezuela right now which means there are a lot of really talented people there who want to earn USD. We just hired two Venezuelans for our operations team and they both have engineering degrees (!!).
Argentina: Another hidden gem for the same reason as Venezuela: hyperinflation means highly qualified workers are looking for jobs that pay in USD.
What Can I Expect to Pay Remote Talent?
Our pay range really varies depending on location, skill, and a myriad of other things.
But, you can expect to pay between $1,000-$1,500 per month for Latin American talent. This number could go as high as $2,000-$2,500 if you want someone very high level.
At a certain point you may realize that you want really talented people and you’re willing to pay. Be flexible — $30k per year for a highly qualified employee is most definitely worth it.
This article was written by Neel from MaidThis Franchise, a remote-local franchise opportunity for people looking to escape the rate race and reach financial freedom. Learn more here.
