Want to learn the inside secrets of working in a multicultural recruitment environment? Put simply, our differences are our strengths. But there’s a lot more to it than that.

That’s why we invited multilingual talent specialists Jessie Caudron and Francesca Menichetti to share their views on what it’s like to join the Centre of Excellence (CoE), an Edinburgh-based team supplying remote talent services for organisations in the UK and abroad.

The CoE features an academy for talent sourcing, which is the process of recruiting niche or hard-to-find candidates.

In this post, Jessie and Francesca present firsthand perspectives to help inform candidates about life at Hudson Talent Solutions, and the CoE in particular.

As we celebrate diversity at Hudson Talent Solutions, can you guess how many languages are spoken here?

Our office is based at the CoE, a newly opened and incredibly trendy building in the equally vibrant Edinburgh, Scotland. Here, we explore, implement, learn, and develop new techniques and processes for recruitment.

In the CoE, we excel at talent sourcing. This is largely because we pair multilingual language skills with top technology to help clients find great talent based anywhere, not just their country of operation.

Whether you’re a highly experienced sourcer, or just starting out, the CoE offers a great place to learn and develop top in-demand skills.

And, thanks to our team diversity, we also enjoy an extremely rich environment for learning, development, and fun.

Our team consists of people from the UK, as well as from France, Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Pakistan, Russia, and the USA.

There are at least 17 languages spoken here!

In addition to our Edinburgh office, we also have people who work on-site at client offices, and people who work remotely from their homes when they are not in Edinburgh. Many of us who are based in an office also occasionally work from home, thanks to a flexible working policy.

We all support a diverse range of clients from a variety of industries and countries. As you can see, diversity comes from within our teams and also from our client interactions.

To get full value from this melting pot of people and experiences, we work in an open space. This enables us to share knowledge and build connections.

We also have access to a flexible co-working space, which proves beneficial when working individually.

From fabulous food to lively language cafes, discover the advantages of life in a multicultural environment

Diversity at work is an open door to many positive aspects. The list below includes some of the advantages recommended by our colleagues.

Discovering new and different perspectives. Working with people from all over the world exposes you to different ways of thinking, creative ideas, and diversified perspectives. If we ever feel stuck with a problem and need a pair of fresh eyes to look into it, we can be sure that new ideas will result!

Welcoming new traditions and cultures. Hudson Talent Solutions promotes an environment where we feel comfortable and happy sharing our culture and traditions with our colleagues.

Encouraging open-mindedness and cultural awareness. Working in a multicultural, multilingual office gives us the opportunity to broaden our perspectives and to gain a better understanding of each other’s cultures. This helps us to keep an open mind and respect each other’s cultural differences. Cultural sensitivity is key to happiness in the workplace.

Enjoying food! Whenever we have people travelling back to their home country, we’re always delighted when they bring back typical tasty treats for us to enjoy. We also regularly organise events such as cooking and baking competitions. There are real opportunities to showcase hidden kitchen skills!

Learning new languages. Being on the phone, either with candidates or clients, is a big part of our roles in recruitment. Every day, we are exposed to so many different accents and languages. Francesca, who will share her views on multicultural environments in the next section, has started a project called Language Cafe. The idea was to offer internal language workshops, from and for Hudson Talent Solutions employees. This has been a massive success. We now have many popular classes happening in different languages at the CoE.

Francesca’s take on working in a multicultural team

Francesca is one of our multilingual recruiters who offers a strong focus on talent sourcing.

Having been with us for more than a year now, Francesca shares her thoughts on working in a multicultural environment.

So, Francesca, tell us a bit about your background.
I am originally from Italy, but recently I spent about three years moving from country to country, mostly because of my studies.

I lived in Finland for about six months while doing my master’s degree. I then moved to the Netherlands to improve my Dutch. I stayed there for almost a year.

When my landlord decided to sell my flat, I took the opportunity to do some travelling around Europe, visiting friends, and interviewing for various positions. I stopped in Lisbon, Rome, and Eindhoven.

I didn’t plan on visiting Scotland, but when I was about to go back to Italy, I received a call from a recruiter, inviting me to Edinburgh for a first interview. Ultimately, I got the job, and since I had already fallen in love with this city, I decided to stay.

Which languages do you speak, and how did you end up learning them?
I speak fluent Italian, English, and French. I have an intermediate level of Dutch and Spanish. I learned most of these languages at university, where I studied translation and interpreting.

How did you find working in a different language than your native one? Were there any challenges?
I really like working with foreign languages. I have been speaking mostly English for the past four years, and I have gotten to a point where – funnily enough – it comes easier for me to speak English than it does to speak Italian – even though I still make plenty of mistakes!

The challenges I have faced have mostly to do with the different communication styles. Dutch speakers tend to be rather direct and to the point, while English speakers aren’t exactly known for their bluntness. Furthermore, a high level of formality is not necessarily required when talking to Dutch speakers, but French speakers tend to prefer it. And so on and so forth…

What do you like the most about working in a multicultural environment?
I think the greatest aspect of working in a multicultural environment is the free knowledge that comes with it. We have the unique opportunity to learn about other parts of the world that we might not be familiar with. We have unlimited exposure to cultures and languages. I believe this alone is an extremely enriching experience.

What do you think about working with clients and candidates based in different countries?
Ever since I started working for Hudson Talent Solutions, I have had the chance to recruit in a variety of different countries: France, Belgium, Italy, Poland, the UK, etc.

It has been very interesting to see how different countries/cultures/clients require different approaches. From reach-out messages to screening calls, it is fundamental to have a cultural understanding of the other party in order to avoid misunderstandings that can potentially lead to a sticky situation.

Want to learn more about a career at Hudson Talent Solutions? From training and development to career progression, discover what’s possible with a range of talent sourcing and recruitment careers.