Nuño Costa and Vânia Correia are the agency owners and currently the only two members. However, that didn’t stop them in achieving success in sending a sizable number of workers to the Netherlands through Hire Abroad.
Let us tell you more about their inspiring story that shows how hard work, persistence, and professionalism can help you achieve tangible results in recruitment. Read more about Nuño and Vânia’s journey and what Hire Abroad did to make the process easier for them!
Key Achievements:
The candidates that got the job praised the process, care, and simplicity of recruitment through Hire Abroad.
Work Away Network has landed jobs abroad for 25 people in the last quarter and 10 in July.
They hired their first team member recently, and they are looking to grow further!
The Owners of Work Away Network Were Recruited Before Becoming Recruiters Themselves
The story of Work Away Network is pretty peculiar. Nuño and Vânia’s backgrounds before joining Hire Abroad had nothing to do with recruitment. They were originally in the hospitality business before they opted for this change.
They actually arrived in the Netherlands through Hire Abroad, meaning they had first-hand experience with the candidate-side of the process and working abroad in general. This served as a great starting point for them, as even recruiters with years of experience don’t go through such an experience.
They liked the process of going abroad to work and liked the way recruiters and employers treated them. As such, they wanted to help others. They liked the process of finding a job abroad and how recruiters and employers treated them, so they wanted to help others. Combined with their desire to have more freedom and work independently, Nuño and Vânia decided to establish the Work Away Network and help other people get jobs abroad that would improve their lives.
Where else to start than in the blue-collar sector? Their recruitment journey started with technical profiles, consisting of construction workers, electricians, welders, and carpenters. However, the abundance of job offers and open positions on Hire Abroad helped them expand on their offer. Still, what else did the platform do to help Nuño and Vânia?
The Support from Hire Abroad Was Unparalleled
“To start with, the introduction was amazing. We’ve been through some training, and we had all the assistance from our colleagues—Kristine, Gundega, and many others. Also, we wanted to thank Jovana, who works as the Technical Support Specialist at Hire Abroad—she helped us get familiar with everything“ said Vânia
“They all supported us, which was very important, especially at the beginning of our new careers. So, they were there to support us and answer our questions all the time,” she added.
As mentioned, they started the journey with Hire Abroad by recruiting for technical positions. However, they had achieved fantastic results pretty quickly, so they opted to expand their expertise to non-technical positions as well. This was a big step for the small company, helping them expand their business and offering even more jobs to their candidates.
Here’s how the process of joining the platform went for Work Away Network.
- The first step started with Ricardas, the co-founder of Hire Abroad.
- The communication went through emails at first.
- Then they had their first meeting online, where everything went well.
After that, Work Away joined the platform and started familiarising themselves with all the features.
“All the processes and communication went well, so it was very good for us. We learned a lot from them. They were all there for us—very helpful people. They keep providing the necessary support, so everything is great so far, and we are liking it. Everything is new, and all the companies have different ways of working.” Nuño said.
He also noted: “Honestly, the team has been there to help us with everything. And we made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, which was normal, but they always managed to solve them for us and help us improve and have better results going forward. So it’s been very nice.”
Ricardas Tenene was also thrilled with how everything went: “In the realm of entrepreneurial endeavours, the Work Away Network has discovered a winning formula for success. Driven by a genuine desire to help people, Vânia and Nuño have proven to be invaluable partners. Their exceptional responsiveness and openness to learning have made our cooperation successful and we see nothing but success for them!”
How Does Recruitment Look at Hire Abroad?
Nuño and Vânia would best describe the platform as intuitive. Let’s see what that means in practice and how the platform helps them save time and address pain points.
What Are The Goals for Work Away Network, and What Does Hire Abroad Do to Help Them Achieve Them?
The main goal for Work Away Network is to work on their own time and to help people get jobs abroad for a fresh start in life. Working only with technical profiles (before Hire Abroad) was limiting for them, especially since they were looking to expand their business.
After joining the platform, they’ve expanded their job offers, and hoped that within a few months, they can be self-sustainable, and recruiting through Hire Abroad will be their main source of income. At the moment, they are focused on getting as many high-quality candidates as possible. They already have plenty of candidates working in the Netherlands. They’ve been off to a great start. Now, they want to estimate the length of their candidates’ stays to be able to create a long-term plan.
“My goal is to go back to Portugal and work from there. Because most of our candidates come from Portugal, we can meet with them face-to-face and talk directly and honestly about working in the Netherlands, the opportunities, accommodation, and everything that’s involved in the process” said Nuño.
“And of course, in the Netherlands, the cost of living is three times higher than in Portugal. It will be amazing for me because I can be next to my family and in my country and keep doing this job that I like,” he continued.
Vânia added: “We like the contact with the people, and we like our colleagues as well. We always have the support we need. And finally, we know that we don’t need to be stuck in a place that we don’t like to be because we have a job that gives us the freedom to go away and just enjoy our lives and work from anywhere.”
Hard Work Pays Off
The flexibility of the recruiter role and the opportunities available on Hire Abroad were working in the favour of the small agency. So much so that Vânia and Nuño even shared advice with other recruiters, reminding them that they are the ones who need to put in the work.
The flexibility of the very nature of the job and the opportunities available on Hire Abroad are working in their favour. But Vânia and Nuño had some tips to share with other recruiters and remind them that they are the ones who need to put in the work:
“If you really want to achieve your goals and have this kind of freedom, you need to work a lot and be 100% sure that you’re investing your time. Sometimes you work until ten in the night, so you need to be available on weekends for your candidates who are settling in on Saturdays or Sundays. Also, you might need to work weekends full time or simply have the phone ON and be available when they need you” they shared.
What Feature of Hire Abroad Did You Not Expect to See But Like Very Much?
Work Away Network was looking for someone who would not only provide them with a platform to work on but also help them grow. The most important thing for them has been to have people behind the system, which could solve the issues, but also having that personal touch and connection with the team that makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.
Overall, they are more than happy with Hire Abroad. The system is simple and they got used to it quickly. This is exactly what they were looking for: a solution that frees up their time, allowing them to focus more on recruitment itself.
Is Hire Abroad A Good Place to Start If You Are a Recruiter?
Vânia Correia: “[Hire Abroad] is definitely a good place to start. If you really want to learn and get into the recruitment business, it’s perfect because you have the support and all the tools that you need, and you have plenty of offers. You just need to do your own job marketing and then find the candidates.”
Nuño added that the product has been excellent. He emphasised that he learned working with other people and companies before joining Hire Abroad, but that if you really wanted to learn about recruiting, you could find a lot of helpful things on the platform, and because of the support you get and if you put in the work, you can progress quickly.
They recommended Hire Abroad to people who are actually interested in changing their careers and becoming recruiters—you don’t need any experience. In their words: “We are the living proof that we are doing amazing things, and only because we have the right support from our people as well.”
While this is just an example of how the platform can help a small agency, Hire Abroad can also help larger agencies increase their revenue and free up their busy schedules by providing them with ready-to-fill job vacancies and connecting them to established companies that need workers
Advice for Recruiters Who Struggle to Find Candidates
Work Away Network is actively offering job opportunities to its candidates. While there are plenty of job offers on Hire Abroad, a lot of recruiters struggle to find enough candidates who are willing to move to a different country.
Not Work Away Network.
After recommending the platform to recruiters who wanted to improve their recruiting experience or start with recruitment but not feel isolated, they went on to talk about what recruiters can do to improve their efficiency and always have enough candidates to pitch offers to.
This is some valuable advice for all recruiters, so it is best to hear from them directly:
This strategy has worked well for the Work Away Network so far:
The agency doesn’t only work with Portuguese candidates, they work with everyone in the EU, and as long as people have the right documents to work on the continent, they can So far, it has been a very good learning process for them, and the results are clearly visible.
What’s been really great is that they haven’t spent any money on advertising throughout the year. They plan to do some advertising in the future, but so far this is not necessary as they are swarmed with offers and candidates!
Joining Hire Abroad is great for recruiters in this aspect as well. The platform is free, but whether you want to spend any money for promotion outside of it is completely up to you. But you can definitely follow Work Away’s example of finding candidates.
What Does the Future Look Like for Work Away and Hire Abroad?
Vânia and Nuño already talked about going back to Portugal and establishing their office there. They also plan to figure out ways to help reduce the cost of transportation for candidates who get hired in the Netherlands. Moreover, they will hire people in the future and hopefully, we’ll see their team grow.
They also mentioned that they plan to keep growing through Hire Abroad.
Their backgrounds have always been in different fields, so they don’t plan to change anything at this point. The sheer number of offers from Hire Abroad really helps them grow their business quickly, especially in this beginner stage. Also, recruiters, in general, get a chance to work with the big names and international companies that you know you can trust from the start.
Starting a cooperation with these brands by yourself is hard, and most businesses wouldn’t even open your email.
Their advice to everyone is: “If you think that you can go alone, you’re wrong. The best way to think about it is that if I help you grow, I will grow as well, so we can grow together. It is much better to work with a team of people who have experience in recruiting and connections than try to do everything by yourself.”
“That is winning.”
And what a message to finish off with!
Start Recruiting Through Hire Abroad
If you want to join Work Away Network and other recruiters who are thriving through Hire Abroad, make sure you get in touch with us so we can schedule an introduction meeting with you.
Happy recruiting!
