College recruiting is now a global affair. US colleges and universities, like US companies, are increasingly going global, and recruiters are responding to the challenge. Edward A. Malloy, President of Notre Dame University, cites four ways in which higher education crosses borders:

• The growing presence of international students on US campuses
• An emphasis on international issues in college curriculums
• US students studying and traveling abroad in increased numbers
• The increased focus on global issues in academic research

Small wonder that companies now have to consider the global aspect of campus recruiting. But doing so raises all kinds of new challenges. In this article, we'll explore the changing global college-recruiting scene.

Before scaling recruiting operations to include global recruiting, a company must establish an overall recruiting model -- centralized, localized, or hybrid -- and also devise a system to share globally-sourced candidates effectively within the organization. Wow! Makes you start to wonder, "Why bother?" Why? Because you've got to if you aspire to be a global player. When your customers, business units and facilities are located around the world, it means your candidates are too. So you've got to work to find, hire and deploy international candidates -- despite the logistical headaches.

At the recent NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) conference, companies that have successfully added global dimensions to their recruiting programs outlined key issues to master, among them:

• Candidate identification
• Candidate sourcing
• Visas and immigration
• Cultural differences
• Compensation/benefits
• Branding
• Technology
• Training

To succeed at global recruiting, companies need two things: smarts and assistance. First off, companies need to recognize that global recruiting is a specialized skill set. It often makes sense to develop a fairly small cadre of international recruiters trained in global issues. There's simply too much going on for every recruiter in the organization to be individually trained in global recruiting. It also pays to outsource many key global functions -- particularly those highly complex and legal areas where growing your own expertise is impractical. Its also wise to benchmark best practices extensively before dipping a toe into global recruiting.

Fortunately, more and more information is now available on global recruiting logistics. Yes, use the Internet, but use it wisely. Be sure to drive candidates to your global recruiting web site (you do have one, don't you?). Next have reliable tools available to evaluate and compare applicants across borders. International candidates often take a different approach to explaining their core competencies, educational backgrounds and relevant experience. Be sure you know how to evaluate and compare candidates appropriately.

And don't forget: the web is great, but access is limited in many countries. Don't assume candidates have the time and freedom to complete lengthy on-line applications. Finally, you've got to funnel those global applicants to appropriate business units worldwide. Sound easy? It's not. "I know of no company that really does this well," says Rose Mary Farenden, Ford Motor Company's Director of Global Salaried Recruiting. Ford attracts 30,000 global candidates a month. Managing that load is a huge challenge, Ms. Farenden also says, but the effort pays for companies that do it well.