Earlier this year I was contacted by a postgraduate school to come and speak about LinkedIn and recruitment to an audience of HR and recruiting professionals (thanks to Twitter by the way). Sounded good I thought, the only little snag is that the University del Pacifico is in Lima, Peru – basically half way around the world. We were emailing back and forth for a while and I said I would do it but never thought it would actually happen… But it did and last month I had the pleasure of spending a few days in the Andean metropolis that is Lima and banging the drum for social media and LinkedIn in particular.

Skills shortage

The reason companies in Peru are increasingly using social media is because there is a serious skills shortage in the country. The economy is booming and businesses are struggling to find the right talent. This means there is a massive opportunity to use social media and especially LinkedIn to reach out to skilled professionals in places like Colombia, Spain, the US and anywhere else they may be.

The biggest shortages seem to be in mining, construction and other infrastructure roles. The country is experiencing a commodities-driven growth, silver and gold are among the big exports. This reminds me of South Africa or Australia a few decades back, definitely the place to be if you want to grow your career or business.

My interview in Gestion (the FT of Peru):

Terminology

One thing I had to get my head around in Peru is that they don’t use the term recruiter as we do in the UK; over here it would typically be someone working for a recruitment agency. Agency recruiters over there call themselves headhunters – to avoid any doubt I suppose! And corporate recruiters, or talent acquisition specialists as some would call them, are known as HR in Peru.

Summary of my presentation on LinkedIn and recruitment

What’s great about Peru?

This was one of my first questions when I arrived and the usual go-to person answered it. The taxi driver said the food in Peru is spectacular; it’s a blend of Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, native Indian cuisine. And from what I tasted, the food was indeed spectacular. I would recommend trying ceviche which is essentially raw white fish in a lime brine. If you like sushi, pickled herring or smoked salmon you’ll love ceviche. And then there’s the drink… I tasted the #1 Peruvian soda which is called Inca Kola, it basically tastes like bubble gum and leaves a nice layer of sugar on your teeth .

Apart from the food I would say the people are all very warm and friendly, which has always been my experience of South America. The country also has lots to offer such as Machu Picchu, the Amazon rainforest, the coastline (including penguins I’m told) etc – sadly I didn’t have enough time to explore these this time around.

I hope to return to Peru sometime soon, many thanks to Karen and everyone at the University that made me feel so welcome!

And finally here’s how to pronounce LinkedIn, Peru style…

Image credits: Myself!