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GVSU and GR Chamber event addresses international student hiring
July 24, 2024
The forum was organized by Grand Valley State University. The goal? Sharing with local small business owners how they can successfully integrate global perspectives into their workforce by hiring international students from nearby universities.
Rachel Salinas is the Assistant Dean for Grand Valley’s College of Computing. She explains why international students are often overlooked for job opportunities within small business.
“So when you have a large corporation that has a 75-person HR department, someone who can specifically focus on international talent, that’s a bit easier than someone who has just a few people in their hiring department, but it is possible, and that’s what we’re trying to showcase.”
Salinas says another reason small businesses hesitate to hire international talent comes down to a matter of retention.
“There’s that retention question of like, ‘Well, what if I can only keep them for four years?’ Okay, that’s a possibility, but the domestic talent may be only staying for two years, so I think that retention question is really something that’s being dealt with across the board.”
Salinas says the benefits of hiring international students cannot be understated.
“If you move forward with international talent and they’re a sponsorship, that individual will be so loyal to you as an employee. They’ll be committed to you, and then the talent really is just outstanding in terms of what these students are coming here to study.”
Salinas says this conversation is just getting started and Grand
Valley hopes to have more forums like this in the future.
Article written by David Limbaugh. Original
article posted here.