Brewer recruitment timeline and other issues

[MD Brewer]

Hey all. We're two Americans in process of organizing a start up craft brewery here in Eastern Europe, Moldova to be specific. The market is in its infancy here, and so we are going to seek to recruit another Westerner (USA, Canada, UK, etc) as head brewer. I have many years under my belt as a home brewer, but feel that to give the brewery its best opportunity to succeed, I should hand the reins over to someone with actual industry experience in this area. Now I have perused the classifieds extensively, but so much seems to be aimed at domestic recruitment in the US, I thought maybe someone out there may have the experience to guide me through some of the "noise".

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience/insights into either recruiting for international relocation or has been the one recruited.

What timeline did you experience between recruiting/being recruited and starting the position?

The general idea being, that as a start up, affording someone with extensive head brewing experience may be beyond our reach, we would be offering someone with 2 or 3 years experience as an assistant brewer the opportunity to expand their experience. Does this strike people as a strange approach or is it a fairly common idea?

What sorts of additional compensation (apartment, plane tickets, etc) were in play?

Any and all other thoughts on the subject are greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

[TunMonkey]

Recruiting site

In terms of recruiting overseas, in addition to the classifieds here, www.brewingwork.com lists job opportunities by geographical area, so it may be worthwhile to explore posting your job there as well.

In terms of relocation, I'd think some version of paid airfare and maybe paid temporary housing (a month or 2) while your brewer finds a place of their own or takes over the lease on the temp apartment. Cost of living of course factors into salary/benefits.

Hiring someone else's good assistant seems like a reasonable approach depending on their specific experience as it relates to your specific operation. This is not only common in breweries but has been standard in restaurant start-ups as well: find the best restaurant doing the food you want to do and hire away their sous chef.

Good luck with the endeavor, I hear Moldova is amazing.

[mashpaddled]

One thing to consider is visa requirements. Does a work visa to Moldova require specific qualifications? That may affect what you need to pay to attract brewers with those qualifications. Do people have to have housing already established for a visa? If so then look at structuring compensation to ensure the brewer will continue to meet visa requirements.

Also make sure you are paying them enough to have bribe money on hand in case they accidentally drive into Transnistra.

[dick murton]

I'm not sure how Moldova stands with regards to employment of EU nationals, but suspect that employment of an EU national will be somewhat easier than a non EU national. It might be worth having a chat with Carling recruitment (contact via the IBD website if nothing else works) as they do international recruitment, though I think they will be expecting a big (by micro brewery standards) fee to actually do the recruitment advertising. It might also be worth advertising, when ready using the SIBA website (mainly, but not exclusively UK nationals - but people with UK small brewery experience), but you may have to be a member for vacancies recruitment. I know I couldn't sell stuff before I was a member, but that may not apply to recruitment. As a member of SIBA, I could help you out on that front if required.

And of course, the vacancies on this site, as some people are prepared to work pretty much anywhere for the right money etc.

[Rathers]

I agree with what Dick said but I would probably recommend making a post on the classifieds. You may get flooded with applicants but if you have a set work date and a set criteria for what you require in a brewer it may be easier. You also may be surprised with who is available and who is available to hire in your locality.

I am currently in Norway and a significant percentage of the brewers here are foreigners. Several came over with partners from the US and Canada and had been waiting for the right opportunity to arise in Norway. Though I am aware I am discussing Norway which as a very high rate of pay and a high level of people who speak English fluently. Good luck!

[MD Brewer]

Sorry for the slow reply, got very wrapped up in property search. Also a big thanks for all the sensible advice, some we had considered some we had not, but even the stuff we had, it forced us to go back and double check that our ideas and assumptions were correct. And that's nothing but a good thing.

[aorrick]

I was recruited in 2014 to assist in setting up a US style brewery in West Ireland (I am from Seattle). I was there for about a year, helping in the build out, setting up recipes, assisting with general marketing stuff, training new staff and setting brewery SOP's. Timeline was about like this: the job was offered in November of 2014, via skype. In February of 2015 I traveled to Ireland to acquaint myself with the owners, the town, the other local craft beers, what have you. At the end of February, I formerly accepted the job and we started the Visa process. I stayed in Seattle while that process was going on, and worked from home drawing plans for use of space, discussing options on heating, water source, and other general tasks. I left for Ireland in July (I was supposed to go in May, but there were some unfortunate family circumstances that needed tending to first). I had my Visa and PPS number (sort of like a social security number) within 3 weeks of arriving in Ireland. They helped me find an apartment, assisted me in setting up banking, utilities, and helped navigate me through all the small things that are easy in your own country, but much more difficult in a foreign one. At any rate, I felt that I was taken care of, and that I had plenty of time to sort out all my affairs in the US before moving. I did have paperwork I needed to submit to the EU. We had to sort of "prove" to them that a non-EU citizen was necessary for the job.