But for companies just getting started on their global talent fishing expeditions, Crotts has some tempering advice: Referring to Thomas Friedman's oft-cited book The World is Flat (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), he says, "The world is flat, but terms and conditions are not."

For instance, compensation packages, the number of hours that employees expect to work, even the length of the hiring process all differ widely throughout the world.

Consider that new Shell employees in the Netherlands start with five weeks of vacation, whereas U.S. staffers might get less time off but command higher pay.

And although prospective employees in the U.S. might not find it the least bit strange to be hired on the spot following a single interview, that would be jarring to someone in Latin America, where the normal hiring process can take three months.

"It's hard for a global company to get local HR right," Crotts says.

Reflecting cultural nuances

That's why Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, with two-thirds of its workforce seated outside the U.S., has overhauled its approach to global recruitment. Led by Kent Kirch, global director of recruiting at Deloitte, the company has created a global selection methodology, a global talent management system, an international internship program and worldwide agreements with several providers of recruitment-related services.

Kirch also has revamped the recruiting section of Deloitte's Web site to emphasize the company's consistent global hiring practices while reflecting cultural nuances and the country- specific job opportunities, benefits and special programs available to employees of its local offices.

The company used to have more than 35 employment sites -- one for each country -- and no central job listing. Now it has one global site for job candidates throughout the world, containing information on more than 500 offices in 90 countries. Almost all of the information is locally managed, Kirch says.

"We don't want to have a situation where a person in China comes to the site and sees a photograph of someone who doesn't look like they're from China," he says. "The content is very localized so people can relate to it and are attracted to it."

Even so, Kirch says, positions are advertised on job boards in several countries with the idea of attracting talent both near and far. "We're hard-pressed to find talent quickly enough to meet our business needs," he says. "Our approach for recruitment, even for our local companies, is global."

In addition to its 5,000-person IT operations in Hyderabad, India, Deloitte employs a few programmers who work remotely in other countries. "That's definitely a trend, and I think it will continue to become more common," Kirch says.

Deloitte relies heavily on online job boards and employee referrals in addition to its own Web site. It is currently establishing a cross-border employee referral program in which it rewards people who successfully refer overseas colleagues or friends.

"The workforce is more globally mobile today," Kirch says, "so odds are greater that you or I might know a potential candidate in another country."