LatAm talent glossary: what is latam hiring?

How to use this glossary for nearshore hiring

Start with the term that could change your hiring decision. If you already have a finalist, focus on the employment arrangement and cost. If you are choosing a recruiting service, compare its search scope and what happens after the candidate accepts.

Use the definitions to turn broad promises into questions with written answers. A proposal that says "full support" still needs to name who runs payroll. A promise of "US hours" still needs a schedule. Before you hire LatAm talent, put those details beside the price.

Keep a shared review document for the hiring manager, finance and the person who approves the contract. Record the proposed arrangement in plain language. Name the legal employer, the daily manager and the party responsible for each cost. Send unresolved questions back before signing.

For each term, record what it means in this particular deal. "Onboarding included" could leave your team responsible for a laptop, account access and training. Ask the provider to name its tasks, then assign the remaining work internally. This gives you a usable plan before the candidate joins.

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Understand the terms before comparing proposals

Separate the hiring model from the job

LatAm hiring describes where you look for people. Nearshore hiring describes the geographic relationship to your company. Remote talent describes people working away from your office. None of these terms, by itself, tells you who signs the employment agreement.

A full-time role describes a time commitment. Staff augmentation describes adding people to an existing team. Outsourcing describes handing an agreed scope of work to an outside business. Ask whether your manager will direct a person's daily work or review a supplier's completed deliverables.

Recruiting, employment administration and daily management are separate responsibilities. A service may cover more than one, but ask for each responsibility to be assigned in writing. This helps your team understand which questions belong with the provider and which belong with the manager.

For example, your engineering lead may review code and set priorities while another party runs payroll. Write down who handles a missed payment, a request for leave or a change in duties. Those questions reveal more about the arrangement than the service label.

Identify the employer and the recruiting scope

A recruiting agency finds and assesses candidates. An employer of record is the legal employer under that arrangement. If you need both search and employment support, ask for both in the proposal.

Direct hiring means your company hires the person itself. Confirm which entity will sign the agreement and who will handle the local employment work. Give finance and counsel that entity's name before asking them to approve the arrangement.

"Managed recruiting partner" needs a written scope. Ask where candidate search ends, what support continues after the start date and who answers employment questions. Name an escalation contact for payroll issues so a new hire does not have to route every question through their manager.

Review contractor status against the planned work

An independent contractor provides services under a contractor arrangement. Worker classification is the review of how the relationship should be treated under applicable rules. Give qualified local counsel the proposed contract and a description of how the person will actually work.

Include who sets the schedule, who assigns tasks and how performance will be reviewed. Describe any requirement to use company systems or attend recurring meetings. The reviewer needs the working arrangement you intend to run, not a job title alone.

Keep this review separate from price comparisons. A lower invoice does not answer whether the arrangement fits the role. Resolve the classification question before making promises to a candidate about hours, benefits or contract terms.

Compare pay on the same basis

Gross pay is pay before deductions. Net pay is what the worker receives after deductions. Total employer cost includes pay and applicable employer expenses. A provider's invoice may also include service charges, so ask which figure each proposal shows.

Record the currency explicitly. Mexico uses the Mexican peso, Colombia the Colombian peso, Argentina the Argentine peso, Brazil the real and Costa Rica the colón. Their currency codes are MXN, COP, ARS, BRL and CRC, respectively. ISO 4217 currency list.

A US-dollar invoice still needs clear terms for pay changes and currency conversion. Ask who bears exchange-rate movements, when the price can change and how much notice you receive. State whether the candidate's agreed pay is fixed in dollars or local currency.

Build the comparison around the same role and scope. Put equipment, paid leave coverage and exit costs on separate lines if they fall outside the quoted rate. An empty line should become a question for the provider.

Check what a flat monthly rate covers

A flat monthly rate is a billing format. Read the included items before treating it as your full budget. Ask whether the charge changes when pay rises, the role changes or a local employment cost changes.

Request a sample invoice and a written list of charges outside the rate. Check how partial months are billed and what happens during paid leave. If your company needs a purchase order, confirm when finance must issue it to avoid delaying the start.

Use the same cost headings for each proposal. A quote that bundles payroll and benefits needs to be compared with another quote's full scope. Comparing only the service fee can leave your budget short of the actual invoice.

Recognize local bonus names

A statutory bonus is required by applicable employment rules. A performance bonus depends on its agreed terms. Keep them on separate lines when discussing compensation with a candidate or reviewing an annual budget.

Mexico and Costa Rica use the term aguinaldo. Colombia has prima de servicios. Argentina uses sueldo anual complementario, often shortened to SAC. Brazil has the 13th salary, also called gratificação de Natal. See the employment texts for Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil.

Ask payroll to show how the applicable benefit enters your budget. Is it included in the monthly charge, accrued separately or billed when paid? Have the provider explain how a midyear start or departure affects the calculation.

Do not copy one country's bonus schedule into another country's offer. Use the local benefit name in your cost sheet and ask payroll to confirm its treatment. The candidate-facing offer and your internal budget should describe the same commitment.

Turn time-zone overlap into a schedule

Time-zone overlap is the part of the day when both the hire and your US team are working. Specify the meetings and coverage the role needs. A customer support shift may require continuous coverage. A developer may need shared time for planning and code review.

Mexico City stays at UTC-6, while Tijuana follows seasonal US clock changes. Bogotá stays at UTC-5. Buenos Aires and São Paulo stay at UTC-3. San José, Costa Rica, stays at UTC-6. Check the person's city rather than assigning one offset to a whole region. IANA North America, IANA South America.

Write the agreed hours using named time zones. Review the schedule when US clocks change, and ask how the team will handle local holidays. A calendar invitation shows a meeting time; it does not establish the person's working hours.

Separate required coverage from occasional flexibility. If a role needs late customer calls, put that expectation in the role description. Let the candidate assess the actual schedule before interviewing, rather than introducing it after an offer.

Ask what the screening actually tested

Vetting means the checks used to assess a candidate. A shortlist is the group selected for your next review stage. Neither label tells you which skills were tested or how the candidate performed.

Request the checks relevant to the role and ask which results your hiring manager can see. For engineering, that might mean discussing a work sample and the tradeoffs behind it. Ask how the candidate diagnosed an error or handled a change in requirements.

For LatAm ad talent, define whether you need media buying, creative testing, reporting or campaign operations. Ask candidates to explain their own part in a campaign. Review the decisions they made, the measures they used and what they changed after seeing results.

Use the same approach for communication. Ask candidates to explain a task, respond to feedback or write the kind of update your team uses. Define the required language skills in the role rather than assuming them from location.

Record the remaining questions before your team interviews the shortlist. This keeps your interview focused on evidence the screening did not already cover.

Define the dates in a hiring promise

Time to hire is an elapsed-time measure. Ask what starts and stops the clock before using it in a project plan. A shortlist delivery date tells you when interviews can begin. Offer acceptance tells you that a candidate has agreed to join.

Your project plan needs the first working day. Confirm whether a quoted timeline includes notice periods, signed paperwork and equipment delivery. Ask which steps depend on the provider, the candidate or your own team.

Track your team's part in the schedule too. Assign interviewers before candidates arrive and decide who can approve the offer. Set aside time for feedback so a completed interview does not sit unanswered while the candidate waits.

Once an offer is accepted, record the expected start date separately. Update it when an unresolved task could delay work, rather than leaving an earlier hiring milestone in the project schedule.

Read the replacement guarantee alongside the exit terms

A replacement guarantee is a contractual promise to arrange a replacement under stated conditions. Read what triggers a new search, what costs it covers and any limits. Ask who starts the process and what evidence or notice they need.

Discuss the current engagement's end separately. Confirm who handles the handover, access removal and any final payments. A replacement search does not answer those operational questions.

Ask what happens while the role is vacant. Your manager needs a coverage plan for open work, even when a replacement search is included. Assign urgent tasks internally and decide what can wait until the next person starts.

Give onboarding a named owner

Onboarding is the work that prepares a hire to contribute. Separate employment paperwork from your team's setup tasks. Ask the provider which tasks it owns, then assign an internal owner for equipment and account access.

Before the start date, write down the hire's initial work and who will review it. Include where they should ask questions and how to report a blocked task. A signed agreement does not tell a new teammate how your company works.

Check access against the actual role. An advertising hire may need campaign accounts, while an engineer may need a development environment. Have the manager approve those requests before the start date and review access when duties change.

Give tax forms and ownership clauses their own review

Form W-8BEN documents foreign status for individuals for US tax withholding and reporting purposes. The IRS describes giving it to the withholding agent or payer in the circumstances stated in its guidance. Ask your tax adviser which form fits the person and payment. IRS Form W-8BEN guidance.

Intellectual property assignment addresses ownership of work produced during the engagement. Ask counsel to check the documents connecting the worker, any provider and your company. Include the kinds of work the person will create, such as code, designs or campaign material.

Review those documents before granting access to code, customer records or ad accounts. Assign someone on your team to approve access and remove it when the engagement ends.

Bring the role description, required working hours and budget to the provider discussion. Request a written scope that your hiring manager and finance team can review together.

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