Our first conference on Recruitment in China will be held on the 12th October at the prestigious Caf Royal, Piccadilly, London.
If you are interested in recruiting talent out of China or recruiting in China, this conference is for you. It will draw on the expertise of four speakers who will provide an insight in the Chinese recruitment market. Two of our speakers have first hand knowledge of the cultural issue to consider when thinking about staff remuneration, retention and the size and complexity of the labour force. Our third speaker has devised tests for recruiters looking to recruit in China and our final speaker owns a Chinese online recruitment site and has a particularly poignant perspective from recruitment of staff in China for his own business and the offering online recruitment services in China.
Nannette Ripmeester, managing director and founder of Expertise in Labour Mobility (ELM), is one of the speakers. ELM has recently helped many companies, among them ICI, to get to grips with the recruitment market in China. She says that the network of personal connections ñ called guanxi ñ is essential when looking for employment in China. But how can you network in a foreign country such as China? In China, respect and trust precede business dealings. Not understanding that cultural differences exist could break a deal. Business is lost when individuals and corporations do not accept this fact.
Buying a guide that helps you order a meal does not help you in your career abroad.
Nannette is the author of ëLooking for work in China,í a guide which looks at how cultural differences affect the recruitment process in China as well as examining the differences in management culture. As the world becomes smaller and people continue to study, travel and work abroad, it is important to learn about the cultural differences that exist. The guide is a tool that can be used by students who wish to study abroad, individuals who want to work abroad and corporations who send employees abroad on international assignments.
Starting operations in a new market is not easy. As foreign firms invest $1 billion a week in China, the major challenge is to find the right people to drive their business. Will they move their own people to the new location or will they hire locally? And if they hire locally, how do they attract the best candidates? How do they effectively recruit online? China may have a population of 1.3 billion people, but thereís a war for talent as fierce as in many parts of the Western world and recruiting the right people can be critical to a businesses success in this vast market.
Ken Fitzpatrick, Group CEO of the Keyland Group has experience of these issues and will also be speaking at the Onrec Recruitment in China conference. Since 2005 Keyland has been focussed on the Chinese markets by aggressively expanding their online recruitment business throughout the regions of this vast country. They now have an online recruitment site dedicated to Shanghai and Beijing with a view to expanding across a number of other regions in the next 6 months. With over 100 Chinese staff across these companies and the challenge of recruiting a management team with local and international experience to develop and grow the business, Keyland can offer a number of insights and challenges as an online advertising provider and a recruiter in the Chinese market.
The Hay Group, which has recently produced a report ëWaking up to Chinaí, says that talent ñ both at home and in China- will be the critical success factor for global companies who want to make it in China. Global businesses therefore face a two-fold challenge; raising the specialist skills base of the workforce both domestically and in China. Deborah Allday, their Associate Director, says that: ìSkilled workers, particularly those with technical training, are increasingly at a premium in Chinaís urban areas and special economic zones. As China moves up the value chain, the lack of skilled resources will become a bigger bottleneck, forcing companies to invest more in training and developing scarce skills.î Frank Hartle, Director of the Hay Group UK has strong advice for executives: ìWe are about to face a war for talent both in China and in domestic markets as companies scramble to recruit talented leaders and managers with an understanding of the Chinese market and culture.
Executives should start up-skilling now. Companies who fund MBA study for employees should demand China modules on their course. And talented executives with a track record in China should understand the value of this rare skill set.î
The Hay Group Reportís title ëWaking up to Chinaí refers to a quote from Napoleon Bonaparte: ìWhen China wakes, the world will tremble.î This sleeping giant is surely starting to stir from its slumber. If you want your company to be ready, make sure youíre at the Onrec conference in October.
Some tips from Nanette Ripmeester on how to make recruiting in China work:
For Chinese graduates, an application letter or cover letter is not customary. They are more used to application forms.
The Chinese do not use the term CV, but resume. Usually this document lists their education and experience in a very detailed manner. In China, it is not unusual to see a resume of more than two pages. The resume is usually typed, but hand-written documents are still surprisingly common. Chinese resumes are usually set in a reverse chronological order, listing the most recent first. Education plays a prominent role and references are not normally included.
The Chinese are very modest people, and do not like to show off, or over-impress others. Be aware that it might not be easy to get through to a Chinese candidate at a certain level as they are educated to behave in a self-effacing manner.
