Tag Archives: China Jobs

Are You Ready for the Pre-interview

are you ready for the pre-interview (2)

EXCITED about your first interview with a big Chinese manufacturer? Trying on outfits in the mirror? Are you imagining yourself suavely conversing with high-level managers, delighting them with your sharp wit? Time to wake up!

The bad news is that overconfidence can torpedo your chances in an upcoming job interview. I’ve laughed my way through dozens of lackluster interviews and could share quite a few stories with you. But more importantly, I want to share some practical tips about pre-interview preparation.

First things first, a good first impression is half the offer. Lots of foreigners do not really take their interviews with Chinese HR people seriously. Some show up dressed in T-shirts, jeans or even flip-flops. Others appear in wrinkled shirts or dirty shoes. These poor dressing habits leave HR with one impression – unprofessional! In this regard, how hard is it to choose a nice suit, iron your shirt, and clean yourself up? It doesn’t take much effort to present yourself in a way that conveys an impeccable impression. It won’t take long, so don’t be too lazy about showing that you really want the job. Another friendly warning is on the use of perfumes and scents. Lots of foreigners like to spray on some CK or Burberry before they go out for dinner, dates, parties, coffee and so on. However, an interview is not a social call. Put yourself in the shoes of an HR professional, looking forward to meet you but instead being assailed by the overpowering aroma of your favorite fragrance. The smell of any kind of perfume or fragrance can be distracting. So I suggest that interviewees hold back on the cologne before an interview.

The next point I would like to talk about is preparing for the interview questions. HR people can ask as many questions as they like, and I understand it might be difficult to prepare for every question. But there is one simple part which every interviewee should prepare beforehand: the self – introduction. It sounds very easy, doesn’t it? A lot of people think self introduction means repeating their CV for an hour. Dream on. You only get one minute to show your best face – If you miss it, then you will probably lose your chances right away. So a good self introduction consists of professional experiences as well as individual introduction. Take 15 seconds to show your characteristics and interests. The next 45 seconds are very valuable because this is when interviewees briefly talk about past experiences and achievements. If one of your points is lucky enough to prick the ears of the HR people, the rest part of the interview will follow naturally. For this reason, do take the time prepare to impress HR with a well rehearsed self-introduction.

Last but not the least, if you think that you are going to “rock” the interview empty handed, you might end with a different four-letter word. What does a good interviewee bring to rock the show? Among the thousands of interviews I have had, those who came to me with notepads left me with a strong impression of attentiveness and diligence. They took notes when I explained about the difficulties of the position and what HR expected. Overall, these candidates went through the interview with the HR manager much better than I expected. Also, see what other materials you can bring. If your job is about graphic design or strategy consulting, why try to explain your work in the abstract when you could bring in your best project to impress them visually?

Frankly speaking, thousands of how-to-prepare-for pre- interview tips spin in my head. To remind interviewees every single detail would probably take me ages. So before I finish my chatter and natter, I would like to give you one last pointer. Remember to check out the weather and traffic before you go for an interview! It’s lovely to bike to the interview under clear blue skies, but an unexpected heavy rain could interrupt you in an instant. Or in another scenario, you check that it takes you an hour to travel from where you live to your destination. You come out with a taxi around 8 am but find yourself trapped in rush hour traffic. These might be extreme cases, but when you live in a big Chinese city you have to prepare for every single possible eventuality. If you have followed my tips above, you should be well-prepared for the pre-interview. So don’t mess it up by showing up soaking wet and two hours late!

Are you ready to perform?

are you ready to perform

HEARING the keyword “performance,” you might think about your favorite drama show, TV series, or key performance index. But our topic today is a different type of performance. Here, what I mean is how you perform in interviews with Chinese HR professionals. Having advised you how to prepare for the pre-interviews in the last article, this time I will go through the interview process to give you more practical tips. Hopefully, you will find them useful when you take to the interview “stage.”

First things first, I have always believed that nonverbal communication issues are important in the interview process, not because HR professionals will judge you based on your looks and deportment, of course, but things like eye contact and facial expression reveal a lot about what is on your mind. These are things that many interviewees cannot prepare beforehand. However, they are the key to good communication in the interview.

One of the ways to facilitate the communication process with HR professionals is to maintain regular eye contact. Imagine if you were to gaze dreamily outside the window or stare intensely at the interviewer as if he were your enemy – wouldn’t it give the interviewer the impression that there is something wrong with you? Fleeting eye contact indicates that the interviewee is not really interested in the conversation. But persistent staring indicates that the interviewee might be over-aggressive. While I have heard of Steve Jobs’ classic method of looking intently at prospective employees, I don’t think it’s a good idea for expat interviewees to adopt this method. A good suggestion is to look at someone “between the ears” and maintain consistent but not constant eye contact.

The second point is about building rapport, which is defined as the good relationship between two parties. To start the process of rapport building, smiling matters, characteristics matter, body language matters, and so on. Every interviewer welcomes a friendly smile, especially during a long interview. If you were to talk without any emotional responses for an hour, wouldn’t you wish the tedious conversation to be over and done with as soon Imagine if you were to gaze dreamily outside the window or stare intensely at the interviewer as if he were your enemy – wouldn’t it give the interviewer the impression that there is something wrong with you? Fleeting eye contact indicates that the interviewee is not really interested in the conversation. But persistent staring indicates that the interviewee might be over-aggressive. While I have heard of Steve Jobs’ classic method of looking intently at prospective employees, I don’t think it’s a good idea for expat interviewees to adopt this method. A good suggestion is to look at someone “between the ears” and maintain consistent but not constant eye contact. The second point is about building rapport, which is defined as the good relationship between two parties. To start the process of rapport building, smiling matters, characteristics matter, body language matters, and so on. Every interviewer welcomes a friendly smile, especially during a long interview. If you were to talk without any emotional responses for an hour, wouldn’t you wish the tedious conversation to be over and done with as soon as possible? If you are serious throughout your interview, you will not build a smooth and comfortable interview environment. Additionally, people who copy the body language of others tend to build a close connection with them. This principle is called mirror and matching and it indicates the importance of unconscious communication. As you find yourself sitting in the same position as the HR professional, your unconscious mind might send you signals that you like this interviewer. So, if you want to build a good rapport, why not try to mirror and match the interviewer’s body language.

Another point I would like to make is about verbal language. Language really matters on both sides. A classic scenario would be a native English speaker going to an interview with a Chinese HR manager whose English is not that good. If this happens to be you, I suggest you do not laugh it off. Spotting a potential weakness in a Chinese HR professional, some foreign interviewees might be tempted to use it against them and talk quite aggressively. However, will “attacking” the language problems facilitate the interview process? Here, I would like to remind every expat interviewee that you are the one who is being interviewed. If you hope to find the best opportunity in the job market, you will have to present yourself in a positive and polite way. In this regard, slowing down the speed of your speech, pausing appropriately, speaking in the right tone, and giving specific and clear answers might help both you and the interviewer avoid a potentially embarrassing situation. Additionally, I would like to suggest the interviewee help the interviewer with the conversation. When someone is nervous during the interview process, the result normally turns out to be negative. Therefore, helping the interviewer dispel any nerves will do the interviewee a favor at the same time.

Have you ever experienced a cold interviewer? You talk with him or her quite actively, but he or she seldom gives you any responses or affirmative feedback. In this case, the last tip for expat interviewees would be not to be put off by the HR person’s apparent distance. Not every HR professional is trained to be active and talkative. Actually, a stand-offish manner is often a technical skill used by some senior HR professionals. If the expat interviewee is going through the interview process quite smoothly, the interviewer has to challenge him or her to see his or her reaction. By analyzing verbal responses and changes in facial expressions, the HR personnel can get a full image of your characteristics and personality at work.

The candidates in Asia who spam 50 identical emails to 50 recruiters at the same firm

The candidates

Mainland China is still a candidate-led job market in which finance professionals are frequently enticed to change companies. But job searching in the PRC is by no means straightforward, especially if you’re more used to how things work in mature markets.

Having spent nine years recruiting in China, I’d like to share some home truths that candidates need to know.

Many employers don’t like to advertise their jobs

A great many jobs go unadvertised in China, and this is particularly true for the type of high-end roles that non-local candidates are typically suitable for. This might be for reasons of confidentiality (if someone is being replaced, for example), or perhaps cost (the concept of paying for a recruitment service is still anathema to many employers China). Whatever the reasons, as a candidate, establishing a focused, wide-ranging network of business contacts and using this network to uncover “hidden” vacancies is even more vital in China than it is elsewhere.

Don’t spam your CV

Despite all these unadvertised jobs, recruiters remain important in China. According to a cross-sector survey produced by my company in December, more than 55% of new appointments in China were secured using the services of a recruitment businesses. There are literally thousands of such firms in China, and as a finance professional it pays to be targeted when choosing who to speak to. In China, make sure your communications with a recruiter aren’t only online. Make verbal contact from the outset, meet them in person and stick to one person at each firm. We often receive the same email sent 50 different times to 50 different colleagues at our firm. As well as being mildly amusing, this smacks of randomness and desperation: not how you want to appear.

Don’t be dazzled by phoney headhunters

Keep in mind that although (in an unregulated environment like China) there are many people who profess to be headhunters or ‘search consultants’, the truth is that many of these individuals in fact know the square-root of zilch about securing senior finance and corporate finance appointments.

So choose wisely: realise that the recruitment market is different from more developed markets: while there are far more recruitment firms operating per job vacancy in China, the overall quality and specialisation of these recruiters is low. Many have just a short tenure in the industry. However, among this sea of pretenders there are some accomplished recruiters in China, often with backgrounds in banking and finance, so do not give up hope if the first person you speak to is a lemon!

Treat good recruiters with much respect

It is also wise to treat the good recruiters with respect. In China consultants don’t need to (and won’t) put up with pompous or arrogant candidates. It is perhaps an inconvenient truth in China that recruiters tend to ‘do business with’ people they like and get on well with; and nowhere is this sentiment truer than in the hiring of mid/senior finance and banking executives.

Have a very focused CV

‘Less is more’ is the order of the day when it comes to CVs in China. I received a seven-page resume from a senior banker recently. It was packed full of extraneous information when, given his seniority, one, maximum two, pages would have sufficed. A characteristic of Chinese recruiting is that people (both line and HR managers) tend to zero in on matching very specific levels of experience. For example, we recently had a client decline a candidate who was well suited for the job simply because she had not taken or passed her last accountancy exam. The client felt it imperative to hire a qualified accountant, despite the fact that the qualification was actually quite unnecessary for the job. This contrasts with the West, where hiring authorities tend to be more interested in ‘who the person is’ – their values, beliefs and motivations.

Be afraid of HR

The other common mistake that candidates tend to make in China is to misunderstand the importance and power that HR professionals wield within financial services organisations. Having spent half my career in Asia and half in Europe and the US, I can clearly see that the role of an HR person in the latter is more advisor, and in the former more “controller”. I know of examples of relatively junior HR people knocking great candidates out of the race simply because the candidates didn’t take the HR interview seriously enough.

Robert Parkinson is the founder and CEO of RMG Selection in Beijing

Read the orginial link at: http://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en/165809/the-candidates-in-asia-who-spam-50-identical-emails-to-50-recruiters-at-the-same-firm/

Jumping off the gravy train

jumping off the gravy

The government’s anti-corruption drive has partly resulted in a decline in the number of people willing to work for the civil service

Dai Qiming’s memories of his first day as a civil servant are as fresh as those of the day he left the service.

Dai gazed across at a vast space in Xintiandi, Shanghai’s most cosmopolitan district, where he spent seven years overseeing expat communities, and the rows of 40-story commercial towers that radiate in every direction.

The area is proud of its record as a heavy taxpayer. It houses the headquarters of about 50 multinational corporations and is home to flagship stores for top-end luxury brands, including Vera Wang and Harry Winston.

“I thought I’d become glamorous along with the area. I didn’t. I must give up now,” says Dai, whose “dream job” failed to withstand the seven-year itch.

The anti-corruption and austerity campaign initiated by the new Party leadership has swept through the 7.6 million workers in China’s public sector and eradicated the “gifting rituals” that were once a common practice for people intent on wooing civil servants.

The growing vitality of the private sector and the government’s endorsement of market forces have also dissuaded an increasing number of people from becoming civil servants, a position that was considered a “golden rice bowl” – a guarantee of lifelong employment – for years, if not decades.

So far this year, in some coastal regions, such as Zhejiang province, the number of applicants for civil servant posts has fallen by 25 percent compared with last year.

Austerity campaign

The government’s anti-corruption, pro-austerity campaign has been a major factor in a decline in the growth of the country’s luxury goods market, which fell to just 2 percent in 2013, compared with a staggering 30 percent in 2011, according to a December study by the consultancy Bain & Co.

The number of officials receiving gifts has also declined markedly since the first half of last year.

A random survey of 100 civil servants from eastern, western and central China, conducted by Beijing News in January, showed that 80 percent of respondents received no gifts last year, a stark contrast to the old days when officials regularly received prepaid shopping cards, wine or cigarettes.

“Some companies used to give high-end bags or watches to my supervisors. I received some shopping cards. Nowadays, no one dares to accept gifts because they don’t want to risk losing their jobs. If that’s the case, what’s left for me?” Dai asks.

Jumping off the gravy train

The well-documented end of the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by top government officials and the focus on rooting out corruption among both “flies and tigers”, a synonym for low and high-ranking officials, has resulted in fewer people wanting to work for the state, according to Robert Parkinson, founder and managing director of the international recruitment group RMG Selection.

Dai says the austerity drive was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and he spent two years mulling “a change of life”. Dai graduated with honors from the Public Administration Department of Fudan University in Shanghai, but because he doesn’t come from a well-to-do family, he was in dire need of the stability offered by a government post.

“I chose to work at the sub-district level because it was the ‘most practical’ choice. Put simply, it’s about power and money,” he says.

The desire to land a civil service post has long been representative of employment priorities among the country’s brightest and best. Public posts are the perfect fit and encapsulate the aspirations of many Chinese: a decent income, high social status and a promising future.

Life was pretty good in 2008, Dai says. His annual post-tax net income was 180,000 yuan ($29,000, 21,150 euros), with about 20 percent coming from various subsidies, shopping coupons and discount cards converted into cash.

Work was laid-back and featured a typical troika of endless cups of tea, a selection of free newspapers and a cellphone. He was comfortable dealing with foreign businesspeople, who were friendly, courteous and, most importantly, fully conversant with the “hidden rules” of business.

“When they needed to fill out paperwork for work visas or business licenses, they never arrived empty-handed. During holidays such as Lunar New Year, my ‘gray’ income could reach five figures,” Dai says.

Salary stagnation

But the perks once associated with being a civil servant have dwindled. As part of the new anti-corruption measures, lower-ranking civil servants will no longer be allocated official cars for personal use, and a wave of anti-graft campaigns have increased scrutiny of government officials.

Dai also saw his salary stagnate. With no gray income, his earnings in 2013 fell by 30,000 yuan compared with five years earlier.

For others, though, the reduction in earnings is not the only thing prompting them to leave jobs that were once the envy of their peers.

A former diplomat, who declined to be named, says his salary was “highly disproportionate” to the extremely long hours he worked.

“My monthly salary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was a little more than 3,000 yuan in 2007, but during the peak seasons, I could work as many as 60 hours a week,” he says. His work situation and a growing disillusion with “diplomatic rhetoric” led him to resign in 2012, after spending four years as an attache in Kuala Lumpur.

He is now hoping to gain expertise in business management, which he regards as a “more useful tool” for planning his career. “I sensed it was insufficient to only master politics. I have an urge to learn more about the economy and the market,” he says.

He joined a state-owned enterprise to “get a sense of what the real business world is like”, and plans to move overseas to study his chosen subjects.

Liu Hong, a researcher at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, who is conducting a key national project into the development of civil servants and their work, says the crackdown on corruption might help filter out those who regard government posts as “lucrative and easy”.

“The campaign will cool people’s unreal expectations about the job and reinforce what it should be. Eventually, only those who demonstrate a strong public service ethos will remain in their posts,” she says.

According to Parkinson of RMG, more people are becoming frustrated with the slow pace of work, the relatively low wages and the dull existence of civil service workers.

“As more and more young Chinese are exposed to the outside world and their families’ views become less important to them, or rather they become increasingly confident challenging those views, they become aware that there are far more lucrative and interesting positions in commerce and industry – sectors with a high demand for well-educated, intelligent and, most importantly, ‘thinking’ graduates,” he says.

Dai notices that the tide had turned when people expressed a willingness to trade a public service desk job for the vitality of the private sector. For example, the dominant topic on his Alma Mater’s online chat room has changed from “Civil servant exam preparation” to “Ten tips on how to quit a public post”.

According to a survey conducted by Henan Business Daily in February, more than 60 percent of civil servants in Henan provincial government departments and public institutions have considered quitting.

Lack of candidates

In Zhejiang, the country’s most affluent province, about 230,000 people signed up for the entry exam to become provincial civil servants this year, a decline of 25 percent from 2013, according to official data.

Wu Song, the mayor of Baoshan, a city in Yunnan province, expects the number of aspiring civil servants to decline in the coming years.

“Traditionally, the Chinese believe that a good scholar is the perfect person to become an official. But things have changed. I think college graduates will have a wider range of career options, such as business, agriculture or science, rather than simply becoming civil servants,” he says.

The central government’s reduction of administrative power and its endorsement of market economics have also provided young people with an incentive for change.

Premier Li Keqiang has repeatedly encouraged college graduates to start their own businesses and has promised a package of policies to support young entrepreneurs.

Li Kai, who will graduate from East China Normal University this year, regards becoming a civil servant as a “job option” rather than a “dream offer”. After spending time as an intern at a local government agency, Li realized he was more interested in the business and corporate world. He has received five job offers from multinational corporations. His classmates have all taken the civil service entry exam.

“The ‘civil servant heat’ is fueled by the perceived social status, strong job security and employee benefits. But people should ask themselves whether the job fits their personality and plays to their strengths,” he says.

Simon Lance, China regional director of the recruitment agency Hays, has also noticed a movement to the private sector from China’s civil service.

“The reasons most regularly cited by candidates who wish to pursue careers in the private sector are related to management style, career progression and professional development,” Lance says, adding that many private businesses are investing heavily in training and development programs.

But gaining a well-paid job is not as easy as one might imagine. Dai says he lacks the skills employers are seeking, especially for positions with competitive salaries. “They are either seeking people with certificates in public accounts and financial analysis, or those who have passed the national judicial examination. I have none of those skills. I’m only good at administrative work,” he says.

Lyu Chenyan, who recently resigned from the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Local Taxation after seven years, says she could not stand the “bureaucracy and hierarchy”. Except for few positions dealing with government affairs, she says her competitive edge is near zero compared with new graduates. Instead, she has decided to study international development at Columbia University in New York.

“During those seven years, I eventually realized that I was not suited to the humdrum, predictable life of the civil service, but if I were to switch jobs right now, I would feel inferior to my peers,” she says.

Contact the writers through [email protected]

Shi Jing and Hu Yongqi contributed to this story.、

Read the original link at:http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/weekly/2014-03/14/content_17347015.htm

China Insight: Get the mind-changing project started in job changing

Executive
During the period of the so called ’golden September’ and ‘silver October’ in the Chinese proverb, which means a good time for people to look for new job opportunities, the job market in China is full of vitality and vigor. Back to the 1960s, most Chinese took jobs that they prepared to do the work for their whole life. The perseverance and sense of responsibility have built a solid generation. The senior generation now describe the young generation as quite unsettled and ‘picky’ about work. It makes sense to some extent for the old generation in China to place a high value on stability. However, to view the issue in modern China, I think it’s time for people to refresh their views about career development and job changing.Having worked in the headhunting and recruiting business for quite a few years now, I found an increasing number of Chinese people start to understand that people change jobs for quite a lot of different reasons, which may include payment issues, promotion space, company culture, leadership style, job content, company location, social benefits, work environment as well as family influence. In this regard, I believe to figure out the fundamental elements of job changing is the key for Chinese to start the mind-changing process.According to 2013 China Talent Flow Survey (TFS) report conducted by RMG Selection, general interviewees consider that salary raise, promotion and company culture are the three primary factors that impact people’s career change decisions. The research of TFS 2013 started from the mid of June to September with almost 4000 respondents. One of the key pieces of data from the survey is shown on Chart 1 below: It shows that 69% of interviewees choose salary raise as the main factor influencing their career move (the highest). I suppose it is no surprise given that “occupation” is the way to earn living in a society. If people earn more, they have a better living status and vice versa. In this regard, it is not difficult to understand why salary is given so much attention in job changing. Chart 1 What are the main factors affect you to change jobs An interesting point I noticed in this report is about the job changing situation with women: Decades ago, Chinese women were not allowed or not appreciated to work outside. The fast development in the society allows Chinese women to touch the outside environment. It can be seen in Chart 2 and Chart 3 the top 3 factors affecting job changing decisions are exactly the same in male and female. Furthermore, the data are basically at the same level. From taking the role of housewives to getting prepared to be female elites, Chinese women seems adjust themselves very well in career development. Chart 2 Job changing factors in male Chart 3 Job changing factors in female During the past years of my staying in this culturally diverse country, I have heard quite a lot of interesting stories and history about China and Chinese culture. A very important example of this can be seen in chart 4 – “Promotion”, which is closely related with the deep rooted Chinese cultural importance placed on promotion and advancement. According to the famous Chinese ancient encyclopedia Lu Shi Chun Qiu, every single employee wants to get promoted in the hierarchical system. It is regarded as a fundamental need for people’s self-actualization. Back to the modern society, getting promotion is regarded as the recognition of employees’ hard-working and achievements. Chart 4 Influence of promotion in job changing by age groups Though promotion ranks the second reason for people who are looking for new job opportunities, the need to be promoted varies in different age groups. Taking a look at the line graph (Chart 4) about promotion in different age groups, the influence of promotion is increasing from age of 18 to 35. People who are 30 to 35 years old are at the stage of golden career. Once they are at the position that they are satisfied, the need and want of changing jobs to simply get promotion becomes less strong. Comparatively, people at the younger age group might move on with their career because of a good promotion space in the new company. The third element on the Chart 1 is really of great importance. Half of interviewees ‘hop’ to other companies simply because they like the company culture. Things like company values, working environment, collegial relationships, and core leaders matter to a large extent. The reason why it (company culture etc) matters is that in fact attracting talent is only the first step, and in fact perhaps the more important question is how to retain talent in a company. According to my experience in recruitment, more than 90% of the typical leaving reasons are actually related to his or her line manager or the management style of the company. However, lots of companies have never paid any attention on company culture building. Company culture equals the ‘smart power’ of the company. The influence of this ‘smart power’ is well penetrated in the operation process, which can be brought to not only clients as well as job seekers but employees as well. Having contributed to many job interviews, I have quite a few interviewees telling me that they leave their current company simply because of the terrible working atmosphere, poor colleague relationship and punishing system which all belong to part of the company culture building. Money is an important element when people considering changing jobs, but I suppose nowadays people start to care about more than that. To create a unique corporate culture is extremely important for the competing enterprise. As an essential part of corporate culture, the branding of the employer not only enhances the sale-value, also able to attract talent for the enterprise The last one on the list of Chart 1 is opinions from families. To be honest, I dare not agree with the argument that families don’t play a part in the job change decision making process. In the traditional Chinese culture, actually family is a very influential factor when people consider something very important. To show you this clearly, I would like to illustrate family opinion with a case of headhunters. Headhunters sometimes need to deal with cases of relocation. At this moment, opinions from family members can represent the decision-making power. Relocation might involve the moving of the whole family, which indeed need agreement from every family member.
Though considering male has the strong responsibility in taking care of the family and female has to play the role of housewife very well, it’s really hard to say opinions from families do not matter. However, regarding to the data of family opinions in Chart 2 and Chart 3, I found something really interesting. Opinions from families account for 6% (male) and 2% (female), which actually surprise me a lot, because (according to my female colleagues!) normally Chinese women are quite emotional and easy to be influenced by their families. In this case, the influence of family opinions exerted on female is comparatively 3 times lower than it on the male group, which is the female mind-changing issue during the past years. Although of course one wonders how frankly people may answer this question?! The young generation change jobs for different reasons. Simply labeling the young as unstable them is just not right and misses the point. People’s decisions about job changing are made based on the factors listed in the chart. Changing for money and promotion are no longer the only things that people care most about; influence of company culture, leadership style, and job content becomes stronger in the modern society. By explaining all the detail of some of the influential factors, I sincerely hope traditional Chinese culture will not clash with the concept of job changing. Instead of claiming job changing instable and picky, I would rather put it in this way, to find a better place where people can stimulate their hidden potential at work to the maximum.

Archives