Tag Archives: China Recruitment

Internet changing shape of the job market – RMG on China Daily

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The e-commerce boom in China has generated a need for talent in the first quarter of this year and created more job opportunities for graduates, according to a survey by one of the country’s biggest recruitment websites.

The survey of 16,978 businesses across 61 industries was conducted by 51job.com from September to December. It found that the job market was quite active this year. 82.3 percent companies plan to recruit more employees than the same period of last year.

Employers in e-commerce, computer software and finance showed the biggest need for talent in the job market.

Three-quarters of the surveyed employers said they had job openings for applicants with less than two years’ seniority, a higher figure than ever before in the website’s surveys.

As usual, a recruitment peak followed the end of Spring Festival this year. The labor-intensive manufacturers in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta used to be the biggest recruiters in previous years. However, the demand for talent in Internet marketing, technology support and creative design for eCommerce has been growing fast since last year, according to Feng Lijuan, chief consultant at 51job.com.

“On one hand, many enterprises have to adapt the way they do business to the tide of e-commerce and want professionals to pursue the new business,” Feng said.

“On the other, small and medium-sized start-ups that provide professional services in advertising, creative design and IT research and development for e-commerce are springing up and have become a major recruiter in the jobs market.”

The retail trade is undergoing an evident transformation of the way of doing business, she said. Big retail chains are shifting their focus from brick-and-mortar business to online sales, closing some of their physical stores.

“From marketing to the display of goods, running an online mall is quite different from running a physical store. The retail chains also need to recruit plenty of man power to build a widespread delivery network and ensure prompt online customer service,” Feng said.

Jenny Chen, a senior HR manager at the China office of a European clothing retailer, said her company will see a year-on-year growth of 15 percent in recruitment in the first quarter of this year.

The clothing retailer has nearly 400 direct-sale stores and more than 300 agencies in China and is going to open more this year, but the year-on-year growth in recruitment for the online business in this year’s first quarter is bigger than that for the offline business.

“We want to build a stable e-commerce team in the coming three years, so we have a lot of job openings for those who can help promote our online shop and launch our business on social media and mobile apps,” Chen said.

As for the start-up bandwagon, it is expected to keep on rolling for another three to five years and bring abundant job opportunities, especially to young people, according to Li Tongjinna, a recruitment consultant in the Internet industry at the Beijing office of RMG Selection, an international human resources and recruitment consultancy.

“Traditional IT enterprises such as IBM and Oracle have been significantly cutting their head counts since the second half of 2013, while start-ups specializing in e-commerce and mobile Internet pour onto the jobs market,” Li said.

“About half of the job openings that I’m seeking employees for are emerging professions such as building online payment platforms and marketing through social media,” she added.

“Young people have an edge in competing for these jobs because they shop online often and know the consumer psychology in e-commerce well,” Li said.

“Besides, they are familiar with social media like WeChat and Weibo.”

Read the original article: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2015-03/31/content_19957671.htm

Career Builder – Beijing Recruiter Views of Different Company Cultures

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  1. Does company culture are varies from different countries?
Yes, it does. However there are more similarities than differences says CEO of Beijing recruiter RMG Selection. The essence is that there aren’t so many differences in companies’ background but they are in the backgrounds of the people at work in the companies. The world is flat now.
  1. Can you tell us about the difference between Britain Company and Asia Company? Are there any unique characters in Chinese Company?
  2. What are the behaviors that Britain Companies will like? What are the behaviors that Britain Companies won’t like?
Asian companies seem to be more traditional than Britain companies. And workers in British companies are less diligent and much less hard working compared to those in Asian companies. Moreover, labor load is larger in Asia. Chinese companies have certain unique characters. Unlike Japanese companies, Chinese companies are westernized. The working atmosphere there is equal and liberal.
  1. What are the behaviors that Chinese Companies will like? What are the behaviors that Chinese Companies won’t like?
Actually, Chinese companies are quite similar to Britain Companies. They all appreciate politeness and hard work. However, too much confrontation is not   welcomed. Further, they do not expect workers to challenge the seniors or upper generation.  

Listen to the original radio, please click: http://english.cri.cn/7146/2015/04/30/3262s876646.htm

Career Builder – Wonderful Time to Work in China? Analysis of China Jobs

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Recruiter’s Analysis of market for China jobs: The Chinese government has introduced some polices to attract more talent from different cultural backgrounds. Robert Parkinson, the founder and CEO of RMG Selection, gave his advice for expats who wanted to find jobs in China. Here are some key points expats should know about finding China jobs.

(This episode on China jobs is part of a series called “Career Builder” where RMG Selection  is invited to talk topics such as China jobs and many related topics every other Wednesday at 3:20pm China Standard time. Further episiodes can be found at https://www.rmgselection.com/category/radio/ or other topics can be found at https://www.rmgselection.com/news – to register with RMG please go to https://www.rmgselection.com/register)

The Chinese government has introduced some polices to attract more talent from different cultural backgrounds. But how an expat who knows nothing about Chinese job market successfully start his career here? What industries nowadays are in strong demand of expats? And how can China improve the current situation to attract more top talents overseas. Robert gave his advice for expats who want to find jobs in China. Here are some key points expats should know about finding China jobs.

  1. For an expat who are blank-minded about Chinese job market, what is he going to do first if he wants a job here? How are you going to advise him?
  • We have just done a quarterly survey. What we find strongly is that there are tremendous demands for foreigners with experiences in the service industry.
  • Compared to the UK, it is fair to say that in China the general service industry requires a lot of development. And it is probably one of the key areas for advancements.
  • So for a foreigner looking for a job in the Chinese market, if he has experience in the service industry or if he is a service-minded person, then that should be the key thing.
  1. You just suggested that service is the sector. Specifically, what kind of service?
  • The legal service industry, the accounting service industry or simple training business are all included in the service sector.
  • Another finding from the survey is that western ways of doing things are nothing new because nowadays a lot of Chinese are brought up overseas or are educated overseas. Thus naturally they expect higher standards for foreigners.
  • Another interesting thing that the survey brought up is that there is strong demand for foreigners particularly in the scientific area, like bio-technology and healthcare.
  1. Medical degree is so expensive and so hard to get. Also people in this field are desperately needed elsewhere too. Why should China be attractive to them?
  • Hospitals in China, I happen to know, offer a higher salary, about 20% to 30% above what doctors may receive.
  • Also there is a strong demand in certain specialty like cancer or psychiatry.
  1. Top foreign talents still don’t want to come to China. What can we do to improve the situation?
  • Income tax here is less attractive than that in Hong Kong and Singapore. In Beijing, foreigners need to pay welfare, pensions, housing fund…
  • Hong Kong real estate is cheaper than Beijing real estate. It is a really an issue.
  • I suppose it would be better to have cleaner air in China. Smog here is one of main reasons why foreigners choose to leave.
  1. What are the attractions that China has for talents?
  • Countries across the Euro zone are still in a terrific mess. China has more opportunities as an emerging economy.
  1. Do you think people overseas find it difficult to adapt to China?
  • From the business perspective, I’ve learned far more about business in China that I did in the previous years. Chinese are excellent business people.
  • If expats keep liberal mind and be open, you can embrace different cultures and deal with different people.
  • You need spend more years in China to gain in-depth understanding in this country.

Listen to the original radio show:http://english.cri.cn/7146/2015/04/16/3262s874610.htm

Career Builder – Preparing For Company Background Information

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In this Career Builder show Robert Parkinson, CEO & Found of RMG Selection, is going to talk about interview preparations on company background! In a job interview, the interviewer might ask you a lot of questions. Some questions are really easy to answer, but some you might have no idea if it is good or not.

One of the most nerve-racking questions for interviewees is what they know about the company. Having checked up the official website and a few experiences sharing on Baidu or Google, do you think that you have prepared enough for this question?! If you do, think again! If you don’t think so, congratulations that you will find out what you need in this Career Builder session. The following questions and key points will guide you through this show.

  1. Why should job seekers prepare for company background information?
  • If you prepare well, you will get yourself in front of the queue among all the job applicants.
  • Talking about relative information of the company at the right time will impress the interviewer.
  1. If interviewees mess up the information of their potential employer, is that an unforgivable mistake?
  • The answer depends on how the interviewee mess it up.
  • Interviewer and employers get really irritated when interviewees pretend they have checked up the company background information, but in fact they didn’t do the homework.
  • If interviewees have not checked any company background information, then the best they can do is to be honest with interviewers.
  1. If the interviewee tells the interviewer that s/he has little information about the company background but strong interest in the job, would the company still be willing to employ him/her?
  • If an interviewee is truly interested in the company, it is not possible that they don’t check anything about the company background.
  • Limited access to company background information is not an excuse. 18 years ago when everyone has to queue up for 5-10 minutes internet surfing was understandable because of limited resource, but that is not reasonable in the 21st
  1. Is there any company background information that employers/interviewers expected interviewees to know?
  • This depends on whom the interviewee is going to meet. The key ask the right question/say the right thing to the right person.
  • If the interviewee is meeting a junior HR who is just graduated from university for about 6 months, s/he will follow a checklist in the interview. Such as your period of experience, skills, certificates etc.
  • If the interviewee will meet a CFO/ a high level staff in a listed company, then they expect the interviewee know the share price, the annual report, the marketing strategy etc.
  1. If the interviewer finds some negative about the company, maybe a scandal or a shortfall, can the interviewee mention that they can help the workflow on those?
  • That is actually why companies should work with qualified third party recruiters; because they can help interviewers explain the negative side of restore the company image by calling or meeting the candidate.
  • There might be misunderstanding of negative information. To bring these up, interviewees must measure who they are talking to in the interview.
  1. What kind of information should interviewees prepare before they go to job interviews?
  • An interview is like a sale pitch. It is about selling yourself. Figure out what the interviewer expect you not to know is the key.
  • Know the position and the job content is a must.
  • Extra market information about competitors and market share.
  • Financial performance of the company or the update to date reference check of the company.
  • Suit up for the interview.
  1. Is there any difference between local companies and transnational companies when it comes to what they expect interviewees know about them?
  • Interviewers overseas are very interested in the general picture of candidates.
  • Interviewers from transnational companies also check if candidates fit the company from culture very carefully.
  • Chemistry is another important factor that western style interviewers care.
  • Chinese interviewers actually really drill down to the detail. For example, if an interviewee had 3 months gap between two jobs. They have to know especially what they do in that period and why.
  • Like ticking boxes, a lot of junior HR people check interviewees based on a checklist.
  • Having said that, you also have to take the fact that there are British, French, German, Spanish, American companies interviewing people in differently ways into consideration. Simply putting companies in Chinese and non-Chinese is not fair.
  1. To the question of “What do you know about our company”, what is way to begin?
  • Brief & concise
  • Drop relative information about the company. Here is an interview example from RMG Selection.

“RMG is a recruiting firm. You did a lot in the recruitment industry. You have a lot of employees in China. And you won the Best Job Board award in Asia last year”.

  • Give 1 or 2 examples of what has the company done to show that you have further researches on the company background.

“I read that one of your company values is teamwork. That is particularly important to me. That is also why I come here for an interview today. Let me give you an example……”

  • Use the FBA (Feature, Benefit, and Accomplish) method to explain how you are interested in the company.
  • Make sure the answer to this question is within 1 minute.
  1. Do you think using flattering tone is good for the interview?
  • We use a lot of different strategies in an interview.
  • If the company is genuinely compelling to you, then highlight it in a subtle and unstated way is not going to hurt you.
  • But if it is not genuinely, say you just make it up, it is not going to be helpful in the interview.

 Listen to the radio show on CRI: http://english.cri.cn/7146/2015/03/18/3481s870588.htm

Days of the expats are far from over

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Debate continues about value of non-Chinese over returnees

The fact is, if you ask a thousand professionals in China whether or not expats are still valuable, you will get at least a thousand different answers, possibly more. In 10 years of living in Beijing and commuting between Shanghai and other cities, and after talking to hundreds of people about the role of the expat, particularly the role of the expat versus returnee, I have come to some conclusions, which I share with you here.

Let us first analyze the returnee’s role in Chinese business. Returnees (those of Chinese descent who have been brought up or at least studied overseas) usually straddle both sides of the cultural hemispheres: On the one hand they look and speak Chinese, they have (usually) been bought up by Chinese parents and therefore have fairly strong Chinese values, yet they have also been immersed in Western culture, usually American, Australian or British. You might think therefore that these people prove to be excellent candidates for general management positions because of a dual understanding of cultures and behaviors of Chinese and non-Chinese alike.

Second, of course returnees quite often need no temptation to come to China: it is not some midlife adventure for them, it is often a homecoming to family members and distant memories that they actively want to become re-acquainted with. Naturally then, it is not quite as necessary to entice them with ego-bolstering salaries and attractive package increments, making the returnee a more appealing financial proposition for the employer.

Practically speaking the returnee also has the benefit of being bilingual, and, in a country that despite the efforts to rebalance, has an economy still largely based on foreign trade and export, the returnee has a much easier time of it communicating with the folks overseas who are buying the goods made in China.

Of course the most important issue, when we are talking general manager or senior management level expatriates is that still the packages are vast, almost beyond belief. Someone I know well, who for the sake of this we’ll just call Very Lucky, has a travel budget back to his home country of 600,000 yuan per year ( $90,000; 85,600 euros) for a family of five to travel business class. It is not unusual for an accommodation budget to be 100,000 yuan a month. That is much more than a million yuan a year just to put a roof over your head. Then of course there is the expectation of a base salary (depending on industry sector) of between one and two million yuan a year plus bonus, plus car. If you add all of that up, you would not want to be the HR person who has to justify that cost.

So, there are some very compelling reasons to look at returnees as general manager candidates: culturally fit, desire, cost and practicality. Let us examine then why on earth there are any expats left.

First, if we dip in to recent history we should not forget that until very recent years China was a great unknown. When I was five years old, China to me was Hong Kong. The point, of course, that I am making is that although on the one hand China is still a very exciting market for business, and even in the new normal of 7 percent growth, you just have to be here, many companies are still very cautious of China, and want their own nationals on the ground.

There are also many industries and business sectors in which China lacks homegrown knowledge. Pollution management is a relevant example, and other areas, including information technology. So it is strategically sensible of China to encourage foreigners with the know-how in these sectors to remain in the country.

One of the most important reasons that us foreigners are still an asset in China is that the investment pendulum has swung dramatically from inbound into China to outbound investment of Chinese companies in the West. Westerners are familiar with the way things are done in China and in their home nations to facilitate further expansion overseas. You only have got to walk into an electronics store in the UK and half of the fridges on display proudly bear Chinese badges. If this is to continue there is an undoubted need for Western know-how. Just today I read an article saying that a Chinese firm has taken a 5 percent stake in a major UK holiday firm to encourage the Chinese middle classes to go and sun themselves (with umbrellas of course) in Spain and Greece.

So, I think it is fair to say that China is not done with the expat quite yet, but roles are changing, faster than we realize. It is also worth noting that some so-called returnees, although perhaps oriental in appearance, can be so far removed from their Asian roots that they know as little as I did about China when I first landed in Beijing.

My verdict is this: look at the numbers. China is not managing to master domestic consumption nearly as quickly as it would like, and, frankly, the economy is still heavily reliant on consumers in Europe and North America, and even though there is an up-skilling of the Chinese workforce, it does not mean that Vietnam and Indonesia have completely taken over yet. Similarly, as a society, China may have advanced rapidly in wealth and disposable income, but has the heart of society caught up with the pace of commercial growth? I think not.

Finally, let’s take a lightning fast look at trends. The US is a country built by foreigners. The UK gets more multicultural as every month passes, so as China becomes more hooked on Western preoccupations of earning, spending and general openness, why would society do the opposite and become less inclusive of non-PRC nationals? It simply does not follow.

The author is CEO & Founder of RMG Selection.

Read the orginal article: China Daily European Weekly 03/13/2015 page9

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