Por Nannette Ripmeester

En esta edición estoy aventurando más allá de las fronteras europeas a China, un mercado de crecimineto rápido. Pero comenzar operaciones en un nuevo mercado no es fácil. ¿Usted moverá a su propia gente a la nueva localización o usted comienzan a emplear localmente? ¿Y si usted emplea localmente, cómo usted atrae a mejores candidatos y qué estos nuevos reclutas esperan?

Reclutamiento del campus

El Ng de Kevin, socio en la oficina de Beijing de Deloitte, está claro sobre el tipo de blancos de Deloitte de los graduados. “Acercaremos solamente a las universidades de la primero-grada en China que se asegurará de graduados de la calidad,” él dice. “Conducimos el reclutamiento del campus para introducir nuestra firma y las cualidades de graduados que estamos buscando.”

La graduación de la universidad es extremadamente importante en China y se relaciona directamente con las expectativas del sueldo. Los graduados de las universidades superiores pueden ordenar sueldos mucho más altos con respecto al resto del mercado graduado. Un examen por la oficina de la Seguridad de trabajo y Social de Shangai conducida en 2003 demostró que la mayoría de los graduados frescos de la universidad en Shangai ganan un sueldo mensual de en medio 1.500 Yuan Renminbi (abr. Yuan) y 2.500 Yuan - el promedio de la ciudad es 1.100 Yuan.

Capacidades técnicas del `menos relevantes'

Sin embargo, solamente un por ciento de graduados gana sueldos superiores - ordenando entre cuatro y seis veces tanto como el resto. Aun cuando hay una diferencia amplia entre los sueldos, y los graduados de universidades menos prestigiosas cuentan con una paga más baja, estudiantes superiores de las blancos de Deloitte solamente. “We make use of various methods such as written tests, group discussion and one-to-one interviews to assess the quality of the graduates. For us technical competence is less important, we focus on their personality,” said Ng.

‘Explain the process’

ICI has taken a slightly different approach. “We have initially focussed our attention on Chinese nationals studying in Europe. Only now we are going to market oncampus in China as well,” says Esther Penketh, who is a member of the international recruitment team at ICI, based in the UK.“Our first experiences in China have made us realise that it works best if we give prospective candidates more information upfront on how to approach the selection process,” says Penketh. “We tell them what we are looking for with regard to the on-line application, the telephone interview and the competencies we seek. Being very clear about the package on offer is also essential.”

Market Intelligence

Ng agrees how crucial it is to invest time and energy before starting to recruit in China:“Market intelligence is essential, be patient and diligent in hiring the right candidate — it can be quite painful to dismiss a person in China!”

Recruiting in China – How to make it work

The application letter
For Chinese graduates an application letter, or cover letter, is not customary. They are more used to application forms.

The Curriculum Vitae
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 job interview
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.
  

Nannette Ripmeester, the author of ‘Looking for work in China’ (ISBN 90-5896-052-8), a guide which looks at how cultural differences affect the recruitment process in China as well as examining the differences in management culture. Ripmeester is managing director and founder of Expertise in Labour Mobility (ELM), a knowledge broker on issues related to mobility on the international labour market. ELM has recently helped many companies, among them ICI, to get to grips with the recruitment market in China.