Door Nannette Ripmeester

In deze kwestie waag ik voorbij Europese grenzen aan China, een snelgroeiende markt. Maar de aanvang van verrichtingen in een nieuwe markt is niet gemakkelijk. Zult u uw eigen mensen naar de nieuwe plaats verplaatsen of zult u beginnen plaatselijk te huren? En als u plaatselijk huurt, hoe trekt u de beste kandidaten aan en wat verwachten deze nieuwe rekruten?

De rekrutering van de campus

Kevin Ng, Partner op het kantoor van Peking van Deloitte, is duidelijk over het type van de doelstellingen van gediplomeerdenDeloitte. „Wij zullen slechts de eerste-rijuniversiteiten in China dat van kwaliteitsgediplomeerden moet worden verzekerd naderen,“ hij zegt. „Wij leiden campusrekrutering om onze firma en attributen van gediplomeerden te introduceren wij.“ zoeken

Het universitaire rangschikken is uiterst belangrijk in China en is direct verwant met salarisverwachtingen. De gediplomeerden van de hoogste universiteiten kunnen veel hogere salarissen in vergelijking met de rest van de gediplomeerde markt bevelen. Een onderzoek door de Dienst van de Arbeid van Shanghai en van Sociale Voorzieningen die in 2003 wordt geleid toonde de meeste verse universitaire gediplomeerden in Shanghai een maandelijks salaris van tussen 1.500 Yuan Renminbi verdienen (abr. Yuan) en 2.500 Yuan - het gemiddelde van de stad is 1.100 Yuan.

`Technische minder relevante bekwaamheden'

Nochtans, verdient slechts één percent van gediplomeerden hoogste salarissen - bevelend tussen vier zes keer zo veel zoals de rest. Alhoewel er een breed verschil tussen salarissen, is en van minder prestigieuze universiteiten een diploma behaalt denk lager, slechts doelstellingen Deloitte hoogste studenten betaal. “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.