Headhunters in China

By+ROBERT+PARKINSON

IF you are a foreigner looking to find a job in China， you might be wondering where to start. Unsurprisingly， in a country where relationships are highly valued， specialist recruitment agencies （sometimes called“headhunters”） are often the recruiting channel of choice over and above trawling through job advertisements. If you are not having any luck with the major Internet recruitment sites， it might serve you well to identify and build a relationship with a quality recruitment firm.

There are several reasons why this is the case. Firstly， headhunting is a relatively mature recruitment channel appreciated by Chinese HR departments. It is a free job tool for candidates to leverage opportunities from wellknown enterprises. But how efficient are headhunting services？ A recent RMG Selection survey shows the power and potential of recruitment consultancy. According to the survey “Recruitment Insider，” which contacted 1，600 hiring managers/HR departments this summer， more than 10 percent of corporations used headhunting for the recruitment of more than 50 percent of managerial positions – a relatively high percentage. And it is an even more popular choice for companies from the Internet， logistics， biomedical， and other hot sectors in China， where more than 20 percent used headhunters to recruit more than half of the manager level vacancies.

You might also question whether or not the recruitment channels in China have the same strength as in developed coun- tries. There is no need to worry about this because the concept of headhunting has been in China for more than 20 years and is widespread across the first- and second-tier cities of Chinas mainland. However， it is worth noting the varied quality of different recruitment companies and headhunters. There is a huge range of companies available to help， including many who are， in effect， not companies at all but freelance recruiters working from home. If you ignore these and focus on the companies that can truly add something to your career search， you will narrow the market and make your decisions more focused. Even some companies that do employ quite a number of staff are run more like sales agencies than professional consultancies. Therefore， it would pay to expand your awareness and knowledge of exactly how good headhunters operate and behave.

To give some idea of what a good choice of recruitment firm might be， keep in mind the following： freelance headhunters tend to have a rather low barrier to entry and a low level of sustainability. Established companies with a consistent brand that you can measure in some way tend to be a more trustworthy choice. Likewise， a desirable headhunting group does not exist only to provide you endless job opportunities； they will provide you a small number of the right opportunities and then help you through the process. If， for example， you are never challenged by the recruiter， your questions are never fully answered， and the interactions with the recruiter seem brief， alarm bells should start to ring. If the interactions are thorough and include a lot of guidance， this is a good sign.endprint

So how else can a job seeker differentiate a serious player in the headhunting business from the rest？ A simple suggestion would be to browse their company websites. One of the key things you will look for will be the types of vacancies they post. This tells you exactly what they work on. If they do not post vacancies， this might indicate a very small company. Another thing to keep in mind is that it is relatively simple in 2015 to create a nice-looking website： the key question is does the website have good content？ A company with tens or hundreds of articles or pieces of information that are useful will be ranked high in search engines but will also show you quickly that they are a serious player. The third step is my own creation， a simple yet highly effective litmus test of quality： I always like to test how well the receptionist from a company is trained as a measure of management and service attitude. Can a foreign invested company where the receptionist cant speak a single word of English be relied upon？ Perhaps not. This is reallife experience for me， and real experience is something I find very valuable.

Last but not least， an interview process requires close cooperation between the candidate and headhunter. This is the core part of any job transition and， therefore， there are some important points Id like to address. First things first， you must trust and respect the headhunter. No mat- ter what， I cannot imagine the feasibility of working together with somebody you dont trust and ideally have good rapport with. Secondly， make sure the headhunter has excellent knowledge of your job sector. Every headhunter should be aware of the industrial background information， development status and the emerging trend of the industry he/she is focusing on. Thirdly， pay attention to whether your headhunter is confident enough to be constructively critical when it comes to things like your résumé. A good headhunter will advise and help you to get the job you want if they feel its the right job for you. An untrustworthy headhunter will push you towards a job simply because it benefits them. You will know intuitively the difference between someone giving you sound advice and someone pushing you into something you do not want to do.

Without a doubt， there are plenty of headhunting companies in the current Chinese recruitment market. Choose wisely. Choose a company and then a consultant you trust who demonstrates knowledge， and believe what they have to say. Good recruiters are paid extremely well， and this is not for nothing. When you find one， its worth keeping this in mind； but of course always test this against your instincts and level of comfort.endprint