Recruiting Professionals in China

Selection in the recruitment process is choosing the most suitable profiles from a pool of potential candidates. This section illustrates some important insights in the selection process in China that should be taken into account.



Screen CVs

CV screening should be done in relation to the candidate profile which has been defined during the profiling stage. Several China-specific candidate skills to be checked in an applicant’s CV include:

• > Knowledge of Chinese business culture, laws and company structure
  
  
• > Intercultural exposure and competence (e.g. former working experience abroad) 
  
  
• > Knowledge of global best practices
  
  
• > Work experience at foreign companies 
  
  
• > English / Chinese language skills (e.g. certificates like TOEFL, CET )

Conduct interviews

Due to the average high number of candidates screened per position, initial structured telephone inter views are often conducted by a company’s HR representative prior to face-to-face assessments to assess language skills and to clarify CV details. It is often a challenge for foreign managers to conduct an interview with a Chinese candidate due to communication and cultural barriers. The following guidelines can be used for more effective interviews:


1. Abolish the general perception of foreign managers

Chinese candidates often have the impression that foreign managers are very direct and impatient, have little experience in dealing with business in China and do not take the private circumstances of candidates into account. Therefore, foreign managers will have to be mindful of how to approach and interact with Chinese candidates in an interview in order to facilitate a more effective assessment.


2. Understanding different behavior and expectations of candidates across regions in China

Due to regional and local cultural differences, distinct behavior and expectations of candidates can be stereotyped. Four different regions can be distinguished: South, East, North and West-Central. For instance the East China candidates often behave more directly and can therefore be more treated in a straight-forward matter compared  with candidates from West-Central China. Moreover, the English level of candidates from the South is on average better than candidates from the other regions.



3. Apply a China-specific interview structure

An advisable interview structure is presented below.

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Typical Interview Structure in China
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Warming-up (5-8 min) – of greater importance in China

> Longer with Chinese than with Western candidates due to Chinese culture specific behavior
> Offer tea
> Introductory questions create a more relaxed interview atmosphere for the candidate

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Introduction (2-4 min)

> All interviewers should be introduced by name and function

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Company presentation (5-10 min)

> Presenting materials should include bilingual company flyer, company’s strategy in Chinese, economic performance, HR development strategy etc.

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Candidate questions and answers (30-40 min) – most important / longest part of the interview

> Includes career development, former employment, project work, achievements, responsibilities

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Ending (3-5 min)

> Candidate should leave with a positive impression
> Provide clear indications on how you will follow up in terms of time-line and activity

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Legal note
No statutory law exists regarding conducting interviews in China. Interviewers may pose questions on salary level as well as other personal questions with regards to age and marital status but interviewees have the right to not disclose such information.



Manage candidate expectations

Many Chinese candidates are observed to have high expectations, as many see their peers quickly move up the corporate ladder and expect that the same should happen to them. The biggest concerns of candidates are salary, benefits and career development. Companies which are not able to meet candidate expectations experience high employee turnover rate. Clarifying salary, benefits and career development during the recruitment process will improve employee retention and will have a positive impact on candidate attraction.

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Salary and benefits:

Chinese employees’ salary growth expectations rank among the highest in the world. More than half of Chinese employees expect a salary increase of more than 30 percent when changing jobs. As a comparison, the average salary increase expectation in Europe is between 10 percent to 20 percent.

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Career development:

Well planned career development structures will benefit companies in retaining employees and attracting candidates during the recruitment process.

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It is advisable that hiring managers are involved in the process of managing candidate expectations together with the HR representative as the latter might not be able to answer all relevant questions related to the job content.



Conduct reference checks

Reference checks are carried out to verify information gathered about candidates during CV screenings and interviews. It is usually conducted after the final assessment interview and prior to making an offer to the candidate. For the following reasons, reference checks are particularly important in China:

1. It is not common that candidates possess written evidence of previous employment or letters of recommendations

2. CV and credentials fraud is more commonly practiced to enhance individual competitiveness in China compared with other markets

Manipulated information might include personal data, qualification certificates, educational background, work experience, salary and reasons for leaving previous employers. Therefore, it is highly recommended to conduct reference checks before making a formal offer.



Legal note
No statutory law exists against conducting reference checks. However we recommend that companies should a third party, usually a recruitment firm, to perform activities including cold-calling to contact candidates, collecting  background information and doing reference checks to improve efficiency and avoid any direct connection to the company.



In China, the most common practice to conduct reference check is via the telephone. Due to the frequent job changes of professionals in China, former management may no longer be with the same company, making the process of validating reference checks more complex.




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