Hot Job Market And Hiring TrendsIn China Today:High Demand Job Functions And Industries For 2006(July 2006)• Job Market Realities In China Today It’s An Extremely Good Hiring Market Out There: On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s around a 9 right now! . . . But, The Talent Market Is Also Evolving Rapidly: The competition on the talent side is getting better and greater each day. For instance, many professionals in China today have: Strong Company Backgrounds Good Universities Strong Functional Backgrounds An MBA Hard-Working Dedicated To Their Career Advancement/Success Therefore, the key question for your career development in China is not, “where are the hot jobs and opportunities?” It is, “how do you attain those attractive jobs and opportunities that you seek out most?”Career advancement and success is no longer based on talent, effort, or qualifications alone. Rather, it is based on delivering performance excellence and value-added to an organization• High Value-Added, Key Skill Areas That Are Still In Shortage In This MarketStrong Solutions/Consultative Selling Backgrounds Ability to sell large investment, enterprise solutions to C-level decision-makers Ability to quantify benefits (e.g. cost savings, efficiencies, improved service, etc.) Ability to sell conceptual solutionsRoles: Business development, channel and partner management, consulting managementIndustries: IT, mobile internet/telecom, business consulting, business services, media/marketing servicesStrong People Development And Coaching Skills Willingness to give away your knowledge and expertise Committed to making others on your team successful Able to increase a person’s exposure, resources, and soft skills abilities Roles: Sales management, department managers/heads Industries: FMCG/consumer products, IT/telecom, consulting, business servicesStrong Team-Building And Leadership Skills Ability to motivate and empower team members Can align common objectives among individuals, the team, and the organization Can instill world-class standards/best practices and set proper expectationsRoles: Sales management roles, department managers/headsIndustries: FMCG/consumer products, IT/telecom, consulting, business servicesStrong Project Management And Implementation Capabilities Combination of strategic/analytical and hands-on/implementation abilities Can gain buy-in and support across an organization at all levels Can lead and manage projects that deliver significant resultsRoles: BD, channel/partner management, consulting management, senior management-level rolesIndustries: IT, mobile internet/telecom, consulting, business servicesStrong Ability To Identify, Assess, And Deliver Solutions And New Opportunities Professionally mature as a strategic thinker, leader, and executer Knows how to build and utilize key resources Can create new business advantages and/or opportunities for a team/ organizationRoles: BD, sales management, operations management, senior and executive management level rolesIndustries: IT, mobile internet/telecom, consulting, business services• High Demand Job Functions And Industries Business And Strategy Consulting The business growth of most firms are being restricted by resource limitations, not market opportunity Severe talent shortage at the middle management level in this industry Engagement delivery standards and quality is growing among clients Engagements with local companies are main targets with many firms, but they are very tough/demandingSupply Chain And Global Sourcing China has become the supply chain epicenter for most major manufacturing-oriented organizations in the world Current talent is strong in negotiations and sourcing, but not in thinking at a strategic and integrated process level Also strong at an execution level, but not in developing best practices and implementing processes to international standardsRetail And Consumer Services With WTO taking full effect at the end of 2006, these sectors will see huge growth in the coming years Huge upside for China in this sector Government behind the development of these industry sectors to mature and stabilize China’s long-term economic healthIT And Engineering Management Use to being individual contributors, so not developed as team leaders Technical skills are good, but weak in communications, people skills, and business/management sense Much greater accountability to and interaction/communications with overseas operations.Financial Services Industries VC/PE/DI is currently hot and it’s a good time to get in. But from a career perspective, this industry is highly unstable as investment sentiment for China goes up and down With WTO taking full effect at the end of 2006, commercial banking is the big growth area for international banks I-banking activity is also very active right now, but positions within international banks being driven out of HK and other overseas officesOrganization And Staff Development Companies are actively investing and developing more resources into developing their management leadership and organization culture. Very few people in China with the combination of organization/management sense, consulting/coaching background, and leadership abilities• The “Ideal” Candidate High-caliber (ability to handle management-level roles and responsibilities) Bi-lingual International-oriented/trained Affordable Track record that shows the ability to perform and get results in China Realistic expectations• Great Time, Great Place Your potential to attain opportunities and success in China today really comes down to the quality of your individual capabilities and achievements for this market. Mainly, more than any place in the world, your ability to achieve career success here is in your hands.For more information on Wang & Li’s recruitment services, please check out www.wang-li.com, or Larry’s blog at http:// wang-li.blog.com. Or contact us by email at beijing@wang-li.com, or call our Beijing office/8610-5869-4671.
