"I have been on the dashboard for over two decades now-and I cannot remember more than 4 or 5 occasions when we had more job enquiries than members seeking opportunities for their candidates! And over the last few weeks I have had at least 4 looking at positions to fill in Asia"!
Those words were gushed by Marcia Bateman, Member Services Manager, NPA, The Worldwide Recruiting Network- (that me- and over 400 other recruitment firms -across 25 countries are associates of- )as we had our monthly conference call yesterday. The call is an excuse for some of us to share the various mandates that we Asia members to touchbase occasionally and chat up, as we share the mandates we need help on-as well as trade insights on the latest trends and best practices thereof!
And before long -some of the HOT openings we shared -were spread across different industries!
But as one always is taught..the devil is in the detail.
Let me explain by listing out a few of the opportunities (in the order of those who talked on the call..!)
-Marketing Director for Metals/Paint company in Malaysia -local candidate
-Sales Manager, Shanghai, for a Malaysian based Food testing company
-Expat Executive Chef for a 5star hotel group in Seoul
-Financial Controller in Jakarta ( for an Indonesian native with US CPA qualification)
-Head Infrastructure for an IT major in Manila ( local native!!)
-CFO Shanghai for a US MNC (with knowledge of English & Mandarin)
-In house legal counsel for a leading law firm in HongKong (familiar with local laws in China & the region)
Psst: let me know if you know anyone who would fit, and I shall connect you to the right person-and help folks live out their dreams!!
Believe me-each one of those pay very competitive salaries -upwards of $100K USD with benefits etc-but one cannot miss the irony- the roles are no longer for generalists- but for specialists with a niche expertise AND local experience-with an international qualification/experience!!
Of course, there are a whole bunch of positions open in the US- but most companies are reluctant to process work visas-and would ideally not pay relocation charges. ( An increasing trend to encourage better premium for local candidates!?)
Even before the end of the day, yesterday, I got a couple of more enquiries:
-A referral from a Chinese associate of mine-for his Cyprus based client- wanting to hire some sales professionals for Europe-with professionals of Indian, Korean and Vietnamese origin!!
- An erstwhile Israeli client in the telecom sector-wanting to hire technical service professionals to be based in Thailand-post an acquisition of another company in the domain-and wanting to expand their network!
Phew..all in a days work!! Mandates are definitely ON. Maybe I should be get used to looking for techniques to find needles in a haystack more :)!
Any ideas on how I should be reacting to the news..that jobs are back ?!!Is there something I am missing? Ideas most welcome...
PS. Companies are just not willing to hire ..as fast as people willing to change!!
( Am stumped by over 1300 responses to a Center Director/ 500plus for a HR manager role posted-with less than 2% of the applicants in the zone!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment