Top 10 Lessons as a Talent Hunter in China: Marc Ramon Hernandez reveals
Marc Ramon Hernandez shares in this article his Top 10 lessons as a Talent Hunter in China. Find out more about what he learned in his first 12 months as an Entrepreneur and a Talent Hunter at his company, IntuuChina. In his own words….
After that time, I’m ready to admit that I don’t know anything. The more I know, the more I realize about that fact. Different world, different people, different management. Sometimes the solution would be not to try to understand but to assume that things happen the way they happen… Unfortunately, I’m not this kind of person.
Top 10 Lessons as a Talent Hunter in China
# 10: The more technical you talk, the more expert you are (FOR JOB SEEKERS): One of the most important lessons I learned. An expert in western countries would be considered as such because of its ease to explain complicated terms in a way that is understandable by the majority of the population. In the context of China, this is completely the opposite. The more understandable and in a way “arrogant” you sound, the more expert you will be considered from a Chinese point of view. So as a jobseeker in China, explain things the way you studied them, and only clarify if you are asked to do so.
# 9: Let them safe face (FOR JOB SEEKERS): This may sound like the opposite of number 10. If they do not know some of the information that you provided already, go over it again like if it was the first time. Try to make them think that you do not remember that you explained it before. This is probably number one sign of politeness in China.
# 8: Beating around the bush vs cutting straight to the point (FOR JOB SEEKERS): When a recruiter in Europe or America would ask you a question about your skills, they value your ability to cut straight to the point. When being interviewed by a Chinese, try to put everything in context first, since most part of the questions will be done to give you the opportunity to speak and express yourself: to test your communication abilities and to see how well you prepared for the occasion.
# 7: Talk in numbers (FOR JOB SEEKERS): Something that I’ve learned about being an entrepreneur is that you must calculate the profitability on everything, even more at the beginning. Knowing what profit are you going to get from an action (may it be tangible such as money, or intangible such as branding). Chinese HR Managers will always have these in mind. Try to empathize with them. Explain them how are you actually going to manage to generate at least twice of what you cost to them. If they see that you get the concept, you will be more likely to get the remuneration that you are looking for.
# 6: Start with a probation period (FOR JOB SEEKERS): If you are sure about your abilities for the position, but you are not really convinced about the salary, ask them to give you a probation period, and set the goals in advanced. If you get yourself in this position, you will inspire trust. You will actually be getting a way higher salary than what you would have got by sticking with the base salary from the beginning. I’ve seen people applying this method and multiplying by five their salary in less than a year. A bunch.
# 5: Time-Management (FOR RECRUITERS and ENTREPRENEURS): Time is the scarce resource of a HR manager. Technology has yet not arrived to this industry, and therefore, setting priorities is your biggest challenge as a recruiter. Classify tasks in four: Urgent and important to not urgent and not important. Diminish your waste time.
# 4: Be aware of the opportunity cost factor. (FOR RECRUITERS and ENTREPRENEURS): How many entry level positions can you find in one month? Because I’m sure that very little recruiters can handle a CEO search in just one month. You should put a price to your day of work. I found myself in the situation of handling a headhunting project for an executive position. It was 30 times as much as I would get with a project for searching talent, but I was unable to devote my time to talent search for two months. In that time, I could have handled 40 projects of talent search in the two months, so in real terms, I ended up losing money.
# 3: Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs.) (FOR RECRUITERS and ENTREPRENEURS): Track your record, use google analytics, attract traffic to the website, since it’s the best way to track performance of your business. You will be able to see what nationalities or ages visit you more, and what percentage of conversion to sales do you have for each nationality, age group and source of visits. Analyze the data once a week and take decisions based on it. Pivot to other lines of business and projects if necessary. Adapting is better than improvising and the best attitude for overcoming problems and responding to the market. Intuition can work, but numbers work better unless you are one of the 0,5% of entrepreneurs that base their business decisions on intuition and are actually most of the times right.
# 2. Focus on three things at a time only (FOR RECRUITERS and ENTREPRENEURS): Be sure what you are best at, the cases that you most enjoy and that make you more productive. Focus on three things for the next month, that lead to three things that you want to accomplish at the end of the year (one of them being improving your social media presence).
# 1: Say NO to money (FOR RECRUITERS and ENTREPRENEURS): Do not hesitate to say no to complicated cases. If by any chance you become popular and more cases get to your hands, you might even die in the worst way. Dead of success is the most tragic catastrophe for an entrepreneur, and the most unproductive situation for a recruiter. Take the cases that you can handle without looking for “out of the box” solutions.
What was your biggest takeaway today? Which lesson are you most excited to use in your own career? I would appreciate it if you could leave a comment and let me know. If you know anyone who could benefit from this article, make sure you share it. Thanks!
