Antoine Moyon-Dorfmann is the Managing Director of  ArchiBat Asia

Who's hiring in China ?

In China, a lot of companies are currently hiring. There is not enough qualified people in China to fill up all the opened positions, which may appear paradoxical as regards to the huge Chinese population, as well as the high unemployment rates in our western countries at the same time.

We observed that more and more professionals are buying plane tickets to come here to prospect for new jobs; and they will usually succeed in finding good positions when they can speak Chinese. A lot of Americans and Europeans with Chinese roots are coming back to get a professional experience in China.

Do you recruit for outside China as well ?

Since the opening of our Branch in Shanghai in 2007, we have covered the whole Asian market. That being said, since the global crisis we have been focusing more and more on Mainland China where 80% of Archibat Asia clients are located. However, our network of candidates is global, with resumes sent to us daily from Europe, North America, Australia and South Asia.

Where all have you placed people ?

We have placed candidates in Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, HK. Our Paris HQ has placed candidates not only in various European countries but also in Middle East, North Africa and Russia... We do have a lot of synergies between our consultants in France and our consultants in China, which enables us to cover all the area between Paris and Shanghai: Europe, Middle-east and far East.

What countries do they want ?

There is a large interest in China and South Asia (mostly Vietnam). Almost all the candidates who make the move to come to China to look for job are successful. However people just applying from abroad won't get a real chance as nearly all firms based in China wish to interview face to face in order to consider hiring a candidate. They will always prefer someone who has made the effort to invest in a plane ticket and taken a financial risk to explore the Chinese employment market... Furthermore, a lot of firms have concerns when it comes to bringing a candidate from overseas and taking the risk of seeing such candidate quit after few months because he cannot adapt to the local work environment. Previous work experience in China or at least in another "foreign" country will always be an important advantage... When Archibat Asia deals with candidates who made the effort to come to China for a couple weeks to look for a job, our consultants will most likely interview them in our office if they can come to Shanghai. If thet go through our selection process, our consultants will be dedicated to provide them with as many job opportunities matching their profile as possible.

What is the feedback from the people you place ?

It is very important for us that the candidates we place among our clients are satisfied by the position we recruited them for and remain in our clients' firms for a long time. That is why we keep in touch with candidates and clients after each placement, in order to make sure everything goes smoothly. Chinese management is different from western management and some westerners who work in China for the first time might not understand or adapt well at the beginning. Our consultants have a pedagogic experience regarding this issue and often succeed in educating local firms and foreign employees to get along when needed.