Research target companies Establish lists of “target companies” consisting of direct competitors and other firms who might have suitable candidates. This is followed by cold-calling target companies to obtain the name and contact details of the target candidates.
Legal note No statutory law exists against cold-calling. However we recommend that companies engage a third party, usually a recruitment firm, to make the initial contact so that there is no clear connection to the company at this stage.
Contact target candidates
When contacting target candidates whose profiles are not known, the purpose of the call is to introduce the opportunity and obtain candidate interest for the job opportunity. When the candidate indicates interest, the next step is to have the candidate send his/her CV. Only at this stage will one be able to assess whether the candidate is suitable for the position or not. This means that a significant amount of resources are required to obtain profiles which are eventually not suitable for the position. In China, it may still occur that senior Chinese professionals do not have a digital resume; in such cases making a structured inventory via the phone may be a feasible alternative to obtain a short candidate profile.
When the profiles of target candidates are already on hand, one can beforehand do a proper CV screening before contacting the candidate to introduce the job opportunity and obtain candidate interest.
Involving recruitment firms
Companies have a number of internally controllable channels to find the right candidates to fill vacant positions. However, it is more challenging to find qualified candidates for specialist and managerial positions as the supply of candidates becomes scarcer. Recruitment firms are often used to reach this pool of talents in the market who are generally passive candidates who are not actively looking for a change in their career path. As being introduced via a third party comes natural to most Chinese in various social settings, they are receptive to being introduced to an employer by a recruitment firm. This is in contrast with other markets where candidates prefer direct contact with the employer and might consider intermediaries as an annoyance.
Companies considering engaging a search firm to find specialists or managers should decide whether to use a contingency or retained search agreement. There are two main differences between contingency and retained search: methodology of selecting candidates and payment.
