Tag NULL

Maximum cap for pay rises in state firms cut

CHINA has cut the maximum allowed margin of wage rises in state-owned companies for this year to keep pay growth, especially in monopolistic sectors.

State enterprises which paid employees twice as much as the average level of local urban wages in 2005 can increase total pay not more than 0.6 percent for each percentage of profit growth this year, according to a circular on the Website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security late on Wednesday. The original cap was 0.75 percent.

The ministry said the government will stringently inspect the linkage between corporate profits and wage payments in state-owned companies where wages are too high and increasing too fast.

“Such a link-up mechanism is of great importance to help create a healthy relationship between growth in wages and profits,” the circular said.

The adjustment came amid a backdrop of intense public calls, starting in the second half of this year, for a wage reform in state firms where employees are considered outrageously overpaid than the average worker, widening the gap between the rich and poor segments of society.

“The latest move is a step forward to increase state control in reining in wage growth,” said Hou Ning, a columnist for several business newspapers. “But I think there is still a long way to go.”

Workers in state companies, typically in highly regulated industries such as telecommunications, energy and tobacco, usually earn much more than they deserve based on the profit they produce.

The monopolistic nature generates complacency resulting in these state firms operating at lower efficiency than global counterparts, thanks to competition. State firms are accused of contributing lower profit while holding a huge amount of state assets and reserves.

Several reports and surveys have indicated average wage for employees in monopolistic industries is up to three times the national average. The gap could be widened to as much as 10 fold if non-wage income like bonuses and pensions are included.

White-collars’ jobs irrelevant to their study fields

Chinanews ,Beijing, November 28 ¨C A recent questionnaire survey finds that the jobs of about 80% of white-collar workers in China have nothing or very little to do with the areas of study they were trained for..

Many of them choose a ¡°strange¡± job because they don’t like their fields of study. In fact, only 42% of college students get jobs in their own fields. About 26% actually chose the fields of study at the request (or even orders) of their parents. The others were ¡°assigned¡± to major in the areas of study according to the result of the national college entrance examination.

The pressure of the job market also forces many of them to give up their dreams and pick up jobsthey don’t like at all. For example, many college graduates have become salespersons not because they have learned sales in colleges or because they enjoy the challenge of being salespersons, but because they have no choice: Salespersons are always needed in a commodity economic society.

Yahoo China President Resigns

Yahoo China has announced Yahoo China president Xie Wen has resigned for personal reasons after just over a month on the job. Xie will now serve as a strategic consultant for Alibaba. Alibaba vice president Zeng Ming will be named Yahoo China’s acting president. Xie was named Yahoo China’s president on October 17. There are rumors that Xie resigned because Yahoo China management did not support his strategic plans for the company.

Recruitment Strategies

The values, or even purpose, of developing recruitment strategies generally are misunderstood within companies. It is important to build a recruiting strategy with the following questions in mind:

1) What kind(s) of candidate skills do we need?

2) When do we need them?

3) What is our corporate culture?

4) What are our recruitment processes? (employee requisition approval, marketing, sourcing, selection, reference, sales/offer, new employee orientation).

5) When did we last examine our recruitment strategies? As time passes, recruitment needs change and the methods of recruitment change (most recent major impact – the Internet). Can we do better than we have up until now?

6) What is preventing our success at attracting the top 10% of candidates?

7) Can we achieve our goals utilizing corporate staff? Or do we need outside temporary professional recruitment assistance? If we need outside help, what kind is most beneficial to this situation?

8) What is our budget for recruitment?

We address these questions in this area. Remember, recruitment is not magic. The top recruiting staffs do the fundamentals well. A strong, yet flexible recruitment strategy is the basis of the fundamentals of recruiting and delivering the best candidates.

As a contract recruitment firm, The Humbert Group assesses your current recruitment strategy and assesses your staff. We will be happy to either tweak your current recruitment strategy or help your company develop a new one. Additionally, we consult with you on the best way to upgrade your staff.

Other Probing Questions — often for high-level assignments

1. Could you please describe the management team to me?
2. Does the company have a Net-use policy?
3. Will I receive my assignments from IT or from the business
unit?
4. Do developers have little contact with the business unit or
significant contact?
5. Can you show or sketch me an organizational chart?
6. If for any reason you were unable to function as CEO, how
would you like to see the company managed?
7. To whom does the chief information or technology officer
report?
8. How would you describe the degree to which you want your
heirs to have strategic or operational influence in the company until
one of them is ready to assume the role of COO or CEO?
9. What are you hoping to accomplish, and what will be my role
in those plans?
10. May I see a job description? What are the most important
responsibilities of the job?
11. How much time should be devoted to each area of
responsibility?
12. What is my spending/budget authority?
13. What initial projects would I be tackling?
14. What are the biggest technical challenges ahead for this
department/ company?
15. Presuming that I’m successful on this assignment, where else
might I be of service to the company?
16. Traditionally, companies have used IT to reduce bottom-line
costs. But I am excited about the use of IT to advance top-line
opportunities such as creating new products and identifying new
markets. Can you talk about how IT is used in this company to create
top-line value?
17. What structured strategies for software testing have you
found effective here?
18. Does the company use an IT steering committee?
19. If you put all the salespeople in a line from your best to
the merely acceptable performer, what are the earnings of the 50th
percentile? The 25th? The 75th?
20. Can you describe the performance of the sales team?
21. What is the commission structure, and what is my earning
potential in 1,3,5, or 10 years?
22. What percentage of salespeople attain objectives?
23. What percentage of the current people are above and below
their set goals?

Questions That Are Defensive — designed to protect the employee
1. I understand the company has experienced layoffs within the
last two years. Can you review the reasons why they were necessary?
2. How were the layoffs handled in terms of notification,
severance, outplacement services, etc.?
3. What rewards have you found effective in recognizing and
rewarding exceptional work?
4. Are there formal metrics in place for measuring and rewarding
performance over time?
5. How effectively has the company communicated its top three
business goals?
6. I am a hard worker, and like to be around hard-working
people. Am I going to be comfortable with the level of effort I find
here?
7. Is the company’s training strategy linked to the company’s
core business objectives?
8. How does your firm handle recognition for a job well done?
9. When was the last time you rewarded a subordinate for his or
her efforts? What token of appreciation did you offer?
10. How does the firm recognize and learn from a brave attempt
that didn’t turn out quite as expected?
11. If I were a spectacular success in this position after six
months, what would I have accomplished?
12. How much freedom would I have in determining my objectives
and deadlines?
13. How long has this position existed in the organization? Has
its scope changed recently?
14. Do you foresee this job involving significant amounts of
overtime or work on weekends?
15. What are the greatest challenges I will face in this position
in furthering the agenda of the organization?
16. Are my tasks limited to my job description, or will I be
performing duties outside the described job scope?

Questions Designed to Get Feedback
1. How do you like me so far?
2. Do you have any concerns about my ability to do the job and
fit in?
3. Is there anything standing in the way of us coming to an
agreement?
4. Do you have any concerns about my experience, education,
skills?
5. How do I compare with the other candidates you have
interviewed?
6. Describe your ideal candidate. What do my qualifications lack
compared to those of the theoretical ideal candidate?
7. I’m ready to make a decision based on the information I have.
Is there anything else I can elaborate on so that you would have a
better understanding of my qualifications and suitability for this
position?
8. Are there any areas in which you feel I fall short of your
requirements?
9. Can you give me any feedback that would make me more
attractive to the company in the future or that I could benefit from
next time?
10. Is there anything else you need from me to have a complete
picture of my qualifications?

Finance Mgr

Company Introduction:
World famous energy service company , new established JV, register in HK, in charge of Asia Pacific area business, operation centre in SH.

Duties and responsibilities:
1.Establish and direct finance & accounting function with direct supervision of accounts receivable, accounts payable, petty cash, and banking activities
2.Supervise day-to-day financial accounting activities, consolidation, and preparation of reports and analysis
3.Prepare timely and accurate financial reports with recommendations to top management
4.Establish and manage treasury & cash management activities
5.Implements and administers the company credit policy and control credit accounts
6.Prepare financial and economic outlook (monthly) and plan (annual)
7.Direct and develop tax compliance & planning and ensure accuracy of company’s tax declarations
8.Assist CEO in developing Board and other presentations

Qualifications and experience:
1.Fluent in English and Chinese
2.Significant knowledge of PRC and Hong Kong GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles)
3.Familiarity with US GAAP & IFAS
4.Bachelor degree or above (Masters preferred), major in accounting and finance.
5.Post-graduate professional qualification (Chartered Accountant, Certified Public Accountant or equivalent)
6.Experience with International Corporation preferred
7.5 years finance work experience, 2+ years finance management experience
8.Experience with Big 4 accounting firm desirable

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_fi126sh@dacare.com’

China-made Christmas gifts sold to 200 countries

Chinanews, Hangzhou, Nov. 28 ¨C Zhejiang’s Yiwu has begun to see an increasing export of Christmas gifts this month when Christmas is no longer than a month away and many super markets in Western Countries are busy collecting Christmas products.

From last May to October, actually, there had been 10-million-US-dollar worth of Christmas gifts made in Yiwu exported to more than 200 countries and regions worldwide every month.

These 200 countries and regions, such as the US, Germany, Holland, and Brazil, have made Yiwu as their key channel importing Christmas commodities by this year, according to a chief of the Yiwu office of the Jinhua Customs.

The exported Christmas goods cover not only traditional colorful lamps and wrapping paper, but also many other categories including costumes, toys, and even household appliances, indicating a climbing added value of export.

Yiwu Festival Gifts Co., Ltd. is now running up a set of Christmas products for South Korea. Salesman of the company said it was a temporary order, and the products ordered by many European and American countries have all been turned out and shipped there already.

Why IT Recruiting as a profession?

Sometimes people in our industry can get a bad repetition or make someone mad. But, is that because what the industry is or what they did?

Remember the movie, Dave. It¡¯s about an average Joe that poses as president. At one point, he¡¯s talking to the real president¡¯s wife and she asks him what he does in real life. He answers he runs a very small staffing company. She answers ¡°Oh, you find people jobs¡±, and is very impressed. That¡¯s it in a nutshell. Over a lifetime career in this business, think about how many, houses, cars and college educations you have contributed to the economy by doing your job well?

You are a:

– Talent Agent ¨C No agent in sports or the entertainment industry has anything over you.

– Psychologist ¨C You have to get into the head of the candidate and figure what makes them tick and what their ¡°real¡± job interests are.

– Computer Scientist ¨C Few IT recruiters have a technical degree but we¡¯re expected to be able to wade through thousands of acronyms, know what they do and be able to screen candidates.

– Career Coach ¨C Be able to convince the candidate it¡¯s not in their best interest to wear that 2 pound nose ring to the interview.

– Travel Agent ¨C Figure out how to get that candidate in Fairbanks to Miami by 2 pm tomorrow to meet the CIO.

– Marriage Counselor ¨C Remember, it¡¯s the whole family that is affected by a job change.

– Friend – **the most important** No explanation other then ¡°treat others and you want to be treated¡±.

How To Reach Your Goal When Your Job Is To Find A Job

If you’ve been laid off or have somehow lost your job, you might find your self in the uncomfortable position of having your job be to find yourself another job. Unless you have gobs of money saved up, you’ll have to hit the streets looking for a replacement that’ll give you the weekly paycheck.

Many people are unprepared for looking for a full-time job under this type of pressure. Here’s some tips that help you land a better job in no time.

Pen A Perfect Resume

Your resume is the first impression that prospective employers will have of you. Therefore, you want to really stand out from the crowd. The best way to do this, is to cater your resume to the job you are applying for. You want to highlight the skill you have that match the skills they need and remember to always be truthful.

Keep your resume short, with bullet items that highlight the important parts. You don’t need to elaborate with a huge novel about what you’ve accomplished – that’s what the interview is for, however, you do need to pique their interest enough for them to call you in for an interview.

Always include a cover letter with a short paragraph on why you are interested in their particular company or industry and how you think your skills will fit the job.

Submit Your Resume

Now that you have your resume written, you need to find places to submit it to. You could always go through a recruiter who has a list of jobs in your field open and can match you to them. You could also try using contacts you have in the business – call all your old friends and coworkers to try to ferret out any openings and companies who might be interested in working for. Finally you can check the papers and online job search websites.

Impress Them In The Interview

When you do get an Interview, you want to be sure to impress them with your skills and knowledge of the job. Don’t go overboard and be both full, and always be truthful. do some research on the companyy so that you can ask pertinent questions. If there Is some skills they you might be rusty and that the job calls for, do some homework so that you can talk about them intelligently.

Always show up for interviews on time, take traffic into consideration and make sure you get there to check in about five minutes ahead of time. Don’t forget to dress appropriately, while this may seem silly it actually does go a long way to making a big impression. Don’t be nervous! This is your chance to shine, remember that a lot of times the interviewer can be just as nervous or even more as an interviewee. Many people who are interviewing are just simply workers who lack interviewing skills, you can go a long way towards gaining their trust by being confident and easy to interview.

Follow Up

After the interview, don’t forget to follow up with a brief thank you letter. in a letter thank them for their time and also state how your skills are a perfect match for the job and in your particular interests in that area. People want to hire someone who is a good match for the job and will stay and enjoy it, and not just someone who needs a paycheck.

Sending a thank you letter may seem a bit old-fashioned, but this will help to get your name in front of the hiring managers again. You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t do this and it really makes an impression when someone does.

Stick To A Schedule

Obviously, the more places you interview the better your chances of landing a job. You can’t just interview one place and then sit back for two weeks waiting to hear from them. Therefore, you need to set up some sort of schedule or goal for yourself. Perhaps you want to make sure you get In five interviews a week, then set this goal and make sure you work towards it.

While finding a new job can be a bit scary and often tedious you need to treat it as if it is your job and work at it full-time. If you make a great effort to find another job you’ll be back in the workforce in no time.

Questions for Hiring Managers

1. Could you explain the company’s organizational structure?
2. What is the organization’s plan for the next five years,
and how does this department or division fit in?
3. What specific skills from the person you hire would make
your life easier?
4. Will we be expanding or bringing on new products or new
services that I should be aware of?
5. What are some of the problems that keep you up at night?
6. What are some of the skills and abilities you see as
necessary for someone to succeed in this job?
7. What would be a surprising but positive thing the new person
could do in first 90 days?
8. What challenges might I encounter if I take on this position?
9. How does upper management perceive this part of the
organization?
10. What are your major concerns that need to be immediately
addressed in this job?
11. What do you see as the most important opportunities for
improvement in the area I hope to join?
12. What are the attributes of the job that you’d like to see
improved?
13. What are the organization’s three most important goals?
14. What is your company’s policy on attending seminars,
workshops, and other training opportunities?
15. How do you see this position impacting the achievement of
those goals?
16. What is the budget this department operates with?
17. What attracted you to working for this organization?
18. What committees and task forces will I be expected to
participate in?
19. What have you liked most about working here?
20. How will my leadership responsibilities and performance be
measured? By whom?
21. What are the day-to-day responsibilities I’ll be assigned?
22. Are there any weaknesses in the department that you are
particularly looking to improve?
23. What are the department’s goals, and how do they align with
the company’s mission?
24. What are the company’s strengths and weaknesses compared with
the competition? (name one or two companies)
25. How does the reporting structure work here? What are the
preferred means of communication?
26. What goals or objectives need to be achieved in the next six
months?
27. Can you give me an ideal of the typical day and workload and
the special demands the job has?
28. This a new position. What are the forces that suggested the
need for this position?
29. What areas of the job would you like to see improvement in
with regard to the person who was most recently performing these
duties?
30. From all I can see, I’d really like to work here, and I
believe I can add considerable value to the company. What’s the next
step in the selection process?
31. How does this position contribute to the company’s goals,
productivity, or profits?
32. What is currently the most pressing business issue or problem
for the company or department?
33. Would you describe for me the actions of a person who
previously achieved success in this position?
34. Would you describe for me the action of a person who
previously performed poorly in this position?
35. How would you describe your own management style?
36. What are the most important traits you look for in a
subordinate?
37. How do you like your subordinates to communicate with you?
38. What personal qualities or characteristics do you most value?
39. Could you describe to me your typical management style and
the type of employee who works well with you?
40. Corporate culture is very important, but it’s usually hard to
define until one violates it. What is one thing an employee might do
here that would be perceived as a violation of the company’s culture?
41. How would you characterize the organization? What are its
principal values? What are its greatest challenges?
42. How would you describe the experience of working here?
43. If I were to be employed here, what one piece of wisdom would
you want me to incorporate into my work life?
44. What are a couple of misconceptions people have about the
company?
45. Work-life balance is an issue of retention as well as
productivity. Can you talk about your own view of how to navigate the
tensions between getting work done and encouraging healthy lives
outside the office?
46. How does the company support and promote personal and
professional growth?
47. What types of people seem to excel here?
48. Every company contends with office politics. It’s a fact of
life because politics is about people working together. Can you give
me some exams of how politics plays out in this company?
49. What have I yet to learn about this company and opportunity
that I still need to know?
50. I’m delighted to know that teamwork is highly regarded. But
evaluating performance of teams can be difficult. How does the
company evaluate team performance? For example, does it employ 360-
degree feedback programs?
51. What are the organization’s primary financial objectives and
performance measures?
52. What operating guidelines or metrics are used to monitor the
planning process and the results?
53. To what extent are those objectives uniform across all
product lines?
54. How does the company balance short-term performance versus
long-term success?
55. What kinds of formal strategic planning systems, if any, are
in place?
56. Can you describe the nature of the planning process and how
decisions concerning the budgeting process are made?
57. Can you identify the key corporate participants in the
planning process?
58. How often and in what form does the company report its
results internally to its employees?
59. In the recent past, how has the company acknowledged and
rewarded outstanding performance?
60. What are the repercussions of having a significant variance
to the operating plan?
61. Are budgeting decisions typically made at corporate
headquarters, or are the decisions made in a more decentralized
fashion?
62. I’m glad to hear that I will be part of a team. Let me ask
about reward structures for teams. Does the company have a formal
team-based compensation process?
63. Is the company more of an early adapter of technology, a
first mover, or is it content to first let other companies work the
bugs out and then implement a more mature version of the technology?
64. How does the company contribute to thought leadership in its
market?
65. How advanced is the company’s commitment to knowledge
management?
66. I was pleased to hear you describe the company’s branding
strategy. How does branding fit into the overall marketing mix?
67. How does this position contribute to the company’s goals,
productivity, or profits?
68. According to (name source), your principal competitor, Brand
X, is the best-selling product in the space. What does Brand X do
better than your product?
69. Business Week magazine ranks the company second (or whatever)
in its industry. Does this position represent a change from where it
was a few years ago?
70. How accessible is the CEO (name him or her) to people at my
level of the organization?
71. Does the CEO (name him or her) publish his or her email
address?
72. I understand that the CEO is really approachable. Are there
ground rules for approaching him or her?
73. Staff development is mentioned in your annual report as a
measure on which executives are evaluated. What kinds of training
experiences might I expect?
74. Is the department a profit center?
75. Can you please tell me about the people who will look to me
for supervision?
76. Would I encounter any coworker or staff person who’s proved
to be a problem in the past?
77. What happened to the person who previously held this job?
78. The incumbent was dismissed? How could the problems have been
avoided?
79. The incumbent was promoted? I’m delighted to hear it. Would
it be possible for me to talk to him or her?
80. What is the company customer-service philosophy?
81. Could you tell me about a time when the team/company went out
of its way to provide knock-your-socks-off service?
82. The best companies rely on rich customer data to fuel
personalized content and services. How is the company doing in
personalizing its offerings?
83. Customers are expecting companies to protect their data. Does
the company have a privacy policy for its Web initiatives, and how
does the company balance the momentum for ever-increasing
personalization with rising concerns for privacy?
84. How empowered are employees? How much of the company’s money
can your people (including the ones with single-digit pay grades)
spend on their own recognizance to satisfy a customer or address a
work-process issue?
85. How often would I come into direct contact with real, living,
breathing, paying customers?
86. What are the success factors that will tell you if the
decision to bring me on board was the right one?
87. To make our working relationship successful — something we
both want — we’ll need to be sure we have good chemistry together.
How might we determine this, and then what action would you see us
engage in to build that relationship?
88. If you and I were developing some sort of philosophical
difference, how would you want to go about resolving it?