Skip to content

 

China and Hong Kong Job Seekers Among Highest Users of Online Recruitment But Fall

Short in Marketing Their Talent to Employers
- Global survey by Kelly Services unveils findings on the recruitment process -

China and Hong Kong job seekers are among the highest in the world in their use of the Internet to find work, with a majority finding their most recent job online, according to Kelly Services, a global Fortune 500 company offering staffing solutions.

More than half of job seekers in China and Hong Kong also said they performed well during job interviews, but about half of them feel their CV's may not be presenting them to employers in the best possible way.

Kelly Services sought the views of more than 115,000 people in 33 countries and territories including more than 2,700 in China and Hong Kong on a wide range of issues about how they find work and how they deal with aspects of the recruitment process.

Key Findings in Greater China:

  • A majority of respondents (51%) in Hong Kong found their most recent job online, the third highest of any country in the survey behind Australia (54%) and Thailand (52%) and ahead of China (50%) and Indonesia (43%)
  • 59% of candidates in China and 70% in Hong Kong are confident in face-to-face job interviews
  • 51% of candidates in China and 43% in Hong Kong doubt if their CV presents them in the best possible way
  • 39% in China nominate 'searching for jobs' as the worst part of the recruitment process while 49% in Hong Kong nominate 'waiting for a response' as the worst part of the recruitment process
  • 74% in China and 63% in Hong Kong believe that employers treat them fairly in job interviews

In China, 50% of respondents found their most recent job online, 11% found work as a result of a direct approach by an employer or recruiter, 10% through a direct approach to an employer, and 9% by 'word of mouth'.

Online recruitment is considered by candidates to be a better way to find a job, with 78% pleased with the outcome compared with 44% for traditional written and posted applications.

In Hong Kong, 51% of those surveyed found their most recent job online, 15% found work as a result of a direct approach from an employer or recruiter, 12% through 'word of mouth', 9% from a newspaper advertisement and 3% from a direct approach to an employer.

Online recruitment is also considered by candidates to be a better way to find a job, with 71% pleased with the outcome compared with 44% for traditional written and posted applications.

"This shows that candidates have embraced the Internet as the preferred way of finding a job," said Paul Ng, Senior Director and General Manager, Greater China, Kelly Services.

"People are now very confident about applying for jobs online while employers are becoming much more adept at dealing with the online recruitment phenomenon".

Mr. Ng said however that online recruitment should not be seen as a shortcut to proper evaluation of candidates.

70% of respondents in Hong Kong and 59% in China said they performed well during face-to-face job interviews. Men were more confident in their ability in job interviews than women.

The survey also revealed that 49% of candidates in China and 57% in Hong Kong were confident that their CV did present them to employers in the best possible way but 51% in China and 43% in Hong Kong had doubts about the quality of their CV.

"Candidates often only get a brief chance to sell themselves to a potential employer so they need to make the most of every opportunity," said Dhirendra Shantilal, Senior Vice-President, Kelly Services Asia-Pacific.

"This means having a well crafted CV and a clear idea of their strengths as an employee. It also helps if candidates can gather some detail about the organization before an interview to identify how their particular experience and background can add value to the prospective employer".

And even though the task of applying for jobs and facing an interview can be daunting, it's not the worst part of the recruitment process according to candidates.

In China, the worst aspect of the recruitment process, nominated by 39% of respondents was 'searching for jobs', followed by 'waiting for a response' (36%), 'attending interviews' (16%), 'preparing resume/CVs' (6%), and 'filling in applications' (3%).

In Hong Kong, the worst aspect of the recruitment process, nominated by 49% of respondents was 'waiting for a response', followed by 'attending interviews' (18%), 'searching for jobs' (16%), 'filling in applications' (11%), and 'preparing resume/CVs' (6%).

The factors that best determine a person's job suitability were also canvassed in the survey. 

When asked what single attribute people considered to be the best indicator of job suitability, 'attitude and personality' and 'work experience' were both cited by 41% of respondents in China. Other factors such as interview performance, level of education, reference checks and psychological test results all rated low. The overwhelming factor was work experience in Hong Kong, cited by 41%, followed closely by attitude and personality (35%).  Other factors such as interview performance, level of education, reference checks and psychological test results all rated low.

Despite the uncertainties on the part of some candidates about their capacity to perform well in the recruitment process, most feel that they get a fair hearing from employers.  When asked if they felt employers treated them fairly in the interview process, 74% in China said they did, 25% said 'sometimes' and only 2% said 'never'. 63% in Hong Kong said they did, 36% said 'sometimes' and only 1% said 'never'.