Recruiting in China

In the course of doing some research in the auto industry I found an excellent report created by the Center for Automotive Research. (check them out here: http://www.cargroup.org/ )   The study is a comprehensive and forward looking piece on what the automobile industry is shaping up to be in the next 10-12 years.

 The report is titled:
Beyond the Big Leave, the future of US automotive human resources.
 - a report to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team/US Department of Labor Workforce Innovation for Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative.

While it addressed the changing nature and growing convergence of technologies and the need for those who can use them and engineer them it had little to say about the recruiting of specific talent in these areas of convergence.  Most of the recruiting information has to do with new college hires and co-op programs.

The reason I found the 95 page report as interesting as I did, however, was the following exerpt:
“The hiring process for all employees has become
more thorough as firms require more qualified
staff and as they work to reduce employee-related
problems in the workplace by employing more
exacting screening processes. When hiring engineers
and technical staff, the respondents stated
that they achieve the best results by conducting a
group interview, including employees with whom
the candidate would be working. Interviews
conducted by HR staff are deemed sufficient when
hiring manufacturing workers.”
- Copyright © 2008 Center for Automotive Research – All Rights Reserved

I find it noteworthy that as the positions that are hardest to fill become even more complex it has finally caused a shift to more effective interview strategies and will, ultimately (in my humble opinion) lead to more emphasis being placed on this aspect of teh recruitment process.So What does this have to do with Recruiting in China?

In candidate short searches the line between screening and selling must be blurred in order to get more from the recruitment process.  One of the most powerful tools for bringing a new team member on board is a group meeting/evaluation.  When both current team memebers and prospective team members have a chance to relax and talk shop it often aids in recruitment when the existing team is strong and the prospective team memeber is a good fit.As positions grow in complexity and candidates become more scarce it may be a good time to re-think your companies interview process.  In many cases it can be helpful to have a technical evaluation prior to an HR screening in order to make sure that less technically savvy members of the firm do not discount valid expertise due to a lack of understanding.

As a recruiting manager in a firm exposed to openings throughout

 We specialize in the direct recruiting of passive candidates.  My team is quite good at identifying talent, figuring out what will be a good motivator, and presenting opportunities to qualified candidates.  We specialize in the activity of recruiting.  Where we usually run up against trouble is when our methodology meets the administrative function of a new or prospective client.  If there recruiting function is viewed internally as an administrative function we are going to be in trouble.   The activity of administration. 

Workforce planning, short listing, candidate analytics, and talent pipelining are all worthy endeavors but if you want to get the candidates onto the org. chart you have to get them in the door.  Too often in China we are confounded by the activity of administration with a seemingly endless need for more resumes and deeper background checks when all too often these result in fewer placements.  If your recruiting department concentrates more on the issuing of reports than on the scheduling of candidate/manager meetings there is an activity gap that needs to be addressed.

What gets measured gets done.  Rarely have we seen a client fail who thoroughly follows our process.  IN our line of work we measure activity that matters.  We measure the activity of recruiting and analyze it as it relates to placements.  If an activity does not relate to making placements it is not measured and little importance is placed upon it.  This is not groundbreaking news to anyone who ever sold anything.   So what? 

So are you measuring the right activity in your internal recruiting function?  Are they being held to a minimum level of calls, meetings, and introductions each week?  If not they are probably getting the wrong message as to what is important and they are focusing on the activity of administration rather than the activity of recruiting.

While the purpose of this blog is to share ideas and techniques with regards to recruiting in China I have been getting a number of questions from concerned friends regarding the best way to help.  I am in no position to recommend any one specific foundation or group so I defer to a post I found on the China Law Blog (below…)

I heard on the news this morning that the Chinese government has requested help from international rescue operations and that teams from Japan are on the way.  With the death toll rising and current estimates at 50,000 lives I am sure that there are many survivors that can use our help.

The following post is an excellent start:

China Earthquake Donation Guide: 24+ ways to give - UPDATED - “There has been a tremendous outpouring of energy from the blogosphere and on Twitter to determine the best way to help out. Having given to relief organizations after the Indonesia tsunami, and then hearing about the waste associated with relief efforts, I wanted to evaluate how to best contribute toward China earthquake disaster relief efforts.”

Thanks, now get back to work! - BSF

I had a chance to make some contacts at an American Chamber of Commerce event last night held by the Small and Medium - sized Enterprise Committee.  (They took the time to specify what an SME was but I was too busy with the buffet to catch it so I will use the recruiter-on-the-street definition of SME: not a “big” company.)

 - Assessment:  Know what you are looking for before you start looking for it. Many organizations do not take the time to define what they mean by a “good hire.” I am not going to get into a long discussion about competencies and measurement (http://www.rocket-hire.com/ - good site) but I will tell you this: As a small company it is relatively easy to sit down and get all of the hiring managers on the same page when it comes to the level of competency that is needed for the role at hand and to decide who will decide the candidates fit.  At my old firm we used to have one interviewer assess technical skill (and little else,) one interviewer assesses corporate fit (and little else,) and one hiring manager to give a management level assessment of “hire ability.”  This worked well for us in that market, you need to find one that works well for you and stick with it. 

- Branding:  There is a lot of money spent on employer branding in this world and in order to compete with it in China you only need to do one thing: treat your candidates well.  You will stand out from every other prospective employer in China if you do a few simple things:

• Acknowledge the receipt of their resume (qualified or not)

• Send them information about your company

• Send them a performance profile of the job

• Tell them how your process works

• Get back to them promptly after each meeting with feedback and tell them if there is a next step

• Prove that people are your most important asset with your actions and stop wasting your breathe saying it to them

- Network:  Create an email distribution list that contains every vendor and employee, every candidate that ever applied, everyone who came to the last CNY party, and use this as the basis of your talent network.  You should email a brief and polite alert to these folks about each new opening and ask them to pass it on.  I used to offer an i-pod to anyone who referred me a winning candidate.  It may take a while but you will build a talent network that is happy to look at their own network to find you candidates. You already have an employer brand, even if you haven’t written it down or advertised it. Your employees, clients, and anyone who comes into contact with you professionally have already formed their unique perception of what your company does and what it values. Use it now; share the love with your prospective candidates. Your brand exists. The trick is to use it to create honest and attractive expectations for your employees and prospects. 

 *maybe

(Brian Fenerty has experience recruiting in candidate-short markets in Asia, North, and South America.   For more insights specific to  recruiting techniques in China  please visit his ERE blog at: http://www.ere.net/blogs/Recruiting%5FTechniques/  - or visit Brian on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfenerty )

Well, it matters, but with the right technique you can make up for a lack of size in many cases if client is willing…

The prevailing market wisdom is that the best candidates will go to the big companies and the smaller (SMEs, start-ups, trading companies, privately held firms) companies are left with what is left.  This is not always the case and it can make a huge difference in the long run for your firm to get the best people now.

We placed a candidate today in a small start-up here in Shanghai.  She was being courted by some of the biggest brands in the business.  She had the skills to pay the bills and is in the highly competitive luxury retail market. 

Did they close her with a huge offer?Was it the generous stock options?How did they do it?

The answer was a combination of great interviewing, a fair offer that was structured well, and speed, and stretch.

Great Interviewing
My client understood that they needed to move the process along quickly in order to make the placement happen and they took the time to find out about the candidate and make sure she met the right people in the right order and was able to have the right conversations.  They sold the candidate on their vision while they found out about hers.  If this sounds like your process you are well above average.  If this sounds like touchy feely new age, candidate coddling mumbo jumbo then move to the back of the line.  In this market it is important to treat the candidates like guests and make sure that they can see their place in your company.  If you are in a big company and have the power of the brand behind you you will still find this approach helpful in those cases (and they are growing) where you can’t seem to find anyone to do the job. 

A Fair Offer
The client took the time and had the flexibility to structure an offer that included options, a fair base salary with a housing component (so the candidate can save taxes and increase take home pay) and a healthy bonus based on performance.  They did not have to “throw money” at the candidate or enter a bidding war.  The candidate appreciated their flexibility and was able to see that they wanted her onboard.  The end result was a market salary that did not break the bank, though it was a bit higher than the client wanted to pay and a bit lower than the candidate wanted in the beginning. A true compromise. 

Speed
The client had the ability to learn from past mistakes and made the effort necessary to get the managers together to meet the candidate and were able to finish their internal interviewing and evaluation in less than two weeks.  If you want to get great passive candidates on board you need to move.  Not too fast, NOT TOO SLOW, just keep it moving.  There were other offers and a promotion on the way and my client acted quickly in order to close the candidate.  The best way to avoid a bidding war and a long negotiation is to move the process along and offer a candidate in a period of time that does not allow for other opportunities to crop up.

Stretch
Great candidates want great jobs and in this case the candidate wanted more responsibility in a specific professional area and because the client is flexible and able to make adjustments to the org chart and add responsibilities to make the job more attractive.  In the business we call this stretch.  My parents would call it common sense.  This can be a real issue with large companies and can make the difference when recruiting top passive candidates.  Many small companies take advantage of their flexibility to tweak responsibilities and give the candidates the stretch they need to grow their careers.  Most top candidates realize this stretch in responsibility can be as valuable in the long run as a big company name on their resume and it is the wise small company that capitalizes on this.

So What?

It is a great thing to see a small company recruit in such a way as to beat out the much larger competition and get the candidate they need to help grow their company.  Recruiting is not a art and focusing on the process and the policies you have in place can make the difference between getting the candidates you need and asking for more resumes.

Recruiting in Treasury in China

As more firms with global reach and large treasury functions begin to de-centralize their treasury their is sure to be pressure put on in-house and third-party recruiters to deliver well trained, bilingual, western-educated/minded candidates for their China operations. This will be tough since we could probably fit them all into one large conference room at the Portman Ritz Carlton.

As with many of the emerging hot positions in China it can be vexing trying to find talent that is not here. In some cases the market has just opened and there are very few candidates in the line of work or the position that are available to be recruited. WE have seen this most recently in leasing. Many companies have received the go-ahead from the Chinese government to sell their leasing products in everything from vehicle fleet leasing to material handling to health equipment and all of them are looking for the same people. This is where working with a true search firm and not a placement agency becomes important.

I was recently interviewed by Anne Field of Treasury and Risk Magazine for an article in their March issue (http://www.treasuryandrisk.com/article.php?article=1260) entitled “Labor’s Capitalist Problem.” In it she looks at the challenges involved with de-centralizing the treasury function and staffing up in China to make this a reality.

Here is a quote, click on the link to get more:

“Until now, most multinationals in China haven’t done much in the way of building in-country treasury operations. Many followed a more centralized, global treasury strategy that didn’t always require staff in China. But, as a few leading edge companies, such as General Electric, Intel and Honeywell, pursue a more China-specific treasury approach and realize the operating advantage local talent can provide, that’s likely to change—and in a big way. More employers are expected to tap the relatively shallow labor pool for treasury as they expand their on-the-ground capabilities in China, potentially leading over the next couple of years to a recruiting frenzy akin to the gold rush of the late 1990s in Silicon Valley.

“It would be fair to say that the treasury market segment is still in its infancy,” says Pui Yee Lee, director of international treasury for Honeywell International Inc. It’s a simple case of supply and demand. Normally, candidates for such jobs in emerging markets could come from the domestic banking system or large companies, but given the strict regulation and limited use of foreign currency, Chinese banks in particular have had little need to develop the kind of sophisticated treasury skill set most multinationals are accustomed to working with. Even the smallest uptick can put pressure on such a limited supply.”

Anne goes on to describe a few ways to go about getting the people you need including training and working with Universities to find the talent these companies need early but most do not have the time to wait for a student to graduate and join their company, go through training and evolve into a career treasury expert.

One of the other recruiting experts quoted in the article recommends looking for “native Chinese who left the country 10 to 20 years ago to attend school in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore or the U.S.” This is not the answer and is more like the kind of advice you get from an airline magazine article about China. In my humble opinion you will need to head hunt this type of person directly out of another company. Anne refers to it as poaching in her article but in Asia it is called recruiting and it is the only way to find these people.

Anne goes on to talk about finding candidates with the right relationships and this is really the crux of the problem. When recruiting candidates in China for positions that have a limited number of candidates who will come with varying levels of experience in the specific role (due to the fact the position has existed for such a short time) it is just as important to recruit on market knowledge and relationships as on the JD that HR will create.

“But when looking for more seasoned executives, particularly in finance and treasury, the essential elements do not only revolve around the skill set. In a society famous for its emphasis on doing business based on long-term relationships, companies need people with established ties to key partners, as well as government officials. The emphasis could, in fact, be on cultural savvy rather than treasury smarts when choosing for new treasury operations. “You may hire people not because they’re stars, but because they have great relationships,” says Fenerty.”

There is no easy way to get the best candidates in China but if you are willing to be realistic and take them directly from your competition you will be much closer to getting the job done right.

(Brian Fenerty has experience recruiting in candidate-short markets in Asia, North, and South America. For more insights specific to recruiting techniques in China please visit his ERE blog at: http://www.ere.net/blogs/Recruiting%5FTechniques/ - or visit Brian on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfenerty )

My friend H has this to say about my last post and I think she hits on some really good points, H has a lot of experience thinking about issues like this and I often get great advice from her.  Thanks H! >>>

As a candidate, my comment on your blog about stock options:  Among options, there are options!  1) If the stock options are granted by a big-cap listed company, with short lock-up period, it is very attractive because it is liquid, it is soon tradable in the market and it is easy to understand the value which simply consists of time value and, intrinsic value (the volatility of the market and, the strike price). The lock-up period, to some degree, decides how interesting the option is to candidates in this high turnover market. 

2) If the options are offered by a non-listed mature big conservative private company which has little prospect to go public (due to many reasons, eg. it has enough organic growth through self financing with own strong cash flows and have no interested in M&A financing), then the options are not very interesting because the shares are not publicly tradable. It is not liquid and hence there are big discounts on the value of the options.  

3) If the options are offered by a sooner-or-later will go public firm such as Alibaba then, it is magic bean! In this case, suitable candidates are like venture capitalists that need to have passion to commit into the start-up or high-growth firm and its products, who understand the market and have confidence in the business model. Not everyone enjoys the thought of calculating different kinds of options’ value, that’s why the options offered to senior management and common employees (by the same firm) have often very different conditions.   

 (Brian Fenerty has experience recruiting in candidate-short markets in Asia, North, and South America.   For more insights specific to recruiting techniques in China please visit his ERE blog at: http://www.ere.net/blogs/Recruiting%5FTechniques/  - or visit Brian on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfenerty )

 I was at a nice breakfast meeting this morning and it got me thinking about stock options as recruitment tools versus retention tools.  Most of the candidates I work with are skeptical when it comes to options and performance bonuses that are not very closely tied to metrics that they know well.  In this market you may think you have a great new concept for a company and it will only take a few years of hard work for it to pay off but most of the candidates who are visible in this market have received dozens of calls regarding start-ups and smaller companies trying to make a difference and the prevailing wisdom still holds: show me the money.

This may seem harsh, taking into consideration your great idea/hard work/new business model/extensive research/ but in the collective mind of the candidates I work with this is a tough market and there are plenty of losers for every winner.  This is partly why big companies are held in such esteem by candidates, often a brand name is enough for a candidate to look into a position, often the lack of this brand name is enough for them to take a pass. Many candidates in the US have referred to options as “magic beans,” a reference to the chance of being able to cash in on the options they are awarded.

What to do?

In the case of start-ups it will be far less frustrating for your hiring managers if the recruiting strategy is focused on the same thing that makes the company unique.  A passion for the product will have the right candidates interested in opportunities, showing them that your entire company is built around this same interest will go a long way.  I still recommend meeting market salaries, however, as passion will only take you so far and if you want long-term buy in it is best if your key employees do not feel underpaid.  Everyone knows how much everyone else is making in China.  In order to overcome any feelings of external inequity we can configure salary packages a number of ways to make everyone happy.

Signing bonuses - a great way to show the love up front, these are best used to offset internal equity issues and can be tied to limited retention milestones (bonus will be refunded to employer if candidate does not meet a minimum number of months, usually 12, at work.)

Performance bonuses - the old standby,  these are best used and most attractive to candidates who know the market and are aware of their own ability to contribute to the bottom line.  If you are using these to recruit make sure you let them know what other members of the team have made in the past and how you decided on their targets.

Stock options - less popular here than in the West, stock options are often misunderstood or largely ignored in a job market with the turnover we experience here. I recommend balancing stock options with market-real salaries in order to attract top talent and combine this and the options above with plenty of upside in terms of responsibility and job stretch.

Who cares?

If you are trying to recruit candidates in the China market, you care.  If you are trying to retain candidates in the China market you care.  The candidates I talked to about this issue liked the idea of receiving stock options and thought they made excellent spot bonuses but did not take them into account when figuring their yearly compensation.  That is, it is difficult to put a dollar value in them and, so, the are not highly valued.  This may be changing but in the case of candidates who are below the VP level it is changing slowly.

In this recruiter’s humble opinion it is best to use stock options as a retention tool, spot bonus, or performance initiative but I do not recommend relying on them to attract candidates.  There are too many options already.

(Brian Fenerty has experience recruiting in candidate-short markets in Asia, North, and South America.  For more insights specific to  recruiting techniques in China  please visit his ERE blog at: http://www.ere.net/blogs/Recruiting%5FTechniques/  - or visit Brian on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfenerty )

I am not going to tell you that you should work excluseively with passive candidates in China.  If you are able to find the candidates you need to fill the open jobs yo have then you should use these avenues.  I will be the first to tell you to treat your passive candidates well and take the time to realize that they are not actively looking for jobs and in order to get them on board you will have to make an effort.  I know this because I work with passive candidates and I have for my entire career. 

Today we are seeing a real shortage of candidates in some of the areas we specialize in and, often, a lack of understanding on the corporate side that the candidates that are available, well, aren’t available.  They are not applying for jobs because they are happily working at the job they chose.  Passive canditates need to be offered a scenario that is clearly superior in order to consider an opportunity.  When we get them to consider an opportunity with a client it is their one shot to fill the passive candidate with the information and inspiration to keep moving forward in the hiring process, if not, the candidate simply goes back to the job s/he has doing what s/he chose to do in the first place.

I took the “bright ideas” below from a presentation I gave last week to the Supply Chain Council here in Shanghai but they are applicable to any industry and any employer who is faced with the task of on boarding passive candidates.  Most of these ideas have been around as long as headhunting has but as markets tighten they bear repeating.

Convert Jobs into Careers
Most passive candidates don’t take new jobs unless they’re convinced the position offers increased scope, greater responsibility, and a chance to grow, professionally. Make sure you are comfortable spelling this out for top performers to get them on board. Prepare Performance Profiles
Throw away you job descriptions. The hiring team must not only agree to what the job entails, but also be able to communicate the importance of the role this candidate will play at the team level.  A performance profile outlines this. Brand Your Jobs
Brand your jobs (different than employer branding) by tying the hire to an important initiative or goal .  Any position critical to the company’s business strategy enhances the value of the role. Incorporate this into the communication you have with candidates from the start and make it a part of your hiring culture. 

Web 2.0Leverage Your Employee Referral Program (ERP.) Passive candidates are more likely to listen if you know someone in common. Get LinkedIn to your employees and show thenm the value of a strong social network.  You can also create a LinkedIn group to invite all your own employees to and start developing your talent network. Treat your Referrals Like GoldWhen an employee refers a candidate, contact them immediately and treat them like you would your own best friend.  Many referral programs stall when word gets back to your own employees that no one called them or that they were treated in a less than exceptional way. Pace Yourself
Top passive prospects will need more time to evaluate the risk of changing jobs. Not only will they need to convince themselves but also their circle of advisors (know who they are.) Use this extra time to present more specific job and career information and get the person to meet more people in your company. Get the candidate comfortable with the new team and manager and things will go better during the offer stage.  Candidates will also view joining the team as a highly selective process and they will think more highly of an offer when it comes. Expand Your Sourcing EffortsWrite great and compelling ads, use your PR department to help and email these compelling ads to everyone in your talent network and to your own employees, asking them to e-mail them to their friends and peers. These ads will be passed on to those a degree or two away and will build your contacts and find candidates. 

Work a Cold List
Have your employees collect contact lists from conventions, seminars, and professional get-togethers and call all the promising leads.  This is a first point of contact and may lead to great conversations and referrals.  If you need to learn to work a list talk to a third party recruiter or a salesperson at your own company.  Engage Passive Candidates FULLY When a candidate says that s/he would be open to explore a situation if it were clearly better, you must SHOW THAT YOU ARE LISTENING. You must get interested in the candidates background and interests first. Don’t lose candidate interest by telling him about the job. If the job is not right or nt what he wants you will lose a chance to get referrals and to make another contact. Get High Touch (with high-tech)Be sure to contact referrals and passive candidates within 48 hours of receiving their information. Provide them with your company information and get them involved as quickly as you can. Time kills all deals. 

Recruit with your screening processEnergize passive candidates with your method of asking questions, luring them in for a more rigorous exchange of information. DO NOT eliminate good people who are perfectly qualified doing comparable, but not identical, work, or good people who feel disrespected by the types of questions asked or if it takes too long.  Increase the quality of candidate experience
Be sure that when a candidate leaves your office he has a better opinion of you, the company, and the job than when he arrived. After a few hours of interviewing, how many of your candidates feel great about your company and the opportunity presented?  Make sure you know, make sure you ask. Leave the Door OpenPeople don’t make long-term career decisions after one call or one meeting.  Passive candidates need time to think and feel, our job as recruiter is to create an opportunity for the candidate to exchange information with the right internal interviewers. 

Hire GREAT RecruitersReferrals from recruiters, employees and others will help you identify them. Referrals are almost always the best source for top performers and that remains true in recruiting where the very best are highly visible. Pay them well, too.  Eliminate Job Descriptions Ask this question: “What does the person in this job need to do to be considered successful?” Get a list of five or six things. Next ask, “What do the best candidates do better than the rest?” This is what you need to identify top passive talent.  Know the JobPassive candidates need to be won over with information about positions that offer them growth. Use performance profiles to get a feel for this and use them internally to broadcast this message to your own organization. When you know the job this way it creates a chance to identify a skills gap in the candidate and give you a chance to leverage it.  Define a Career Path and Prove ItA passive candidate is generally so because they are in a good spot.  They usually are only moveable with the offer of a position that gives a great deal of upside and career momentum. You will have to tell these candidates how the position will grow, responsibilities will increase, career path will improve. Rather than speak in generalities about these opportunities you must be specific, you must also introduce candidates to others who have taken on these larger roles.  

Introduce the Comparative Risk of Not ChangingSometimes the risk of not changing is bigger than the risk of changing jobs. If the role you want the passive candidate to take is really better than his current role he will consider it. During the evaluation process look for areas of risk that exist right now for the candidate including company stability and industry prospects.  Create Rebuttals for Every Major ConcernTake the time to create a list of rebuttals to probable concerns and keep a running list of concerns that are brought up during your conversations. Create great rebuttals for each.  Use the rebuttals to show that you have considered what is important to the candidate (because you started by finding this out, right?) and then follow up by discussing their goals and interests again.  Most people will agree to go forward as long as you are keeping in mind what is important to them. Know Your Company
Passive candidates are influenced by market strength, future market potential, growth plans, business models, and potential.  To recruit them you need to know your company, his company, and the rest of the market.   

Partner with your Hiring-manager ClientsIf your hiring managers won’t put in the extra effort, if they won’t spend more time conducting exploratory interviews, and if they won’t fight for a little extra compensation, your success at recruiting top passive candidates will be limited. Think inside the box…Out-of-the-box thinking is expensive, risky and uneven. Most recruiting machines have what it takes to get more passive candidates onboard if they concentrate on their strengths and focus on the basics.  Attract first, Then evaluateI leave this for last because it is the most important.  Take time and make an effort to attract candidates to your team and your firm before you do anything else.  Candidates who are given this type of treatment are more likely to shine a little brighter and try a little harder in the subsequent interviews.  In candidate driven markets you will increase your success by treating candidates like guests rather than applicants.   (Brian Fenerty has experience recruiting in candidate-short markets in Asia, North, and South America.  Brian can be reached at briansfenerty@hotmail.com For more insights specific to recruiting techniques in China please visit his ERE blog at: http://www.ere.net/blogs/Recruiting%5FTechniques/ - or visit Brian on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfenerty)

I was asked by Max Henry at Global Supply Chain Council to give a brief presentation on Recruiting in China’s supply chain sector and the specific challenges being faced there at this year’s HR Supply Chain Summit in Shanghai. While I was happy to be asked I did feel that it would be challenging to come up with anything really new on the subject. Supply chain is tough, the positions are usually such that only a candidate who really knows what s/he is doing will be technically acceptable for most roles and no one has time to train. Add to this the demand for candidates who know the local market and have connections and it can feel like trying to change a tire on a moving truck. Candidates are short, salaries are rising, and the competition is growing as quickly as you.In these situations there are two strategies I have seen work in the past; hire a foreigner who has the skills to do the job and may be able to add value in knowledge transfer and/or another area or aggressively recruit passive candidates from the market.  Neither is fool proof.  Both have their positives and negatives that I will address below. Hire a foreigner