Executive search is a people business. You have to establish direct relationships with not only clients but also candidates. As our business is mostly in China where high caliber candidates are a scarcity, direct relationships with candidates are even more critical.
We started by educating professionals in China. Bob Liu, Managing Director of CSCS International, has spent years promoting best practices in supply chain and educating professionals in China. Leveraging his MBA education and industry experience in the U.S., he wrote over 100 articles and developed dozens of case studies in Chinese, and established himself as a supply chain leader among Chinese professionals. He hosted a column at Logistics Management magazine in China, and has a Chinese website Supply Chain Forum dedicated to purchasing and supply chain. The website becomes very popular and attracts tens of thousands of professionals every year in Chinese community. When searching supply management at Baidu.com, the dominant search engine in Chinese, Supply Chain Forum consistently appears on the first page of search results, together with websites of ISM, CSCMP, and CIPS. The forum becomes a major interface for CSCS to directly connect with its candidates.
Bob also makes frequent visits to China and meets candidates face to face. He speaks often at various conferences, universities, and with special interest groups. For 2008 alone, he spent two months in China and Asia, speaking at six events. All these help gather first hand information and connect with top notch candidates in China. Check out his calendar of events.
At CSCS, we also understand the importance of connecting with professional associations, special interest groups and training organizations. We partner with multiple such organizations in China. Our partnership is another effective way to reach top candidates in China - we believe the very best candidates are seldom on the job market, and a referral system based on partner relationship is more effective than most other ways such as posting jobs on Internet. Visit our Partners for more information.
About the Author
Bob Liu, C.P.M., CPIM, is Managing Director of CSCS International. He is stationed in Silicon Valley and travels frequently to Greater China to help clients build their local supply chain organizations. Bob got his MBA in supply chain management, and has been managing global supply chains for over 10 years in the U.S. and China. He can be reached at bob.liu#ChinaSCservices.com (substitute # with @).
