Top companies trawl a global talent pool
Amy Hwang, a South Korean national, has studied in Britain since she was 13, first at boarding school then at the London School of Economics. Last September she was recruited by KPMG as a trainee accountant. When she qualifies Ms Hwang plans to spend a year on secondment in KPMG's offices in Seoul. One day she may settle there permanently.
As globalisation spreads from manufacturing to the services sector, industrial multinationals are being forced to compete with banks and consultants for internationally mobile graduates. The contest is most fierce in fast-growing markets such as China, where the local supply of graduates falls short of demand.
Some students who study abroad leave for good. But others return, often on the payroll of multinational companies.
This year, in addition to its normal graduate intake, KPMG has recruited 15 Chinese nationals from British universities. In September the cohort will begin a three-year training programme in London. Once they are qualified, KPMG intends that they will return home to help build the firm's presence in China. ICI, the chemicals group, is also hiring Chinese nationals from UK universities, while the oil company Shell has been recruiting across Europe for African, Russian and Malaysian graduates.
"What we are effectively seeing are corporations trawling talent pools around the world to resource their global operations," says Philip Krinks, manager at the Boston Consulting Group.
British universities are hoping to profit from the global trade in talent. With more than 270,000 overseas students, Britain hosts the largest international student population after the US. As students from outside the European Union pay higher fees, universities have a powerful incentive to increase their intake.
One approach for universities is to earn a reputation for helping overseas students find employment with blue-chip companies after they graduate. In February the University of Newcastle upon Tyne appointed an international liaison manager to cultivate relationships with graduate employers around the world. . The LSE has gone further, developing a database of curricula vitae of registered alumni and graduates that businesses can use to search for potential employees by nationality, language, degree and career experience.
Identifying candidates with the right background is one challenge. Another is to select those individuals who will fit a company's culture both locally and at the corporate level. "Western multinationals want a mix of academic ability, interpersonal skills and work experience," says Amanda Wood, careers adviser at the joint careers service of the Universities of Manchester and Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. "In other regions, such as south-east Asia, employers are more focused on straightforward academic attainment."
Universities are paying close attention to such differences to help their students market themselves appropriately in different contexts. The joint careers service at Manchester, for example, has undertaken field research in Malaysia, comparing the expectations of local employers with those of global companies.
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Employers face the risk th at UK-educated employees may not want to return to their home country, or will simply leave after training. "Some recruits will migrate to competitor firms," says Andrew McNeilis, European commercial director at Hudson, a human resources and recruitment specialist. "Others may opt for self-employment, particularly in markets such as eastern Europe and China, where a strong entrepreneurial spirit has developed."
Nevertheless, employers with the greatest experience of global operations appear confident that a balance can be struck between the wishes of the individual and the needs of the company. "If we recruit someone to their home market, we still recognise they may wish to work internationally and we can offer them that opportunity," says Navi Singh, global marketing manager for recruitment at Shell.
Such flexibility will undoubtedly help to attract ambitious graduates. Whether it will be enough to secure their loyalty in the longer term remains to be seen.
顶尖公司网罗全球人才
Amy Hwang是韩国人，从13岁起就一直在英国学读书，先入读寄宿学校，随后又就读于伦敦经济学院。去年9月，她受聘毕马威国际会计公司(KPMG)担任会计实习生。如果合格，黄小姐计划临时调往KPMG驻汉城办事处工作一年。将来某一天，她可能会永远留驻那里。
随着全球化趋势由制造业扩展到服务业，各大跨国大公司被迫与银行和咨询公司竞争全球毕业生。在中国等发展迅速的市场中，当地毕业生供不应求，因而竞争最为激烈。
一些在国外求学的学生就一直定居在国外。但另外一些人通常受雇于跨国公司重回故地。
今年，除了照常吸纳毕业生，KPMG已从英国各所大学招聘了15名中国人。9月，新雇员将在伦敦开始为期3年的培训项目。一旦合格，KPMG有意派他们回到原居地，扩大公司在中国的影响力。化学品集团英国帝国化学工业公司(ICI)也从各家英国大学招聘中国人，而壳牌石油公司(Shell)也在欧洲各地招聘非洲、俄罗斯和马来西亚籍毕业生。
波士顿顾问集团(Boston Consulting Group)的经理菲利普?克林克斯(Philip Krinks)评论说：“实际上我们看到各公司正在世界范围内网罗人才，为其全球业务提供资源。”
英国各所大学希望能从全球人才贸易中受益。这些大学共有27万名海外学生，人数仅次于美国。由于英国大学对欧盟以外国家学生征收的更高的学费，因而这些大学有扩大招生人数的强烈动机。
各大学获得声誉的方法之一是：帮助海外学生毕业后成功进入蓝筹公司就职。2月，泰恩河(Tyne)畔的纽卡斯尔大学(University of Newcastle)任命了一名国际联络经理，负责与全世界招聘毕业生的雇主单位发展关系。伦敦经济学院的步伐更大，为注册校友和毕业生建立起履历库，各公司可按国籍、语言、学位和职业经验等搜索潜在雇员。
发现具有合适背景的候选人是一大挑战。另一挑战则是甄选出既适合当地公司，又符合公司文化的人才。“西方的跨国公司希望候选人既有学术能力、又有人际交往技能和工作经验。”在曼彻斯特大学和曼彻斯特理工大学联合职业服务机构任职业顾问的阿曼达?伍德(Amanda Wood)解释说：“在东南亚等其它地区，雇主更注重单一的学术成就。”
各大学越来越重视这些差异，其目的是要帮助学生们在不同的环境中以适当方式推销自我。例如，上述联合职业服务机构在马来西亚进行了实地调查，对当地雇主和全球化雇主的期待值进行比较。
雇主所面临的风险在于：在英国接受教育的雇员可能不愿意回原居地，或者在培训结束后跳槽去其它公司。“一些新人会进入竞争对手公司。”人力资源和招聘专业公司哈德森(Hudson)的欧洲商业总监安德鲁?麦克尼内斯(Andrew McNeilis)说：“另一些人可能会选择自雇，特别是在创业精神已趋成熟的东欧和中国市场。”
然而，经验丰富的环球业务雇主似乎充满信心，能够在个人愿望和公司需求之间取得平衡。壳牌公司负责招聘的全球营销经理纳维?辛格(Navi Singh)表示：“如果选派某人回到原居地市场，我们会同时认可他们希望在全世界工作的愿望，并且会为他们提供机会。”
这种灵活性无疑有助于吸引雄心勃勃的毕业生。至于他们为公司效力的时间能否因此而更持久，人们拭目以待。
