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Shanghai recruitment fairs hot on Wall Street

By Bi Xiaoning (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-12-19 14:27

A number of Shanghai financial institutions hunting overseas to recruit high-end talent recently came back with their bags packed with resumes.

Related readings:  State firms seek global talent  Shanghai casts job net for overseas talent  Overseas Chinese heading home  On-line job fairs arranged to help college graduates

From Dec 5 to Dec 13, the Shanghai team held a series of recruitment fairs in the US and Britain, which lured thousands of local talents.

"The recruitment is quite hot. For a five minute interview, some applicants even take planes or drive more than 10 hours to attend the fairs," said a manager with a Shanghai-based financial institution.

According to statistics, more than 1,000 people attended the recruitment fair in New York, 300 joined the fair in London, and 200 visited the fair held in Chicago. People who attend the fairs were laid-off workers, those who worried about losing their jobs and prepared in advance, and several graduates.

"Some applicants have been the senior managers of financial institutions with more than 10 years, even 20 years, of work experience. It's a pity to see them standing in a queue to wait for a time-limited interview," the manager said.

Shanghai overseas recruitment offers about 170 high-end posts related to banking, funds, insurance and securities investment, including chief economists for financial institutions, senior managers charging financial derivatives and senior managers responsible for market risks. The annual salaries range from 100,000 yuan ($14,600) to 1.5 million yuan.

Most jobs require applicants with more than five years of work experience in multinational financial institutions, and a master's degree. Furthermore, some posts only recruit people with doctorate degrees and prefer to employ those with professional certificates, such as a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), an ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), and a CFP (Certified Financial Planner).

For the posts related to risk management, the requirement is even higher. Applicants must have 5 years of work experience in financial institutions and 10 years in strategic research.