Shanghai-based financial institutions are head hunting. Nearly 200 positions covering 107 different job descriptions in banking, securities, insurance, investment funds and futures are being offered to overseas talent, by 20 Shanghai-based financial houses, according to the local newspaper Oriental Morning Post.

The 20 companies, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shanghai Futures Exchange and the commercial banks in Shanghai, started this year's overseas recruitment with the support of the Shanghai municipal government.

This year's recruitment drive differs significantly from the four previous, large-scale summer recruitment for the financial industry. The 20 companies will evaluate a pool of candidates, based on recommendations from recruitment firms and individual applicants who have applied on their own initiative. After an initial screening, applicants who make the cut, will appear for online video interviews. Next, human resources staff will fly to major financial centers to carry out face to face interviews with the remaining candidates on a sharply pared list.

"We have noticed that recommendations from head-hunting companies are especially important for high-end talent, as they are unlikely to send applications via the Internet," said an official from Shanghai Finance Services Office who asked for anonymity due to company regulations. "The government will pay the head hunters, and the 20 Shanghai companies to save a lot of money."

Companies have high expectations of the financial talents they are seeking. A chief investment officer for Orient Securities Company Ltd, for example, is expected to hold at least a master's degree abroad, over 10 years experience in prestigious foreign investment banks or hedge funds and public investment.

"We want people who have over three years' experience in distinguished financial institutions, research centers or universities abroad," said Wan Dujuan, the secretary of Discipline Inspection Commission at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. "We promise to provide continuous career training, generous welfare to foreign staff, including a residence permit, medical care and education for children."

Shanghai has already attracted nearly 3,000 native financial talents studying abroad and 2,000 from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other places. The overseas recruitment will go on. The city plans to employ as many as 320,000 foreign financial experts by 2015, five percent of whom will hold globally acknowledged certification as finance professionals.

(HK Edition 08/31/2012 page4)