Shanghai – Randstad is calling for HR and industry specialists to join its team for unrivalled training and career development experiences as part of its accelerated growth plans in the country.

Randstad's most recent Search & Selection office in Shanghai was established in June 2012 in response to a growing need from local and multinational companies to hire motivated people with the right skill sets, local knowledge and relationships to fuel their business operations.

The office is Randstad's eleventh in the country, with operations in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, catering to local enterprises and multinational companies. The official opening took place on October 30 with more than 100 staff and internal stakeholders celebrating a milestone in the company's growth plans.

The opening ceremony of the newest Randstad office in Shanghai. [Provided to China Daily]

The talent development center will be led by John Wang, who was appointed as the Search & Selection director and has more than a decade of sales management experiences at LifeTech, a leading global Life Sciences company.

His capabilities are believed to place the business in a strong position to help local and multinational companies within the sectors of life sciences, construction, property & engineering, consumer brands and corporate services to find the specialists they need to fuel business performance and enhance their global competitiveness.

John said: "I'm delighted to join the Randstad team, which provides a unique career opportunity, offering an avenue to build on my experiences in an environment where training and development is encouraged."

Randstad China Managing Director George Wang said his company released the World of Work Report for 2012/13 and believed that attracting talent would be one of the most significant challenges confronting business leaders today.

"Our clients are looking for advise on how to tackle this challenge and the way we have set up the center is an example of how to 'walk the talk' when it comes to this challenge.

"Internally, we refer to it as a Talent Development Center since we are focused on learning and developments, starting with our own workforce where staff would be provided with the best practices in local and international training opportunities and accelerated career developments." said George Wang.

Around 45 people, local and expatriates, have joined Randstad's second office in Hongqiao to build the team to 100+ by early next year.

Industry focus areas for professional-level recruitment would include construction, property & engineering, life sciences, luxury brands & retail, and corporate services.

Erin was one of the first employees who joined the team in October and has undertaken an intensive orientation and induction program based on the best practices methodology, enabling her to fast track her career development.

"The past two months have been a great learning experience for me. The training is consistent and relevant to the work I do on a daily basis in my role as a consultant. I can learn these concepts during training and put them into practice to build my skills and capabilities. We get offered ongoing support through regular training programs and best practices coaching from our managers. I made a placement in my first month, which is a major achievement!"

George Wang said: "The center would set a new industry standard for professional consulting, and give our staff the ability to fulfil their personal and professional ambitions through a world-class training center."

In the first six months, the team has received more than 2,200 applications, conducted more than 550 phone interviews and 150 face-to-face ones, and selected 43 recruits.