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When assessing the career prospects for mainland professionals today, there are two dramatically differing scenarios and outlooks. On the one hand, there has never been a better time for the advancement of mainland professionals into higher-level, management roles in global companies operating in China.  At the same time, the quickly maturing capabilities of people in China's professional talent market are also creating an increasingly competitive hiring and promotion situation for everyone here.

Mainland Professionals Gaining the High Ground

It is easy to see why the hiring preferences of international companies continue to shift in favour of home-grown mainland professionals.  To give an example, a recent mainland returnee contacted our Beijing office in response to a business development manager position with a US software products and services company.  He had received his MBA from a top US programme and then spent another four years working in the states.  He was confident that his overseas training and professional skills were much stronger than those of the local professionals that he would be competing against, particularly in the areas of strategic planning and project management.

It is true that our client wanted to identify someone with a strategic mindset and international-calibre background. But what they sought above all else for this position was someone with a deep understanding of the mainland's IT market and a strong track record of selling into both large local and international corporate accounts in China. Having been overseas for the past six years, the candidate did not compare in those critical areas with several of the home-grown mainland profiles that we were also reviewing for the position.

On top of this, the candidate's salary expectations were far beyond what the client had in mind for the role. The candidate felt that he didn't absolutely have to move back to China, so any offer needed to be a "highly attractive" one. But from our client's perspective, they felt that they were offering a fair package and a very good, high profile career opportunity. So despite his outstanding qualifications, this mainland returnee candidate ended up not being attractive to our client for the position.

Overall, the greater affordability and knowledge of China's business and market environment on top of the rising international-calibre of local mainland professionals is making this pool talent highly preferred for an increasing number of senior management roles in multinational companies. These talent market and staffing realities will only continue to develop in favour of mainland professionals as they continue to gain greater global-calibre exposure and experience.

A Competitive Environment That Is Getting Increasingly Tougher

However, there is also another side to the coin. That is, the presence of a much more competitive job market environment in China overall. China's explosive economic development over the past ten years and the aggressive expansion efforts of multinationals brought created a sense of urgency to bring staff on board.  This created a golden time for mainland professionals with strong English language skills and basic international business training to capture attractive jobs within international companies. 

Today, industries and job functions in China are more mature and competitive. Although qualified candidates for some specializations are still hard to find, there are not nearly the shortages in available talent for most job functions and levels that there used to be. For instance, just three or four years ago, there were some fundamental truths that created clear competitive advantages for attaining your career success. These included attending a top university, experience with an international company, getting an MBA, and spending time overseas. 

Today, what used to be considered exceptional to have is not viewed that way to nearly the same degree as before.  Instead, they have become baseline requirements for many jobs. Take English language ability.  A few years ago, strong English skills would draw the attention of multinational employers. Today, it is no longer an exceptional qualification. In fact, for management-level positions in a global company, it is more a requirement for getting an interview than a promise of an opportunity.

Scott Kronick, managing director of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, China, points to the mainland graduates working for him to emphasize how quickly the overall maturity and quality of each wave of mainland professionals is becoming better than those of the previous three or four years.  "Nearly every touch point of society is growing in its sophistication," he explains.  "For instance, the young mainlanders that we hire today are much more open-minded and international than the ones that we hired three and four years ago. Their English is better and they read about all sorts of things. Perhaps the biggest change that I see happening though is that they don't see the difference between things international and things Chinese as much as those before them do. As a result, they are able to more quickly and completely understand and feel comfortable with new concepts and ways of doing things that are key to their growth and success."

Greater Prospects for Mainland Professionals

From what my company sees, the career prospects and doors for advancement into management and executive-level roles in leading international companies is wider for more mainland professionals than ever before. Our multinational clients in China are actively seeking high quality, well-rounded management talent, no matter which industry you are talking about. As a result, excellent career opportunities are there for mainland professionals who can demonstrate their ability to handle those higher-level roles that companies need to fill.

Are You Able to Respond to Today's Job and Talent Market Realities?

But that's the key point. To be selected for attractive management roles, you must be able to demonstrate your ability to perform at these higher levels. If you are serious about pursuing such opportunities, then you need to be in touch with what matters most when it comes to standing out and being selected for these opportunities. The fact is that all of us working here in China are facing the same challenges. The country's maturing, more competitive talent market requires each of us to distinguish our value and effectively develop those capabilities and qualities that are highly sought by leading companies if we wish to capture those opportunities that we seek. If you are reluctant or fail to take on that challenge, you are likely to end up less able to compete in this employment market.