27 Dec 2024
In the wave of globalization, the importance of human resource management is increasingly highlighted. On 20 December, Dr Jie Li, the head of the Department of Strategic Management and Organisation of International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), led a delegation of faculty and students from BA Human Resource Management (HRM) to visit the Suzhou office of Randstad Group, the second-largest comprehensive human resources service institution globally and a long-standing Fortune 500 Dutch multinational human resources consulting company, for a rich and insightful exchange event.
At the beginning of the event, Linda Huang, Assistant Director of Randstad China and General Manager of Suzhou Office, provided a detailed introduction to Randstad's over 60-year development history and global business network. She demonstrated how Randstad has helped domestic companies transform and expand internationally through practical cases, highlighting the key role of professional human resources services in corporate growth.
Linda Huang
Subsequently, Nancy Lee, an alumna of the IBSS Economics programme and currently a Consultant in the Sales and Marketing field at Randstad, shared her six years of experience in the human resources industry. Nancy mentioned that during her time at XJTLU, she joined the Student Union and the English Association, which honed her communication and social skills, laying a solid foundation for her later employment at a foreign company. In response to students' questions about career choices and professional skills, she engaged in a lively discussion with the students, emphasizing the importance of patience in problem-solving and time management skills in the workplace, answering many questions for those interested in entering the human resources field.
Nancy Lee
As the first key to opening the door to the workplace, the importance of a resume is self-evident. In the resume guidance session, Ted Chen, Recruitment Manager in the Sales and Marketing field at Randstad, provided detailed and practical advice on resume writing. He advised students to highlight key information in their resumes, such as work experience, educational background, and personal skills, and to avoid overly lengthy and vague descriptions. He also shared essential points for resume writing, emphasizing the use of business photos, quantifying results, and avoiding vague expressions like "we."
Ted Chen
To give students a comprehensive understanding of the job-seeking process, Sarah Ling, Recruitment Manager in the automotive R&D field at Randstad, hosted the subsequent interview guidance session. Lynn Chen, Recruitment Manager in the industrial intelligent manufacturing R&D field, and Dylan Zhou, Management Consultant in the industrial intelligent manufacturing R&D field, demonstrated effective communication and answer techniques in interviews through mock interviews. They pointed out that interviewees need to express their experiences and abilities vividly and graphically through storytelling, emphasizing the importance of showing personal thinking and action when answering questions.
Sarah Ling
Lynn Chen（right）and Dylan Zhou（left）
As the event drew to a close, Linda Huang shared Randstad's predictions and insights into the job market trends for 2025. She pointed out that as the market becomes more conservative overall, corporate human resource allocation will enter a new stage of precise regulation of dynamic human resource balance. Technology-intensive and service-oriented industries will drive recruitment demand growth with their vitality and potential, and artificial intelligence technology will increasingly integrate into various industries and other six major trends. She also further shared the six major trends in corporate recruitment under these changes and correspondingly proposed career development advice such as focusing on areas of recruitment demand growth, broadening international perspectives, embracing artificial intelligence and big data technology, and maintaining lifelong learning. Finally, Chris Jiang, Randstad China Regional Headhunter and East China Regional Director, encouraged students not to worry too early about the current market environment but to learn to grasp trends and continuously improve their abilities to maintain a competitive edge.
Chris Jiang
This visit not only helped students gain valuable industry knowledge and practical skills but also provided a clearer understanding of the future trends in human resource management. Randstad's enthusiastic reception and professional sharing provided valuable guidance and inspiration for students' career development paths. One of the event organizers, Dr Bin Ding, the Programme Director of the Human Resource Management programme, said, "For HRM students, interacting and learning from the world's top human resource service companies is undoubtedly very valuable. Students can not only understand the latest industry dynamics but also understand the current market from both the perspective of job seekers and practitioners, preparing for the future."
The BA Human Resource Management programme at XJTLU aims to cultivate students' understanding and mastery of how to strategically deploy human resources within various organisational contexts. Students will be introduced to up-to-date human resource management theories and practices. They will acquire a wide range of intellectual, interpersonal and technical skills that are relevant to this field, and understand the frameworks used to manage employer and employee relationships.
27 Dec 2024