Shanghai Human Resources Internships

The global financial crisis has affected the HR industry heavily all over the world. HR professionals experienced the wave of company downsizing, hiring freezes, stagnating growth and workers’ job-hopping firsthand. As the workforce and company executives grew more sophisticated and demanding, HR employees are facing constant challenge in their knowledge of labor laws, employee culture, team building and workers’ salary and career expectation. For foreign companies in China, they are more inclined to hire HR professionals with Western training as recruiters. Along with the rise of the private sector, the HR profession is evolving in China. However, most Chinese recruiters have difficulty meeting MNC standards. This has created a golden opportunity for aspiring young talent to seek HR positions and jump-start a career in the industry. Basic language skills and an understanding of the Chinese labor law will be a great advantage.

The Chinese government has declared the 'development of human capital' to be a major focus from 2010 on. As China transitions from a manufacturing economy to a service-based economy, the challenges and opportunities in human resources will only increase.

Human resource management, or HR, is "a function in organizations designed to maximize employee performance in service of their employer’s strategic objectives." What does the human resource management landscape in China look like? For one, job hopping is prevalent, as workers pursue ever greater opportunities. This global trend among millenials of job hopping in the pursuit of better opportunity is especially pronounced in China, where workers in most industries expect year wage growth of 10-20%.

While attracting and retaining talent in China is a challenge for companies both large and small, it also presents myriad opportunities for the aspiring HR executive.

HR representatives, and the process of human resources management, are crucial in the day-to-day running of business in Shanghai. Common tasks are talent management and recruitment, which consists of recruiting international talent for both local (Chinese) and foreign-owned businesses. Creating a company culture that maximizes employee happiness and productivity essential, as is recruit and retaining employees.

If you have a background in Chinese, you'll be able to rise up through the HR department faster than those without. Luckily, we at SmartIntern have company partners who need interns with or without a Chinese language background for HR internships in Shanghai. These companies range in size from big to small, startup to MNC.

There are two types of human resources internships that are available to you: Executive Search and In-house HR. What's the difference?

With executive search, you work for a company that recruits executives and pairs them with the companies who need their skills. Working on behalf of your clients (the companies in need of talent), you will find the executives who have a skillset that matches the companies needs. Working in executive search is a great opportunity to learn more about and get a variety of experiences with different companies.

An in-house human resource internship will likely be more local in nature than an executive search internship, and often requires a strong background in Chinese. This is because, while your day-to-day tasks may have you working on developing a company culture that attracts and retains talent, in-house HR has a heavy administrative component to it as well. If you are interested in learning more about the day-to-day operations of a business in China as well as local labor laws, an inhouse human resource internship might be a good fit for you.

We also encourage those with an interest in company culture to consider an internship in corporate training. Working with one of our corporate training partner companies will give you glimpses into the culture of a variety of companies and will prepare you with insights you can use in your future career to create a workplace full of healthy, happy employees.