June Featured People: Susanna Wallqvist
Interview & Translation / Cozi GE
We have successfully presented three Xindanwei co-workers through past three sessions of PEOPLE section. This month, we have the pleasure to introduce Susanna Wallqvist from PAE and, as you probably have noticed, we did it in a Q&A way. We hope you like what we have done and let’s get into this great interview!
1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, Please introduce yourself.
Thank you! My name is Susanna Wallqvist and work as a Recruitment Manager for PAE Design Talent. Originally from Sweden and recently moved down to Shanghai after 4 years in Beijing. I am not a designer but very passionate about design and love working closely with this industry. My experience in China has been amazing from the very start and I am very excited to keep exploring Shanghai. I grew up in a small town in Sweden, dedicating the first half of my life to gymnastics and learning languages. When I got too old for gymnastics I decided to start travelling and exploring foreign culture which eventually lead me here.
2. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you got started in the field?
I’m from PAE Design Talent, a company specializing on recruitment for the design industry in China. After studying in Australia I was curious about Asia, so when graduating I moved to Beijing in the hope of finding work and learning Mandarin. The Mandarin studies did not last for long, but I did find work! I was working as an in-house recruiter for an advertising agency, especially bringing them international designers and creatives. I very much enjoyed working with the creative industry, being the biggest fan of designers and wanting to work with people, creative recruitment turned out to be the perfect direction for me. Working inside an agency makes you a little limited, so when I met my current boss Philipp Michel who founded PAE Design Talent I saw a great opportunity for me, and it was definitely the right move!
3. Can you tell me about PAE, the company you work for and what you do for them?
PAE Design Talent is a company focusing on recruitment for the design industry in China. We help companies in the design field to find designers from China or internationally. The founder of the company is from Germany, who after several years of recruitment experience in Switzerland moved to Beijing to start PAE Design Talent. Our headquarters is in Beijing where we have 18 people working in different teams divided by industries such as architecture, transportation design, product/industrial design and creative design and communication.
I moved to Shanghai in the beginning of February working towards expanding our business. Leading the creative design and communication team I work mainly with advertising agencies, design consultancies, event companies and e-commerce.
4. What were the circumstances that lead you to coming to Shanghai?
There was a combination of several circumstances that brought me to Shanghai. Most of my key clients are based here and the industry that I am covering is larger and more active in Shanghai, so when my boyfriend was relocated we thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to work closer to my clients and for PAE Design Talent to finally expand its business.
5. What prompted the idea for your project in Shanghai and what excited you to make you undertake it?
Like mentioned above, there were several things that made me come to Shanghai to start this project. China is such a big market and keeps growing so we feel that we need a presence in here to be able to cover a larger scale of the market. Eventually we will have the teams in Beijing only focusing on Beijing and additional teams in Shanghai for the same industries, but only focusing on Shanghai. What I find very interesting in Shanghai is that you can see all the cool studios and agencies from abroad starting to set up their offices here and there is more and more outstanding design work being produced from talents and agencies in Shanghai.
6. Please elaborate a bit on your approach to realize your project.
Well, the first step was for me to get settled here and also try out the communication and work flow between Beijing and Shanghai. Now I have moved into Xindanwei and this summer I will start recruiting more people to work with me. In the beginning we will focus on my industry, but hopefully we’ll be able to extend the other teams very soon and even start working in additional design field we are not yet covering, very exciting!
7. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in developing the project?
Starting a new business always takes time and you keep learning along the way. For us it was exactly like this, we had international recruitment experience and advisors from the creative industry but had to adjust the business and processes to the Chinese industry. I think my boss’s major challenge was to find the right people to work with him, people that to 100% shared the same values as he wanted to base the company on. When we had our core team together with a clear focus, that’s when it all started to go in the right direction and it has not stopped since!
8. What do you tell clients who are unsure of what they want?
We consult our clients on the areas where we have expertise, especially on HR related issues such as organization and team structures, recruitment processes and how to manage creative staff. When a client has recruitment needs but is not sure on the profiles they are looking for we do an assessment with them before starting a search. The assessment determines the most essential skills they need from the candidate and suddenly it is very clear what kind of role they are actually looking for. By doing this, investing time in the beginning of the project, we and our client save a lot of time – time that would be wasted on searching for candidates that are not correct for their needs and our client interviewing candidates that are not a fit for the role they actually need.
9. How did you come to Xindanwei and how do you find it?
PAE Design Talent and Xindanwei have been following each other for the last 2 years and when we decided to expand to Shanghai we thought it was a perfect opportunity to work closer together. Apart from me working from the office space we also collaborate on creating a platform for the creative industry in China and help bringing designers and companies together.
I love working form Xindanwei, I think it’s a great concept, amazing work environment and you keep coming across interesting people. I am also looking forward to take more part in your events and work shops!
10. Thanks again for providing Xindanwei.com this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?
If you’re curious to know more about PAE Design Talent you can visit our website: www.pae-designtalent.com – or just come visit me on the 4th floor of Xindanwei!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice interview
Go, Susanna, Go!