Global recruiting begins for Olympics

A skier zips down the slopes at Zhangjiakou's Chongli, the 2022 Winter Olympic ski venue, on Dec 28, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

To help ensure an outstanding Winter Olympics in 2022, the Beijing organizing committee announced on Monday that it will recruit 11 staff members from around the world for 10 job categories as the first step in building an international organizing squad.

The 11 staff members will be among 22 to be hired for 21 job categories involving planning and construction, venue management, marketing and finance during the recruitment period, which began on Monday with the launch of online applications.

Applicants can go to www.beijing2022.cn, the website of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games, for job descriptions and to apply.

The Beijing 2022 organizing committee will review applications through March 31, hold a written examination in mid-April for those who pass the review and conduct interviews in May.

The written test will focus on applicants' psychological qualities, basic competence, language efficiency and problem-solving abilities in their respective fields, while the interviews will aim to assess applicants' competence, the organizing committee said.

The list of those chosen will be announced in late May.

The open recruitment for international talent is in response to President Xi Jinping's call to host an extraordinary Winter Olympics in a shared manner and will help make up for any shortfall in know-how, said observers.

"The lack of athletic and management expertise in winter sports in our country should be addressed by pushing the training program of local staffers and borrowing experience from all possible circles, which was highlighted by the president in several of his remarks," said Yang Yang, a member of the International Olympic Committee. Yang, a retired short track speed skater, became China's first Winter Olympic gold medalist, at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

The Beijing 2022 organizing committee will also establish a talent pool for those who are not considered a good match for the current positions but remain interested in other jobs for the Beijing 2022 Olympics.

Beijing still faces a talent gap for event managers, winter sports technicians, technical officials and operations volunteers, said Tong Lixin, director of the sports department of the organizing committee.