How Huawei Turns Groups of Newbies into Packs of Wolves

Contrary to 80% of Chinese companies for which onboarding training of new hires has little priority, Huawei treats this phase of recruitment as a strategic point that is crucial for the company’s development.

At Huawei, generally, each candidate goes through three stages:

1. Preparation – Huawei approaches candidates when they are still in college. An adviser from Huawei will check on them regularly and ask them to read certain books to prepare for a potential role at Huawei. 
2. Cultural immersion – During the second phase – also known as brainwashing phase – graduates gather at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen for about a week to learn about the company’s culture and policies. Every day starts with a morning run. Afterwards, they attend classes and have discussions until 8:30pm in classrooms which display the company’s core values on the walls. In addition, ...