Steinkellner China Search – who we are.

Although he was young, happy and quite successful as a programmer, Manfred Steinkellner felt early on that the world for him should consist of more than zeros and ones. During his European voluntary service in Glasgow, he not only developed international contacts and language skills, but was also able to grasp the toughest aspects of life first hand. Influenced by these experiences, he decided to complete his civilian service abroad as an English teacher in an SOS Children’s Village in Qiqihar in northeastern China. At -35° Celsius in winter, he learned what it really means to be a foreigner in the middle of nowhere in an industrial city of 1 million inhabitants on the Russian border. He experienced both the typical Chinese drill and the repressive crisis and communication policy during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Fascinated by this frontier experience in the land of contrasts, he began studying sinology in Vienna after his return. As a focused practitioner, however, he was quickly drawn back to China, where he perfected his Mandarin at the University of Aerospace Engineering. After a total of two and a half years of intensive learning, Manfred could speak, read, and write fluently in the local language.

Back in Vienna, he finished his studies in sinology and then returned to China as a sought-after interpreter and project manager in the areas of technology and industry. There was hardly a company at that time that did not want to expand in and to China. And the majority of these companies experienced substantial difficulties. With this, complex technical projects with large numbers and even greater pressure became Manfred’s daily business. In the later phase of his activity, he distinguished himself above all through effective firefighting in exactly these kinds of projects.

On this equally exciting and challenging playing field, he learned the importance of active listening as the basis of every problem solution. Through his interpersonal intuition, coupled with trained analytic skills and exceptional linguistic skills, he advanced to become an effective and much sought-after crisis consultant.

In 2015, Manfred nevertheless made a conscious decision to put an end to this intensive field of work and, above all, to permanent travel. In the meantime, as a father of two, he did not wish for his main place of residence to be the long-haul plane between China and Europe. During his reorientation, he was entrusted by an Austrian tire manufacturer with the recruitment of a plant manager for the new production plant to be built in the Chinese interior. Together with an experienced colleague from recruitment, he thus grew into the field of executive recruitment and headhunting.

With Steinkellner China Search and Steinkellner Global Search, Manfred has since shaped headhunting as an exclusive, process-oriented service. While he used to manage crises for medium-sized companies in China, he now helps companies find the right executives to prevent problems from arising in the first place. His analytical approach as well as his effective time management are unique in this industry. No matter in which function Manfred Steinkellner has been active, it is the motive of building bridges, connecting, and translating between different worlds that drives and motivates him.