Is it really a job to be admitted as a customs broker? Is it well paid?

The following should be good for your girlfriend to know the customs broker correctly ~

Reprint: the pertinent opinion of an old customs broker in the series of customs brokers.

Objectively speaking, the salary of general customs declarers is not high, especially as a profession, the space for career promotion is too narrow compared with other industries. Therefore, few people will work as customs declarers all their lives, and more will take the profession of customs declarers as a stepping stone to enter the foreign trade industry.

I have been engaged in customs declaration business since 1999, and I have been groping in this business and have been to many places (Zhuhai, Dongguan and Shenzhen). I have worked as a customs broker in four Fortune 500 companies (the United States, Japan, Korea and the United States and Japan). During this period, many customs declarers were recruited. I feel that there are too few high-quality people in this industry now (some people may feel unhappy), but it is true.

The main reason is that the threshold of customs declarers is relatively low, many experienced customs declarers have relatively low academic qualifications, and many college graduates have customs declarers' certificates but have no corresponding experience. In fact, the experience I am talking about is not limited to simple import and export customs declaration and inspection, but also includes your ability to handle internal business of the enterprise, such as the communication between the customs broker department and internal procurement, production planning, warehouse, finance, IT, material control (PMC) and other departments. Many people think that as long as the daily import and export can be guaranteed smoothly and the contract can be written off on time, the work of the customs broker will be completed. In fact, this is only the basic work of customs declarers, and these are not enough. I once met an old customs broker in Dongguan. He started to work as a customs broker in 1992, and has been a customs broker for more than ten years now. The reason is simple, because all his businesses are simple. He is only doing one of them (for example, he worked as a customs broker in the parking lot for seven or eight years), and he is not familiar with other businesses, so he has never been a supervisor.

We know that the customs broker's business can be simply divided into back office and field work, in which the back office mainly includes the preparation of new contract materials (as well as the confirmation of specific order quantity, model category, BOM information and unit price by the purchasing and planning department). ), preparation of daily import and export invoices and packing lists, arrangement and reservation of vehicles, entry of commodity inspection data, copying and filing of contracts and import and export customs declaration forms, balanced management of import and export data, and data docking between customs declaration software and enterprise internal ERP software. In some companies, customs declarers also undertake shipping work, such as booking space, scheduling, transportation tracking, payment management, logistics cost saving, freight forwarder evaluation and development management, etc. (This mainly refers to large-scale foreign-funded enterprises, which are not suitable for trading companies and customs brokers)

The field work is mainly about contract outsourcing, customs filing, contract modification and verification; Import and export transfer; Handling of equipment tax exemption certificate; Handle mechanical and electrical product certificate and 3C certificate; Inspection of import and export commodities (including customs clearance form, A form and CO form); Import and export site customs declaration and inspection, etc. It also includes an understanding of some latest policies and regulations of relevant departments.

In some small enterprises, one or two customs declarers may have finished all these businesses, but in some large enterprises, the business will be divided into very small parts, and one person may only engage in a small part of them.

In fact, I feel that my business in small enterprises is more complicated and I know everything, but my management ability has not been greatly improved. In large companies, the business is relatively narrow and refined, and relatively good management methods can be learned. In the customs broker, you can hardly learn anything (personal opinion, please forgive me)

So personally, if you haven't entered the customs declaration industry, please think twice; If you have entered and can't find another better job for the time being, please do it well and don't complain. Although the salary is not high for the time being, as long as you are really capable, you don't have to worry about finding a good job.

I suggest that if you want to be a customs broker in a foreign-funded enterprise and hold a management position, please learn foreign languages (especially English) well. Of course, the most important thing is to have the management experience of customs broker, otherwise you can find a translator casually.

Many people have misunderstandings about customs declarers;

Myth 1: Customs declarers don't need to know a foreign language: if they are in foreign-funded enterprises, especially wholly-owned enterprises (generally excluding Hong Kong-funded enterprises and Taiwan-funded enterprises), people who hold management positions as customs declarers need to have a good foreign language. In many cases, customs declarers need to contact foreign head offices, and daily mail and telephone contact is normal, especially when it comes to logistics, and they need to contact many freight forwarders. All the documents and materials are in English, and even some companies are outside. In my company, all documents and mails are in pure English, and it is often necessary to translate some rules and regulations of customs and commodity inspection into English, and all business processes also need to be translated into English. The company has no full-time translators.

Myth 2: To be a customs broker for a long time, you must be familiar with the business of the customs broker. This understanding is one-sided. Because the business of customs declarers is extensive, if you only engage in a small piece of business and don't understand the whole business, you will never be able to hold a management position. Just because you have been a customs broker for a long time doesn't mean you know everything.

Myth 3: As long as the daily import and export customs declarers are well done, it is only the responsibility of low-level customs declarers. As a manager, it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between the customs broker department and the internal departments of the company, and provide effective solutions for the new laws and regulations of customs and commodity inspection in combination with the actual situation of the company.

Myth 4: The business of customs declarers is very simple, and there is nothing to learn: the work of customs declarers is really not complicated, but it does not mean that there is no charge. In fact, as a qualified customs broker manager, you must also have good financial and tax knowledge, understand logistics and purchasing business, be proficient in trade business, and be familiar with internal business processes and the structure of raw materials and finished products.

Myth # 5: Customs declarers have more gray income and good treatment: it is undeniable that this kind of situation existed before, and it does exist now, but the proportion is small. With the popularization of electronic customs declarers and the standardization of customs operations, it will gradually become smaller and smaller. If you want to make a fortune by customs declaration, please wake up as soon as possible. The so-called excellent salary of customs declarers is completely false, which is blown out by some training units in order to make huge profits and defraud fees. (However, a small number of managers with experience in customs declaration management and good foreign language proficiency do have higher salaries, and they can get 5K-7K). I know that a foreign-funded enterprise recruited a customs declaration supervisor with a salary of about 6K before, but it has never been able to recruit the right person because many people have experience in customs declaration management, but their English is poor. Some people have good English, but they have no experience in customs declaration management.

It should be said that in the current customs broker market, the demand for low-level customs brokers is in short supply, but there are not many managers with real management ability and experience. However, with more and more college students entering this industry, it should be said that the overall level will be improved to some extent. After two or three years, more and more high-level customs declarers will emerge. Therefore, if you old customs declarers want to continue to mix in this industry, you need to step up your time to charge, or you will be out of date.

At the same time, due to the increasing number of customs declarers, many newcomers are willing to reduce their wages in order to gain work and study experience, which also leads to the lower market treatment of customs declarers. This is also very realistic. After all, too many people flood into this industry, which will naturally lead to oversupply.