The Asia Pacific Headhunter

When I Grew Up I Wanted To Be......

If this doesn't make you think about your career and what you thought you'd be doing when you grew up - nothing will.

Personal Coaches for Career Development

In my business I see the career pathways and experiences of many people. And over time I've used that experience to build up an understanding of what kinds of things successful people do to develop their careers.

I've always thought having a great group of mentors is really important. But recently I've run into more and more people who are taking advantage of personal coaching as well. I think that coaching has found a real niche at work for motivated employees in that many find themselves "self-managing" more and more.

Generally in the modern company, the more efficient and effective an employee is at their work the more likely their Manager (if they are competent) will be very hands off in managing them. Mentally this is fine for these types of people - they can handle it. But often it's when they reach a crossroads that they realize they'd benefit from having a dedicated professional to regularly discuss their career, their skills or any other issue whether it be work or personal life.

The benefits include:

• The Coach is a third-party who is only interested in the best result for you.
• The Coach has led people who have similar issues through to a successful result.
• They have a stronger holistic view of you rather than just focusing on your work (this is particularly useful if you feel you lack work/life balance).
• They often have multiple techniques they can bring to the various issues you face.

One of the issues you'll have if you believe you can benefit from a Personal Coach will be finding one that fits with your needs. I think that's a tough problem as you really have to have a rapport with your Coach. They aren't going to be able to give you all the answers without your input so you'll have to be open to sharing a lot in order to get the most out of the time.

I've personally had a Coach for the last year, Kristine Carey of Bill Baren Coaching. Kris is absolutely amazing and I highly recommend her. In particular her ability to provide a variety of solutions is incredible. I've never came away from a conversation feeling like it wasn't beneficial. Obviously, Coaches like Kris have great life experience but I think that professional training is also an important factor.

In my research I noticed a lot of Coaches without any visible professional training. I found that somewhat strange and eventually gave them a miss until I found one who did.  Another important point for me was the offer of a free session. I think the best Coaches will be happy to do a session to discover whether you are a match for each other. I'd be wary about jumping into a big package with any Coach who wasn't willing to talk to you in detail before money changes hands.

If you have a Coach you recommend then make sure you leave their site in the comments. Like many professions word of mouth might be the very best way to find a quality Coach.

Bilingual Japanese Online Job Boards

Just to add to my previous post Top 15 Japanese Online Job Boards, another generous reader and Tokyo-based search consultant Gary Bremermann of Robert Leonard Consulting, commented on two other Japanese online job boards that are bilingual. In addition to Daijob.com that was mentioned in the Gomez report, Gary recommended:

careercross.com - Tokyo-based online job board aimed at the niche market of bilingual jobs for Japanese and English speaking professionals. They have listings for full-time, part-time and temp jobs.

ecentral.jp - Aimed at bilingual professionals seeking international jobs in Japan and employers requiring bilingual candidates. They've partnered with the ACCJ, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

And to add to that:

Jobba.net - a job board aimed at Japanese speakers for jobs world-wide.

Thanks Gary for your input!

 

Get paid for going on a job interview

Getting paid to go on a job interview... by the company that's interviewing you???! Sounds like a far-fetched fantasy for candidates, but that's what start-up NotchUp.com is basing it's whole business model on. Candidates (preferably happily employed ones) can sign up for free, put up their (LinkedIn) profile and calculate what their interview fee would be with an interview-price calculator. This is based on your industry, job, highest educational degree, years in industry, time in current position, and current salary.

This platform is meant to cut out the recruiters and headhunters. Since companies need only pay the interview fees set up by the candidates they choose to interview, the comparable fees are supposedly lower than the recruiter's traditional placement fee which is a percentage of the new hire's first-year salary. As a recruiter, I should really discredit this model (after all, it's going after my job!), but I'm a fair person and see that everything has its merits and disadvantages.

First off, sure -- throw money into the mixture - and changing the roles of who gets paid, you'll get some interesting results. I'm sure in some cases companies -- esp. start-ups who's future depends on excellent talent can save money in placement fees by paying lower interview fees. Passive candidates (happily employed who are successful at their job) who otherwise would not put their profile up may be enticed to put their profile up if there's money in it for them. In it's best light - it may work well over regular online job boards and with a companies that work with lame recruiters who just slap up job ads everywhere and wait for whatever comes in - only to send out high-volumes of low-quality candidates to their client.

Now, here's where I see the model lacking:

First off, the point is to attract good candidates right? Good people aren't attracted just by a few hundred dollars for their time. They are attracted to good opportunities that help grow their careers and their strengths. I'd say 9 times out of 10 the candidates I recruit are attracted to the opportunity, the challenges, and the company rather than just the money.

Secondly, recruiting and headhunting isn't just about getting the right candidate to the job or vice-versa. I doubt any recruiter would be paid just for that. (Contingent recruiters usually get paid ONLY when THEIR candidate gets hired, and they usually provide a guarantee for up to 3 months - it varies of course). The hard work doesn't end there (which is where NotchUp does). Job interviews don't automatically lead to a job offer. And a job offer doesn't necessarily lead to a successful hire. There's a whole process in making the successful hire go through. Recruiters and headhunters manage people (candidates, HR managers, hiring managers, other decision-makers), people's expectations, timing, and other factors that are crucial in making a successful hire. A lot of wasted time, energy and money (in terms of lost productive work time for everyone) happens not only in the search for getting that first interview, but in the follow-through that happens after the initial job interviews. This is another part of where recruiters and headhunters provide value and service.

In the end, I seriously doubt this online platform will make a dent in the demand for good quality recruiters and headhunters out there who provide very targeted, high quality service for their clients. It certainly won't replace third party recruiters. If anything, this will probably become just another tool for recruiters to use in research.

Take control of your career: How to Recession-Proof your job in a Slowing Job Market

I just did a google news search on "job market" and the top results were all about stagnation, talent demand-supply tension, and impending recession:

From Forbes: "Japan's job market recovery at a standstill as companies battle higher costs"  
From Economic Times, India: "Shrinking Job Market"

From Viet Nam News: "Job market suffers from shortage of skilled staff"

From BBC: "New dip in US consumer confidence"

All a bit negative, but then I saw this article from SmartMoney.com: Four ways to keep your job during a slowing job market. While there may be some worry to job cuts (depending on which industry you're in), you still can do something about it. It's important to always be positive, to be prepared, and to perform strong. To "recession-proof" your job, here's a recap of SmartMoney.com's advice:

1. Make yourself indispensable. Best way to do this is to maintain a good relationship with your boss, along with other managers. Make sure they know your up-to-date accomplishments, skills and how you give value to your company. The decision-makers who know how good you are will back you up and vouch for you when it comes to letting people go.

2.Don't be high maintenance. It's human nature, isn't it? High-maintenance people drain you, and make things unpleasant. So even though you perform well, if you're a difficult person to work with, causing problems either through constant complaining or being a "stirrer", you will be on the top of the list when it comes to downsizing, no matter what the official reason may be.

3. Stay busy. This is a given. It also counters the number one step of making yourself indispensable. Show your managers how good you are by taking on assignments and getting involved in projects. Of course, you don't want to bury yourself in work where you can't produce or perform, so be realistic, keep communication open and try your darnest to impress.

4. Do damage control. If the worst does happen - their advice especially for 45-60 year-old employees who may be laid-off, try to negotiate a lower salary to stay on. Although not ideal, it would keep you from having to look for a job when the market is down and also something that's much harder for people in that age group.

Here's what I'd like to add to these steps:

1. Always keep an open mind for opportunities. Whether it be within your company or outside. This means maintaining good relationships with key people in your industry both within and outside of your company, including headhunters & recruiters.

2. Being creative and flexible in your career path. When they suggested making yourself indispensable, that included giving an updated resume/CV to your boss. Take stock of where you've progressed and grown in your career, your accomplishments, newly acquired skills and expertise and gauge it against your overall career goals. Where do you want to be? How close have you gotten? Or how far did you stray? Are the goals still the same as when you made them? Have you found that you've acquired all these new skills that you enjoy and want to pursue even further? Perhaps apply them to a growing industry that won't face big hits as other industries - like green tech or biotech? Consider other locations where the market is still strong? Keep an open mind for opportunities with a creative outlook and where you could go.

Happy New Year!

Just like to wish you all an exciting and adventurous 2008! I think this year will be a challenging one for everyone but there are great opportunities out there and I think it's probably a really good time for those of you considering what you want out of your career to take stock and make some decisions. You might want to try asking yourself the following five questions to start the year:

1. What did I achieve in my career last year? (give yourself a pat on the back).
2. What would I really like to achieve in the next year? (push yourself).
3. How can I achieve that where I am now? (planning for it).
4. What is the long term goal that achieving this will support? (big dreams).
5. How can I achieve my long term goal where I am now? (more planning)

The best thing about planning like this is it will help you keep a weather report on whether or not your current employer is helping you achieve your dreams. If it becomes increasingly difficult to plan to achieve what you want where you are then you need to start considering new places to work. Don't be overly keen to move though, the ability to creatively develop your job in any workplace can give you some very valuable skills as well. You also need to factor in some other important points that may be just as valuable as you getting the chance to achieve your goals. Good examples of that would be, the quality of mentors you have around you, and also the growth prospects of the company you are with. Both these factors can sometimes out weigh your goals because of the huge opportunities they can provide.

Again, all the best in 2008 and thanks to all of you who have been so supportive of this blog over 2007.

Friday Links

Some great articles for you to take in over the weekend:

Evidence from Japan that companies that offshore operations are more successful at maintaining and growing their domestic workforce. This is worth a read for all the anti-offshoring types. Offshoring has been a big issue in Japan since the 80's thanks to all the manufacturing done there. And while the study can't say what type of employees are hired in the domestic operations, the results do show that perhaps not offshoring is a bigger risk to the growth of a company in their country of origin.

Immigrants Fuel Workforce Growth in Canada - Canada's foreign-born population has reached it's highest point in 75 years with 20% of the population born overseas. They have given a much needed boost to an ageing workforce.

South Asian Blood Sweat and Tears in the Middle East - A damning article on the treatment of nearly 600,000 Sri Lankan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, and the UAE. The Sri Lankan government reports that 50 domestic workers return to Sri Lanka "in distress" every day! More needs to be said about this, it's disgusting that this type of abuse of workers continues.

Indonesian Economy on The Rise But Jobs Scarce - Quick article on economy growth in Indonesia but also how that growth has been confined to certain parts of the country. In some cases people can make more money offering themselves as passengers to commuters so they can use the car pool lane, than they can from working near their homes.

Dow Chemical cuts 1000 jobs - Includes leaving the automotive sealers business in Asia. Hardly even causes a blip on the share price which always seems to be the case when there are layoffs.

UK Investment Bankers Predict Doom in 2008 - But they still think they'll personally get bigger bonuses!  You've gotta love their optimism. Not that those bonuses weren't bad last year either.

Indians and Filipinos Happiest People in Asia - Who would of thunk it? Filipinos in particular are happy about their career prospects and families but are most of all happy about their health. Unfortunately they came last in "preparedness for retirement". Still at least they aren't unhappy about it.

Career Success Resources

I'd like to put together some pages and/or blog posts to review and list career success resources. I get a lot of questions on career management and career success and while I have some strong opinions and ideas myself I'd be really interested in any readers thoughts on books, blogs, podcasts, speeches, guide books or anything else you've read or seen that you felt made a difference for you in your career. So please leave a comment with the resource, and if possible a couple of reasons why you like it and I'll let you know once I've put together the final list. I think in particular if you have resources that you feel are more relevant to motivated employees in the Asia Pacific I'd really be keen to hear about them.

Job-hopping: Pay matters the most in Asia Pacific

Link: The Hindu Business Line : Job-hopping: Pay matters the most.

Wondering what the bottom line is for many employees in Asia Pacific? Pay for performance seems to be the major factor according to a recent survey from HR Consultants Hewitt Associates. Talented employees are facing greater job and career opportunities from the growth of economies in the region, and companies have had to change the way they employ and reward employees in order to hire and keep retention at manageable levels.

You really can't blame employees for wanting to be rewarded individually as they have been influenced by the global market and in particular the USA where this is a common practice that can lead to quite substantial salary levels. There is also so much pressure on employees that I often hear from candidates that they don't want their salary tied to another person's performance, since they don't have control over that.

Note the important point that no ambitious employee will ignore. Rewards are greatest at the top. Variable payout is highest for Executives who recieve over 20% of their salaries as bonuses. While more conservative people might see this as risky the reality is that the greater the risk the greater the reward and those executives are reaping those high salary rewards when they perform. It's worth keeping that in mind as you plan your career.

 

How To (Really) Impress a Headhunter

Link: How To (Really) Impress a Headhunter.

It can't be stressed enough how important strong networks are in building your career. This is essentially the advice given here in Businessweek and something that I agree with. If you're reading this article in hopes of getting calls from the headhunter with the big opportunity you want, I hope you've already been actively working on building your network.

Good advice from this article:

The best way to initiate a relationship with an executive search consultant is to be introduced by a well-connected friend, colleague, industry opinion leader, alumni pal, or fellow association or club member who knows the headhunter personally. For even the most accomplished and widely respected executives, the power of the personal reference simply can't be understated. . .

The quality of your personal and professional networks will preordain the messenger and the caliber of leadership recruiters to whom they might provide you access. This alone should serve as a reminder of why smart executives continually build, expand and, when necessary, leverage their networks. If you don't have one, you better build one.

I'd liked to add that while strong personal references will most undoubtedly lead a headhunter your way, nothing speaks louder than your performance and achievements. If you perform well, achieve high goals for your company, and basically are outstanding at what you do, you should be found.

Having said that, it's just as important that you make yourself easy to be found. Aside from the high-quality networks you've built, you need to work on your presence in your industry. By speaking and presenting at conferences, mentoring others, writing and publishing articles, newsletters or a professional blog, actively participating in or leading forums -- these are all ways to make yourself known and onto a headhunter's radar. If you're any good, and they're good at their research, you'll get that phone call.

For what to do when you do get that call read this.

Learn about Hispanic Recruiting at LatPro.com.