The Asia Pacific Headhunter

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.

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.

Crazy Job Trends in Japan

The way jobs work in Japan has always been different, with "Lifetime Employment" and Freeter probably the most widely known work and career styles that continue to be quite uniquely Japanese. But I just read an article from Joi Ito's blog (which is a great read for a variety of reasons) talking about a new company who are really bringing another very innovative work style to Japan. The company is called, "Otetsudai Networks" ("otestudai" is the noun form of the verb "testudau　手伝う" - which means to help or assist someone with a task) and they take advantage of the proliferation of cellphones with GPS technology and also the preference of many young Japanese to work in ways that give them a lot of freedom.

Joi explains it best:

With Otetsudai Networks, if you are willing to work, you sign up for the service with your skills and focus, take a GPS reading on your phone and then just hang out. If you are looking for someone for say... 3 hours to man a cash register or help wash dishes, you just send the request to Otetsudai Networks and within minutes, you have a list of people available. The list shows what each person is qualified for, how others have rated their work and exactly how far away they are. Typically you will receive a list of half a dozen or more people within a few minutes.

The businesses are rated too on a per-manager basis so when you're hanging out with your friends and you get a request to go help at the corner convenience shop, you know how your peers have rated that particular guy who's asking you to come and help. You can also counter the request and say you'd go if they paid you 2000 yen / hour instead of 1500.

As more and more people start using this system, it's liable to start filling a very important gap in the workforce. It's also a perfect example of a location based, peer-to-peer reputation based, mobile behavior oriented product for an aging society.

This is a REALLY interesting idea. For employers (or anyone for that matter) who want 2 or 3 hours of work done for them it creates a great opportunity to get help quickly. For people who have flexible time situations it brings opportunities to them where they are right now. I can imagine this kind of scenario. You have an area you want cleaned and it's too big a job for one person but you only have a couple of spare hours. You look for 3 available people in your area and you could have help within minutes that serves their needs and yours.

The fact that this is all run through cell phones also means you have a way of tracing all those involved to help eliminate any possible fraud. There will be issues with quality of work for some people, but the risk is low since you can start with short periods of time and since the system becomes reputation based over time. The other barriers I can think of are possibly legal in regards to some workplaces having legal requirements for safety training for employees. None of the issues are insurmountable though. I for one will be really interested to see how this grows.

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.

Attracting Candidates with Job Satisfaction

Link: AdlerConcepts.com: Articles & Resources - Job Satisfaction as a Recruiting Tool.

When you're deciding which job to take, what factors do you consider? Sure, money is important, but at the end of the day money won't keep you at a job where you don't feel satisfied, or feel that you haven't made any accomplishments or progress. It wouldn't keep you there if management gives you no direction or support. That's why job satisfaction is such a big factor to weigh in. In last week's AdlerConcepts newsletter, Kathy Barton explored what the common denominator is for all management approaches to motivating employees: setting clear goals.  When people have clear goals to work towards, they can gage their progress and truly feel satisfied when they accomplish a task or can sense progress towards it.

How can you use this in recruiting? Adler talks about the 30% solution when hiring - which is offering a candidate a job that is 30% better than their current job - in terms of challenge, growth and compensation. Here's how job satisfaction is factored in:

The concept of greater job satisfaction can easily be added to the 30% solution. Just using a performance profile is a positive differentiator. Since a performance profile focuses on what a candidate would DO in the job, rather than the attributes the candidate HAS, you can talk about how your company has a commitment to providing its employees with clear goals. Discuss with them the specific things that the candidate would need to do to be successful in the job. Then tie these goals to company strategy and how it benefits the company's clients and you've just "branded" the job, giving it even greater value. . . The 30% solution also helps you tap into a candidate's desire for greater challenge and satisfaction from the job. 

The big draw is to show how the company will help and support the candidate accomplish what they have to stretch for in this new role. Add a competitive salary, benefits and other fun perks and you have a great job offer a wise candidate couldn't turn down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ADS

Most of the software designers today prefer getting certifications like 70-290 and 312-50 to their credit. This is because their education leaves them unaware of search optimization or what needs to be done to register domain. They cannot distinguish between a net call and a pc phone. Just knowing about windows backup is not enough now.

Top 10 Success Factors with Onboarding

This was brought to my attention by a comment from Sue Edwards, president of Clearing the 90-Day Hurdle, an onboarding coaching service that deals with all the challenges of a new hire (especially senior executives) - for the employer, the employee, and recruiter. They address a lot of the issues of being a new hire, hiring someone new, and easing the transition into a successful one.

It's clear from the number of hits that my post on Onboarding keeps getting, onboarding is  a concern for a lot of companies who realize the value of keeping the talent they've spent so much effort, time and money in recruiting. They realize why it's just as important to invest as much time and effort into retention and development of staff.

From their website:

A lot can go wrong in the first 90 days after a new executive hire or promotion. Would it surprise you to learn that at least 40% of new leaders fail to meet the expectations of their new role?

• Desired results are not achieved within the expected timeframe

• Difficulties in assimilating to a new culture and earning credibility are barriers to success

• Productivity and employee engagement are negatively impacted

Research conducted with over 20 executives shows clearly that:

• There is remarkable agreement on the most important behaviours for success in the first 90 days — regardless of the interviewee’s industry, gender, internal or external role.

• Providing new hires with the "secrets to success" in their first 90 days is critical to enhancing the ROI on recruitment and re-training costs.

• Even exceptional, talented new hires are often unaware that some of their well-intended behaviours are potentially derailing.

For more insight, there is a free report on Top Ten Success Factors and Seven Deadly Sins for Leaders Transitioning into Organizations, based on Edwards' experience of coaching leaders-in-transitions for small businesses up to Fortune 500 multi-nationals, along with in-depth research with senior executives, human resources leaders and recruiters. So far I've received positive feedback from people I've passed it on to (with her permission of course!).

Why are you not hiring remote workers? - (37signals)

Link: Why are you not hiring remote workers?

I really enjoy the writing over at 37 Signals and one post they threw up the other day about hiring remote employees has created quite an interesting comment stream. A lot of companies aren't very interested in hiring remote employees, which is frustrating for people who have proved themselves to be effective remotely. I know this from experience and I think there are some legitimate reasons for this although they are largely eliminated once a remote worker has proved themselves in that environment.

Of course this can be a problem for candidates who are already remote workers who want to change jobs. Every time you change jobs you have to prove yourself again, that's just a fact. Since remote workers don't have that track record with the new employer. It will be tough to convince a new employer of the benefits of hiring you remotely. This is especially true if the new or prospective employer has no experience of hiring remotely themselves.

I think the answer is in the comment stream, that it's time for a job board for companies that hire remote workers exclusively. Companies that have a track record with working with remote employees and who can engage and develop the organization within that model. It is those kind of companies where remote workers are going to get the most traction with in their job search.

How Doing Good Work Hurts You

Most of us wouldn't think of doing "good" work as hurting us. But in a recent conversation between Michael Bungay Stanier and David Allen on GTD Connect (subscription only) Michael made this point loud and clear. Based on a previous description by Designer Milton Glaser, Michael asserts that in our lives we are only ever doing three kinds of work:

• Bad work
• Good work
• Great work

Michael believes that you will only ever do more "great" work if you can endeavor to remove some "good" work from your life. This idea resonated with me as I believe that the characteristics of great work are fundamentally different from good, in particular I believe great work requires either a challenge or learning in order to give you a feeling of achievement and satisfaction. And I also believe that great work requires imagination and creativity. Good work can benefit from it as well, but for great work it's a necessity.

In our careers we often get caught up in the mundane or the routine, in work that is neither challenging or a learning experience. But I believe that the key to turning this around is to taking some of the good work you do and focus on using your creativity to make it great. Challenge yourself, stretch yourself to make your work into a creative environment. It will make all the difference for yourself in your career, as well as in your enjoyment of your life.

In particular I have found that the more creative I was at work the more I enjoyed myself. Quite often it led to success, but not always! But despite any failures it has always created indirect benefits that I never considered beforehand. I think it is tough to be creative in our everyday work. And unfortunately many companies seem to pay lip service to wanting people who "think outside the box" (See Kathy Sierra for more). I also think that a lack of tools to really evaluate someone's creativity is a set back for companies in the hiring process.

Have you have had an opportunity to be creative at work and have had that backfire on you? Or had it be wildly successful? Would you like to share that story? I would be more than interested in hearing about stories of creativity at work as it seems to be a topic that many readers are really interested in.

Checkout accounting jobs, UK at AccountantCareers.co.uk.

Onboarding: The Simple Way

A while ago I wrote Onboarding: 8 Ways to Get New Hires Onboard, which talked about how you get new employees up to speed as quickly and as easily as possible. I just read a chapter from Bill Jensen's The Simplicity Survival Handbook: 32 Ways to Do Less and Accomplish More, suggesting how new hires can be proactive in getting "the orientation they deserve". He points out the unfortunate reality that many companies are pressured with short-term needs and don't want to spend the extra time and attention required for the long-term need of providing quality orientation and onboarding. So he suggests another take on it - for employees to take control over their orientation and be more proactive. Jenson suggests three simple steps:

1. Do your homework about your company, department, job, etc. Get info such as your department's goals, performance, biggest projects in the past and next three months, etc. from the day you accept the job offer and read up so you can be prepared on your first day with questions.
2. Get a list of names for  building your network - try to meet face-to-face with key people not only within your department, but outside of your department and even outside the company, i.e. customers, etc.
3. Ask for a two-way review at the end of your third month.

Following these steps, a new hire can make the most of his or her first 100 days. Even better,  a manager who takes the iniative to prepare and plan for these things will definitely make the most of the new hire's first 100 days.

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HRSEO offers consulting for Internet recruiting initiatives to employers.