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!

 

Why I'm Blocking Facebook Beacon and How

I like Facebook. It's allowed me to get back in touch with a bunch of friends from the past, and it's also an easy way to keep up with what they are doing. But after reading about Facebook Beacon this morning from Om Malik, I've decided to block and opt-out of their new Beacon feature. I'm sure it might be somewhat useful, but I have to draw the line at separate companies sharing my shopping details with each other without asking me first. It's just too much and I think they've really crossed a line by creating the system as an opt-out instead of opt-in. I don't think we should have to agree for you NOT to do something that I might not like. If my son was to punch a friend and then claim that his friend never opted-out from getting a beating do you think that would fly with me?

If you'd like to know how to opt-out and block Beacon then the following links will help. I'm a Firefox user so I used the BlockSite addon as well as opting out, the link below from Wikihow will show you how to do both. If you're not a Firefox user now I highly recommend you try it, you can download it here. Fingers crossed that keeps me covered.

Detailed instructions and screenshots for opting out of Facebook Beacon.

I Love My Slingbox

I don't usually write up products, but on a recent trip to the US I bought a Slingbox Tuner and set it up in a home there. Now I have streaming cable television to my laptop wherever I am in the world. As I sit here watching KG, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen match up against Gilbert Arenas in the most anticipated NBA season opener (at least for Celtics fans) in 30 years I couldn't help but blog this. It's just too cool that I can be here in New Zealand while enjoying crisp, clear, cable television from the USA. I've been amazed by the high quality of the streaming video and audio. Slingbox have obviously done some pretty amazing things with the optimizing software.

If you are living in Asia Pacific and maintain a home back in the USA, as I know a lot of people do, then you might want to think of adding a Slingbox to your network there. If you set it up in a room that currently doesn't have a TV, then you won't effect whoever is watching there and you'll be able to keep up on what's going on at home. It's a must for sports fans and investors (having CNBC makes a big difference compared to the financial coverage you get on local news in Asia). I bought the Slingbox Tuner through Amazon to give it a try but I kind of wish I'd bought the Slingbox PRO now since you can also watch and control your Tivo through it as well (it'll give me something to do next time I get back I guess).

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 Steal an Online Recruiting Site

See the two logos above. Pretty similar aren't they. One is for eFinancialCareers.com, a Dice Holdings company, and the other is for eFinancialCareers.cn. If you go to the web pages you'll see they are almost identical in visual branding (although the .cn version is in Chinese) including the .cn version linking to other international eFinancialCareers sister sites around the world. However, as you've probably guessed. eFinancialCareers.cn is in no way connected with eFinancialCareers.com. It's a site created by a company in China who have been slick enough to buy the domain name and copy the branding of the original site.

I don't yet have any concrete information on whether this is a scam to collect credit card details or whether it's a legitimate online job site, but either way the executives at eFinancialCareers.com must be choking on their Dom Perignon. China is heating up as a financial careers markets with all of the global banks and investment institutions increasing operations and hiring activities throughout the entire Asia region and China in particular. For them to lose their name in China like this would be annoying in the least and possibly disastrous.

Funnily enough there is a huge drive on in China at the moment with a 100 day crackdown on protecting Intellectual Property Rights. From the People's Daily (english):

From July 15 to October 25, China will wage a 100-day Campaign with intense efforts to investigate and shut down institutions engaged in producing, renting and selling pirated audio-video products and computer software and severely punish those involved in these activities. The campaign also aims to raise the awareness of both businesses and the public of fighting piracy.

It will be interesting to see if anything can really be done about this case which isn't piracy of the audio-video or software sort. I'd also be very interested to hear opinion from people in the online recruiting business on how they feel about it. And by the way, have you bought your corporate domain for China?

Hat tip to Doron Vermaat at NewChinaCareers for bring this to my attention.

When recruiters google you

Link: SILICON VALLEY USERS GUIDE: How to look good when your recruiter googles you - Valleywag.

Great advice for job hunters who aren't so sure what will come up if they were to get googled. I'm sure most candidates wouldn't have any serious worries - but for those who may... the damage control here is straight forward - decide what areas you can control and edit them or make them private - such as personal blogs that reveal the more risqué you. For those that are out of your control (other people's blogs & websites), ask them for a favour if you can.

The thing to do also is to make sure your positive online presence and branding - are ranked higher and more visible. Do you have a professional blog, or are an active member of a network or community?

This reminds me of other advice I've come across for jobhunters & their online presence:

From Brazen Careerist:
Blogging Essential for a Good Career - there's no doubt that being found online can be a good thing - if done right

From Marketing Headhunter:
Don't Drog Blunk - Common sense. Don't commit anything to writing (paper or online) when inebriated and angry.

Your Blog is not your Resume - Just a reminder for some who feel their online presence just says it all. You still do need a resume if you want to be considered for a job.

I guess some may think it's a shame that we need to "edit" our online persona if we need to consider how a potential employer or client would perceive us. But you know what folks - that's just the way it is. Whatever you write in the blogosphere - be it your own blog or comments on others - it's a public domain that your boss and potential employers are a part of. If you need to do or say something that could be questionable keep it in private - through your private network.

Recruiting & HR@ iTV Japan.com

Link: Recruiting & HR@ iTV Japan.com.

Thought I'd introduce this website resource for those interested in Japan: itvjapan.com - Japan's first internet television network for business executives and provides business news, interviews and analysis with Japanese business experts and opinion leaders.

In addition to the HR & Recruiting channel, they have various business programs such as Doing Business in Japan, Sales Force, Tokyo Insiders, and more. It's another interesting way to learn more about human resources, recruiting and business in Japan in addition to blogs and rss feeds to news providers.

The current interview is with Ken Cogger, Global Head of Recruiting at Nikko Asset Management. He talks about "candidate as guest" in which the candidate is the center of focus and treated "as a guest" throughout the whole recruitment process - ranging from the little things of their first reception to the client's office to providing timely and relevant feedback if possible. The point is maintaining momentum of interest throughout the process, selling the candidate on the company so that the candidate has a positive experience with the client. After all, not all candidates will get hired, but when they leave the recruitment process, they come away with a positive impression of the  company and recruiter. And in a candidate's market, candidates talk - so as a recruiter, you're really doing sales, marketing and PR for your client. You've got to focus on the positives of the company and help the client continue that "candidate as guest" approach right through employement and employer relations to retain talent.

Btw, I have the say the quality of the streaming media is really good - very clear and sharp.

Where To Be in Silicon Valley - "The Bangalore Express"

Link: MercuryNews.com | 02/07/2007 | Networking on the 'Bangalore Express'.

Nice little piece in the Mercury News (from John Boudreau) about all the high-powered techies who ride the "Bangalore Express". The nickname is for Lufthansa flight 455 from San Francisco to Bangalore, which is the most direct flight from the Valley to India's high-tech hub. People are paying a premium to get the flight because it's the most direct route, but they are getting some major networking benefits from the kind of people who are frequenting the flight, including pitching VC's, interviewing for jobs and picking up on industry intelligence.

With a 21 hour flight time and two legs (San Fran to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Bangalore) it doesn't sound that direct, but apparently there a lot worse ways to go.

Of course, not everyone is impressed and think that the money for those flights has come directly from cost savings created by hiring engineers in India as opposed to Silicon Valley. It's a possibility but it's a pretty simplistic assumption if you ask me.

You'll find jobs in London at Canary Wharf Jobs.com.

New Career Site in Asia for English Speaking Professionals

There is a new player in the Asia online recruitment market this week with the announcement of NewChinaCareer.com starting up. The founders are very experienced in the European online recruitment market and feel that their brand of search and marketing development for online recruitment can make real headway in the Asia Pacific region. Right now they are offering free job posting and CV search for Recruiters as an opening special.

So if you are looking for another avenue to get your jobs out there this should be worth a go. While job boards in Asia seem come and go (or wallow in obscurity) the founders seem committed to what they are doing the site looks very professional and easy to navigate. It is a monolingual site so it is very focused on companies that require English language skills, but for most multinationals this is a major requirement and so to advertise in English only is often used as an early screening tool. I think it is good to see more players in the marketplace, like NewChinaCareer and Recruit.net. These new players will hopefully bring more innovation to an area that badly needs it.

What I've Been Up To

It's not all headhunting all the time around here, and to prove it here's what I did last weekend. I finally built my first ever Make project - a workbench. I got the plan from a podcast by Bre Pettis at Makezine. It was pretty easy and very satisfying for a guy who has never been much good at working with wood (despite my upbringing in a family of Makers). So heres hoping it will help me with my next project which will be building a treehouse for my kids. BTW, following the plan from Bre also allowed me to download and have a play with Google Sketchup. It is serious fun software to help you design anything you want in 3D. It made it really easy to see how Bre had made his workbench and basically follow his style but make my own changes.

I have a feeling this bench is going to get plenty of work..