en world – the leading partner providing global talent solutions in Japan – is proud to have sponsored the Dream Collective’s Industry Leadership Luncheon in Tokyo on January 19th 2018.
We were lucky enough to speak with Mayu, en world’s senior recruiter. Here we spoke to her about what you can do today if you want to make in Japan.
Can you tell us about en world and what your role is there?
Mayu: So en world is one of Japan’s leading recruiters for global minded companies covering a wide range of industries with staff in over 200 (professionals) offices in Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya. The company was established in 1999 and since then, has expanded to not only Japan but Singapore, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand and India.
We help people find their next job, only focusing on recruiting mid-career professionals (not entry level). Candidates we normally deal with are aged between their 30s and 40s which is what we call the mid-career transition.
We firmly believe that creating and cultivating opportunities for all members of the workforce is not only essential to the vision of being the most respected partner in the global talent market, but is of great value to society in general.
Diversity, and particularly enabling future female leaders has always been a high priority for en world and its parent company, We embrace diversity and are always working to incorporate the best aspects of both Japanese and Western corporate culture.
As for my job I am a senior recruiter in the Nagoya office (where Toyota was born), the third biggest city in Japan, however it’s very small compared to Tokyo. I work for specifically only I.T divisions. I deal with I.T related candidates, my clients are basically all those technology companies or companies looking for some internal I.T people.
What tips would give to someone that is looking to be headhunted?
Mayu: I would say that the best way is to have a long-term relationship, talk to your head hunter even when you’re not looking for a job. Update them with your recent events, life events, career events. When we introduce jobs it’s not only about if this job matches this person we need to understand why this person wants this job and what they want to become (on their long-term career path). I would say (on recommendation of keeping in touch with our head hunters) every six months, at least once a year.
Would you say there is one particular ‘career transition’ season?
Mayu: There is no particular season for career transitions. In the mid-career transition, a head hunter looks for someone who has some kind of speciality in a certain field i.e. someone that is not just wide range. Clients look for work-ready people as they want the candidate to perform right away, they don’t want to have to teach and train them.
I think that it’s very important with your current job you have some kind of speciality with achievements you can explain. Favourable specialities could include industrial knowledge or management skills. Demonstrating you can manage a team is also a plus.
What do the strongest resume look like?
Mayu: First of all, a résumé is not just a piece of paper where you write your work history. It’s a strong sales tool to a company, it needs to be attractive to make the company want to see you. Besides your work history you need to write down your numbers, sales results, people you managed, how much over time you reduced in your work team, etc., it must be something with numbers.
On what type of international talent, the Japan market looking for
Mayu: In my professional opinion, you need to be special in some kind of area, good at something you can be proud of. Because Japan is becoming more globalised, work experience in multi-national environments is also good. There are many non-Japanese people, so this work experience is good. Being bilingual is of course a stand out, language skills are very important in Japan because unfortunately not many people in Japan speak English.
On how to juggle work-life balance:
The government is focusing on using female talent, so before, Japanese companies just had people work so many long hours but now it’s changing, the government is reducing working hours, they also are putting a lot of effort on female talent to empower women. I feel it’s becoming easier for us and we have more chances.
I myself am a working mother, with a two-year-old son but I can work full-time with no problem. There’s more childcare support, the people are starting to understand that, which is another good thing. Working mums can consider going to work in Japan too.
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