In my last post, I talked about which recruiters to avoid. Essentially, avoid the foreign companies if at all possible as they provide very limited value. Furthermore, their profit model is based on turnover, so they push any and all candidates for positions that have no relevancy to their qualifications. What this does is create distrust and even anger among the companies who repeatedly receive unqualified candidate profiles. What is important is to build the relationship between recruiter and companies, and the companies that I discussed in the last post have proved over time to fail to follow this simple concept. Another problem with these foreign recruiters is their arrogance and pride. They believe themselves to be superior to English teachers and people working less desirable jobs. Why they think this is anyone's guess? Recruiters often were former teachers, and many, if not most, cannot speak Japanese well enough to work at a professional level. So where does that leave them? Well, it leaves them at recruiting. As such, they have a built up sense of angst and enormous retaliatory mentality. They refuse to even consult and deal with foreign candidates with the exception of specific IT positions and senior level people. Anyone from entry level to mid management level will be given the cold shoulder.
So what can you do about it? Answer: Check out Japanese recruiters
Many Japanese recruiters are unable to speak decent English. That should be noted immediately. However, there are some who can speak conversational, even business level, English, so if you are unable to communicate in Japanese sufficiently, go to these recruiters. The cultural aspect of Japanese society also is a reason why I recommend Japanese recruiters. The majority of them won't be directly rude to your face and will make some type of effort to accommodate you. Of course, you may not know their true feelings, but it's something I prefer over direct rudeness you will face from foreign recruiters.
Another pro for Japanese recruiters is their network. Inevitably, Japanese recruiters will have a stronger, deeper, and broader network in Japan compared to foreigners. This is common sense. Tap this network, build the relationship with these recruiters, and, like a lottery sometimes, one of them may remember you and contact you for a certain position.
In the next post, I will list specific Japanese recruiters.
