Applying for a top management position at a foreign company often results in an extended interview process in at least two languages, with top executives from various cultures. It can be a demanding, time- and resources-consuming experience for the candidate. Even more, the final interview sometimes will not really be the final interview. Some foreign companies like to send the top candidates to an assessment center. Especially many Japanese candidates, even if they are senior candidates, may not have had such an experience in their career and therefore may not know what they will have to face.

What is it?

An Assessment Center (AC) is an institution that evaluates candidates' personality and aptitude in order to determine their suitability for particular roles, in many cases for management positions. An important difference to work performance appraisals is that not the current job performance but the future job performance (aptitude) is evaluated. The assessees can be internal candidates striving to move up the career ladder inside the company, or they can be outside candidates applying for a management position. Typically, an assessment lasts one or several days and aims to evaluate the assessee's personality and aptitude such as team skills, conflict solving skills, entrepreneurial ability and management skills preferably from a neutral outsider's (AC) viewpoint (and not by the HR division of the promoting/hiring company). Popular methods of assessments are interviews, psychometric tests, examinations, simulations. More concretely this can be:

• oral presentation (is he/she convincing?)
• group discussion (can he/she prevail in a group?)
• in-basket exercise (can he/she make the right decisions in limited time?)
• interaction simulation (how does he/she deal with customers/subordinates?)

Why all the fuss?

An assessment needs a lot of time and money resources. So why does the company not simply decide after normal interviews who they want to hire/promote?
The company's future success depends heavily on its personnel, so the allocation of the "right personnel" to the "right positions" is extremely important. This can be difficult to realize only by doing simple company-internal (and sometimes biased) interviews. Studies have shown that a company's profitability can be influenced positively by such assessments. At the same time, assessments should not be seen merely as a selection tool; rather they should foster and bring forward the employee and their future career.

Are assessments the right tool in Japan?

On the other hand, assessees who fail in (company-internal) assessments can become discouraged by losing their career prospective inside the company, which can even result in encouraging them to leave. The highly competitive nature of a assessments means that they are still not very common in Japan, and they are almost nonexistent among Japanese companies. Employee education and promotion in Japan tend to be done in more subtle, consensual ways. Nevertheless, most of the typically assessed attributes are quite universal and required of a top executive also in differing cultural environments.

And what does the candidate get from it?

An assessment is very intensive and emotionally exhausting. Having one's personality analyzed in all openness can be like an "emotional striptease". Besides possibly getting a high-profile job, the learning-effect of such an assessment is high. The assessment's written final report is usually also given to the candidate, after having an in-depth feedback discussion. What the candidate should not forget is that such an assessment neither judges one's personality nor does it evaluate the assessee's current job performance. Therefore, except for having a good night's rest, no particular preparation (other than for a normal job interview) is needed from the candidate's side before an assessment. Since every person changes over time, the results are also only valid for a limited period. The AC's findings can provide a chance for professional self-development by giving a frank assessment one does not get very often.

December 8, 2011

Gaipro is accredited as an Official Osec Expert

Tokyo, Japan-Gaipro is very proud to announce that it has been accredited as an Official Osec Expert.

What is Osec?
Osec is the competence centre for Swiss foreign trade promotion. Osec informs, advises and supports firms from Switzerland and Liechtenstein in their international business ventures.

What is an official OSEC expert?
When OSEC advises clients in matters pertaining to export, they work together with so called Pool of Experts (PoE).

If the working relationship between Osec and the Expert is successful, the customer is satisfied and all further conditions are fulfilled, the expert and his or her company can then be accredited as an Official Osec Expert (OOE). Achieving OOE status allows the expert to use this accreditation as a testimonial.

Official Osec Experts stand out in a search of the Pool of Experts online directory, with the OOE logo displayed by their names. Their OOE status is highlighted in the expert profile. This is a further seal of quality for potential clients and can help in choosing an expert from the Pool of Experts online directory.

Gaipro, Inc.

For more information, please contact:
Yukie Akimoto
Email: yukie.akimoto@gaipro.com
Tel: +81-3-5913-9588
Fax: +81-3-5913-9589

What is 'automation'?

For example, during an interview for a top management position at a factory automation company, the CEO from European headquarters asked the (Japanese) candidates the question "what is automation?" The candidates all had a successful career at automation companies and were technically strong. However, the question seemed to be difficult for many of the candidates, some of them even were so puzzled that they became insecure and their interview performance dropped subsequently. While the European CEO did not understand why these seasoned executives with a sound technical background could not say what 'automation' was, the candidates did not understand the purpose of that odd question. *

Conceptual thinking

Of course the CEO did not doubt the technical knowledge of the candidates. However by asking the candidate to deduce the concept of 'automation' and explain it in simple words, he wanted to test the ability of conceptual thinking, which in turn is associated with 'creativity' or 'thinking outside the box'. Especially as a future member of the management, in order to guide the company to success, the candidate must be able to resolve complex issues and overcome roadblocks by seeing the bigger picture and bring in creative approaches. Although a detailed analysis of a problem (analytical thinking) of course is important, too, a clear vision and creative strategy are highly expected inputs of a core member of a company.

Culture gap --> communication gap

On the other hand, there is clearly also a culture gap underlying this question. Creativity and thinking outside of the box are typically encouraged at European and US schools, whereas analytical thinking and devotion to details are often the focus of Japanese education. While growing up in separate cultures can lead to these kinds of communication gaps, a management candidate applying at an international company is expected to take a bridging function between foreign headquarters and the Japanese subsidiary and therefore has to be able to overcome cultural barriers.

* 'Automation' could be for example described as the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in production

Japan - most public holidays of all OECD countries

However, Obon is not an official public holiday designated by the Japanese government (because it is of Buddhist origin and the state does not involve in religious matters). The Japanese calendar has 15 official public holidays per year, which surprisingly is the biggest amount of days among all OECD countries.
In Switzerland people typically are granted about 9 days off due to public holidays, although this depends on where she/he is living. Except the National Foundation Day (1st of August) public holidays can be determined by the local governments (canton that corresponds to prefecture in Japan, or municipalities) and therefore vary in number and date, depending on the region's religion and traditions. The counterpart of Japanese Obon would be All Saints' Day (1st of November) but is only celebrated in Catholic parts of the country (about half).

Only take the holidays if the state forces you to do so

One of the reasons for the many Japanese public holidays is that the government tries to have their citizens rest when they usually don't use their paid holidays. Out of the 18 days of paid annual leave that a Japanese worker gets on average, only about 8.5 days are taken, which is less than half. The minimum number of paid leave in Japan starts with 10 days (after 5 months worked) and augment until at least 20 days after 6.5 years worked. To Westerners the reason why many Japanese don't use all of their paid leave often remains a mystery. It is a social/cultural phenomenon that cannot be explained here in full extent.

Out of office: "Sorry, I'll be back at work in 3 weeks"

Employees in Switzerland are granted at least 4 weeks (or 5 weeks if you're less than 20 years old) of paid annual leave per law (typically between 20 and 30 days in Europe). This number does not change with the number of years worked, but Swiss workers in most cases take all of it - typically in pieces of one, two ore even more weeks. This is only the minimum, and with compensation of overtime work it can get even more. At this point many Japanese probably wonder how the company can do business if their staff regularly disappears for weeks.

Should you work for a Swiss company in Japan?

Of course working for a Swiss company in Japan does not guarantee you 20 days of paid leave from the first year. The fact that many global Swiss companies are very localized means that the working conditions sometimes do not differ substantially from local conditions. After all, they are operating under Japanese law. Still, in many cases the Swiss headquarters' regulations or code of conduct leave their trace on the Japanese subsidiary's corporate culture. This often leads to a greater acceptance towards taking holidays and an overall improved work-life balance.

The second donation is to an organization supporting homeless people in Japan. Martin Stricker of Gaipro has always admired The Big Issue. This organization provides jobs to homeless people. The homeless sell The Big Issue magazine on the street and for each issue they sell they receive something like JPY 160, while the organization receives JPY 140 to cover their publication costs. It's an opportunity for homeless people to earn some desperately needed cash and gives them opportunity to interact with the general population through the sales activities.
Unfortunately in Japan many homeless have no social standing whatsoever. In this present crisis we fear that the vulnerable have gotten even more vulnerable. Of course we are extremely concerned about the tremendous suffering in the Tohoku area. It is beyond our imagination. At the same time we are worried about the homeless from the past, who might be getting even less attention.

Martin Stricker
President & Representative Director
Gaipro, Inc.

At the beginning of each job hunting process stands the CV. It is like a passport to the interview at the target company, and not unlike a passport, a CV should be handled carefully and furnished with the right entry visas.
A lot has been written about how to write a winning English resume, but especially for Japanese candidates the sheer amount of differing, sometimes contradicting advices applying for different countries, industries or job levels can be very confusing. The more general advices given here are directed at Japanese mid-career employees who are looking for employment at a foreign company.

1. Appearance

This very basic requirement hopefully will not be surprising, but it cannot be mentioned too often. Like you would not go to an interview in shabby clothes, you should care about the presentability of your documents.

• This means, avoid spelling errors by all means. Even if your English is not perfect, the English in your CV should be. A spell check and proofreading by a native speaker are essential.
• Not less important, care about the layout! Your CV should be easy to read, which means structured into easy recognizable (but not too many) categories (personal data, education, professional experience, etc.) and sub-categories such as companies worked for with the respective terms and titles.
• Avoiding too much text and instead using bullet points make a CV easier to read. The goal is to have the person who reads your resume catch the important points. Therefore you should keep the document short and precise. Even if you are a seasoned executive, 3 to 4 pages should be enough.

2. Targeting your audience

This is as true for your resume in the same way as it is true for sales people who customize their services according to their customers' needs. When writing or adapting your resume, you should bear in mind that

• the person reading your CV is probably reading many more CVs on the same day
  → as mentioned above keep your resume short, structured and easy to read
• the person reading your CV does not have the same industry background as you
  → avoid abbreviations, industry terms, etc.
  → wherever possible try to give concrete numbers and figures of your achievements
• the person reading your CV might have another cultural background. This applies if you are applying for a senior management position where the chances are big that the headquarters will be involved in the recruiting process.
  → avoid Japanese terms or Japanese-English expressions such as "bucho" or "playing manager" (use the term "hands-on" instead)

3. What to include? and what not?

This differs from country to country. While privacy and anti-discrimination regulations of what an employer can ask from a job-seeker for example in the US are quite restrictive, in Japan one can write or ask almost whatever he/she wants. Besides the usual parts like personal details, education, professional experience and language/IT skills, which parts to include varies.

• Summary of qualifications: include.
  For the sake of a quick overview, this part will be appreciated by the reader.
• Career objective: can be included.
  This is common in the UK/US. However, if included it should be customized and have an impact.
• Qualifications: include.
  TOEIC scores, industry licenses etc. should be included, even if mostly they are not put much weight on at foreign companies. The required skills (such as English) will rather be tested orally during the interview.
• Hobbies: good to include.
  This gives your resume the spice and creates the opportunity to get to know you on a more personal level.
• Extracurricular activities: include.
  Activities in clubs, organizations, voluntary assignments, etc. make a positive impact. Of course
• Awards, publications: include.
  However, keep the list reasonable. You do not have to include every speech you have held publicly.
• Picture: maybe.
  You can include a picture, but the effect can work in both ways. It is not expected. In many countries it is not common to include it. However if you decide to include a picture, invest the time and money to have it taken by a professional. It will make a difference.
• Date of birth: include.
  Even though in some countries because of legal regulations the age should not be mentioned, in Japan it is expected to indicate your date of birth.
• Family details: do not include.
  Information about your family members other than yourself being married or unmarried are not needed on a CV.
• Reasons for leaving your previous employers: rather not include.
  This is a sensitive topic and should be mentioned orally during the interview, unless all the reasons are very clear, simple and if they speak for you.
• Salary: do not include.
  This should only be mentioned orally.
• References: do not include.
  You should not send out the personal data of your references carelessly. You can provide them at a more advanced application level.

The good thing is that an English resume leaves you considerable freedom on how to present it. In many cases, a creative layout or an unorthodox (for example a multimedia-based) approach with your resume will leave a positive impression at foreign companies. Important is that it is presented and targeted well, and of course that you are applying for the right position with the right skills.

The following resume is not meant to be a standard template that simply can be copied. It rather shows how to focus on the essential information and to keep the resume short and simple

sample English resume（36KB）

Just as you pass various stages and meet diverse people until you finally tie the knot with your beloved, there are several steps you have to master until you land your dream job. As mentioned in the previous article, to get a job has similarities to finding a partner. Job interviews are like dates. The parallels shown below (if not taken too seriously) are meant to give you some new insights from another, maybe a little unconventional perspective.

1. Stage: Approach the target --> Surprise with creativity

The very first task is to approach your target and make it be interested in you. If you are applying for a job, it's all about your resume, how you write it, how and when and to whom you present it. If you just spotted your object of desire at some party, it is basically the same. You have to approach her/him in a creative, yet appropriate way in order to make her/him wanting to know more about you. The primary issue is how to stand out from dozens of other rivals. Because the attention you will get at this first stage will be very limited, you are forced to focus on your more superficial, easy-to-recognize strengths such as correct spelling (resume/love letter), meaningful resume bullet points, your appearance or as said, your creativity.

2. Stage: The first date --> Impress! Show your skills

Your first date/interview in your job search will probably be with a recruiting or executive search company. Like when you have your first tête-à-tête with your date, you probably want to show the good side of yourself. The goal of the interviewer/dating partner is to see if the positive first impression (resume, appearance, looks) was justified. The first date is of course very important. Since most executive search companies only introduce candidates they think will make a good impression at the client company's interview, the worst thing you can do is to take this first interview too easy and miss the chance to show your qualifications and hence not being introduced at all. A bit of nervousness is not inappropriate. Your counterpart also wants to see if you are serious about him/her/the job. Just as you would not want to let your dating partner feel that you are bored by the many dates you are having, take the interview with the executive company serious and show yourself from the best side.

3. Stage: The critical interrogation --> know your enemy, convince the jury!

Imagine you are meeting with the best friends of your dating partner. Because of you your partner will probably spend less time with them, so you have to show them that you not only care about your beloved, but you also care about his/her friends. Now assume that your partner is your future job and their friends are the company. It is essential that you know as much not only about the job itself but also about the company you want to work for. At an interview you can score a lot if you are well informed about what is going on in the company's business. Equivalently, if you know about your partner's friends' lives, they not only feel that you care about them but also that their friend will also care even if they will see him/her less in the future. Last but not least, you have to show that you sincerely want the job (partner). Sincerity and openness is also especially important at this stage. The company/friends know that there are no perfect candidates, so to admit where you can still improve will raise your credibility.

4. Last Stage: The unpredictable --> don't make them veto

If everything went well so far, you have done a very good job already. There's not much left you can do. When your relationship is getting serious, you will probably be introduced to your partner's parents. Since they know already everything about you (if they cared to know) you don't have to stress your strengths here. Their decision will be mostly emotional, so the best you can do is to smile and to try to not bring them against you. The same applies to most of the interviews with the president. It depends on the position and the company you are applying, but a big part of the president's decision will be his/her gut feeling. There is a reason why she/he is president, so he does not have to study your application documents for hours. The rational evaluations have been made at earlier steps, so even if the outcome of this last step is the least predictable, try to win the president's/parents' hearts on a personal level. If you master that most difficult step, there is not much that separates you from your ultimate goal, your dream job or your happy relationship.

]]> http://gaipro.com/en/recruit/kojin2/hunt_the_spouse_-_get_your_dream_job.html http://gaipro.com/en/recruit/kojin2/hunt_the_spouse_-_get_your_dream_job.html For Candidates Resources career dating executive search Gaipro go-between job change job market manager marriage recruiting Swiss Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:50:33 +0900

Introducing candidates to a company as an executive search consultant can be similar to the work of a go-between, bringing together future bride and groom. From the perspective of the individual, if possible one would like to avoid any mediator and just let the encounter with one's future employer (or marriage partner) happen naturally. Or, to make things happen faster, why can't one just be headhunted (or be hit on) by a promising employer (or a marvelous prince/princess)? But: 1. it's always better to take action on the issue by oneself than to just sit there and wait. 2. most often it needs several interviews to find your ideal employer, the same as the first date is rarely the ultimate one. We as an executive search agency provide the setting, the chances from which a good relationship (employer-employee or bride-groom) can arise. But rather than putting all your hopes on just one employer (prospective partner) whom you don't even know yet very well, it's a safer bet to arrange several interviews (dates) with interesting companies (dating partners). As much as you try to match your preferences/skills with the job responsibilities/requirements of a job ad, or as much as you try to figure out common interests and attributes with your dating partner, you will only know how good the match is when you meet your counterpart.

It's all about good chemistry

That's also what we as executive search consultants experience. It is one thing to have a good resume on the desk, but only after meeting the candidate can we say if he or she could be a good fit with our client. And even more, it is between the candidate and the company where the good chemistry has to be. As it is true for a date, the outcome of an interview is often very difficult to predict. Recently, even if we had some doubts about a candidate's skills, after introducing him, he and our client's president turned out to get along very well, overcoming the "hard skills". On the other hand, when a highly qualified candidate showed up with a bad mood and attitude, complaining about prior interviews, we had doubts if we should introduce him to our client.

Married life at your working place

Even if many candidates believe that hard skills and experience are all that should count when applying for a job, it is neither unfair nor irrational for a company (and of course for a dating partner) to bother about the personality of the candidate. Most jobs, and especially management jobs require a big amount of people skills. Furthermore, after being hired, maybe sad but true, you will most probably spend more time with your working colleagues than with your wife/husband, so it is important for the sake of the company that employees get along with each other.

Love your working colleagues

So as it is in the dating process, the whole process until you find your ideal employer can be challenging, even frustrating. On the other hand, as a successful date, an interview that goes well can get you enthusiastic about the prospective marriage with your employer. The importance of the fit of the candidate's personality with a company should not been underestimated. Your personal satisfaction depends strongly on a good working environment. Therefore it is also in your interest that you only join a company where you not only like the working content, but also the team and the company as a whole.

The expression 'no risk no fun' is not very popular in Japan, especially not in this unstable economic environment. Since many years, Japan is known for its high savings rate and its high security standards in consumer products and nutrition. To a westerner, the constant admonitions to be cautious with omnipresent terms as 'abunai desu kara' (because it's dangerous) and 'go-chui kudasai' (please be careful) are sometimes irritating. Sometimes I don't know anymore what is really dangerous and what isn't. In short, to take a risk is not seen as a virtue in Japan.

Changing jobs is risky

Job changing is risky. This might also be a reason why jobs are still changed less often than in Europe or the US, even if the situation is changing more and more. By changing jobs, you leave the company that provided you a safe income and a stable daily life. You cannot know every detail of what will expect you at your next employer, even if you choose it very carefully. And you should choose your employer carefully, otherwise you end up changing jobs every year without making any progress.

Changing jobs is "fun"

On the other hand, to take a risk usually provides you with an opportunity ("fun") that you won't have if you stay on the safe side. We see many talents that could have a bright future, but not at the company where they are right now. We don't want to persuade them to leave their job because it is a risk that they should decide for themselves if they are going to take it or not. But we show them opportunities they might have if they take the risk. As in one case that we are working on for quite a while, we can see how the candidate is realizing the opportunity but because of obligations is not ready to take the step. As it is in that case, it requires even additional courage to leave a traditional Japanese company, which is considered to be stable, for a foreign company whose company culture might be very different. But for talented men and especially women, a change to a more flexible company could provide a way to unfold his/her full potential.

The crux is to calculate the risk

To some extent, risks can be calculated. Job changes should be calculated as carefully as possible because there will always be a risk. However, complete unwillingness to take calculated risks means letting pass potentially big opportunities. To stick at the status quo can even constitute a risk itself, for example if the company's prospects are getting dark but you miss the opportunity to desert the sinking ship. Especially when it comes to manager positions, the ability to calculate risks accurately is a highly sought-after attribute. We, Gaipro, try to assist the candidates in showing the candidates opportunities, but also the risks. The decision itself of course we leave to the candidate, as we do for the fun of job changing itself.

JAPANMARKT, online edition (February 26, 2010)

"Früher und schneller befördern": An interview with Gaipro president Martin Stricker in the online edition of the Japan-based German-language business magazine. Martin Stricker reveals the pitfalls foreign companies should try to avoid when looking for Japanese employees, and what the Japanese themselves expect from foreign companies.

JAPANMARKT, online edition (February 26, 2010)