If you're a non-Japanese job seeker that has just arrived in Japan, you're no doubt looking for a job. The fact is, though, that most foreign companies have virtually no decision makers in town from the second week of December. Decision-making in most multinational companies usually involves at least 3 or 4 people. Involved in the decision will be the business manager making the hire, several other people on the same team, an HR person, and the overall Division manager. At least one of these people is likely to be a senior foreign person, and by the second week of December...

This week's article is targeted at employers. Running a job site, I see a lot of ads coming through the company every week. The difference between a well-written ad and a poorly written one is like night and day, with the best ads pulling up to 50 times as many resumes. The business model for online job boards such as DaiJob.com originated in the USA. The idea was to replace newspapers with the Internet, and thus much of the same process has been retained - particularly the fact that employers write their own ads. But this model is...

I often get asked if DaiJob.com can help non-bilingual people find a job in a multinational. While it is true that we have a number of positions for monolinguals - typically Japanese speakers with a little English reading skill, or highly skilled English-only speakers - there is no doubt that being bilingual completely opens up your vista of job opportunities. As you can imagine...

Often people ask me whether the headhunting industry is well suited for the social structure of Japan. People here are not used to switching jobs (although that is changing) and even less used to confiding in a stranger about their ambitions, hopes, problems, and shortcomings ...