In the last part of our "How to Become a CEO" series I cover a means of getting yourself selected as the CEO of a foreign company based on your personal merits and not whether you have an MBA or went to an Ivy League school. That method consists of targeting firms which are just getting established...

I once asked my rich uncle - yes, I grew up on the poor side of the tracks, but there really was a rich uncle - what his advice to a young man starting out on the path of life was. What was the secret to his success? His answer was succinct, "The smallest fish are the sweetest." And ever since then I have followed his advice: keeping my businesses smallish...

It always surprises me to see people's resumes and how little effort goes into them. While the resume is the only, and thus critical, point of contact when you first apply for a job, most people write it like they would an obituary. They include the main data points but no marketing as to their real value. Thus it's no wonder...

The opportunities for foreign workers in Japan continue to improve and certainly for bilinguals in the IT, HR, travel, and financial sectors, there are plenty of jobs to go around. However, with the expansion of foreign involvement in the realm of professional services, the question of licenses and appropriate education become important. For example, very few foreigners...

Living here in Japan, it is hard not to get caught up in the recovery of the local economy. There is so much capital investment in infrastructure and operations going on, as well as a flood of foreign investors and market entrants that the opportunities for employment are better than they have been for a decade. I am aware of companies that have orders in to recruiters for...

Completing this group of articles, I'd like to offer some advice to foreign CEOs in Japan, who suspect that the terms of their employment are about to come to an end and who don't want to leave Japan. By "suspect", I mean that the head office is starting to make noises about personnel costs and how the Japan office needs to become more...

There are of course many successful foreign CEOs in Japan, and I would guess that at least half or more don't speak Japanese. Of course, 90% of these people are seconded by head office to work in Japan as expatriates, so they are not included in this discussion. However, there are some who have been appointed as local...

Last week, I wrote about the hazards of a foreign executive with a Japanese national as a spouse, deciding that he/she would like to live in Japan and somehow hoping to independently (i.e., not being hired as an expat and sent by the head office) jump into a similarly high-powered job here in Japan. While I'm sure there are exceptions, I've seen more than a few deflated...

Recently I received a letter from a reader who is married to a Japanese national and is considering moving back to Japan so that his wife and 3 kids can be closer to her aged parents. He is a senior executive in a major firm in the US and is well respected for his organizational and leadership abilities. He wonders what kind of job he might...

Wrapping up on this series on Graphic Designers, I thought I'd make some comments about job titles and salaries. Perhaps not surprisingly, salaries in the design world in Japan are quite low because of the large number of people who want to be in the industry. Apart from the obvious need to be competent in design, there seems to be very little interest in...