The one good thing about the current downturn in the economy is that it is forcing people to take charge of their lives and explore the reality of their situation. Even though suddenly losing your job can come as a terrible shock in an otherwise ordered life, it can also be an excellent opportunity...

I've written before about the creeping age-related discrimination that is appearing in the job market. At 44 years old myself, it is quite sobering to know that for many jobs I'm already considered too old or borderline. I work about 70-80 hours a week, I'm highly motivated and experienced, and feel that I could make a big difference to any company that hired me (no, I'm not looking for a job...). So, why do many - foreign companies...

The IT business is good as a source of employment. When times are good, companies are all trying to develop new, exciting ways to reach the mass market. When times are bad, companies are trying to cut costs by automating. Either way, the technology needs people to create and operate it. It's no wonder then that there are a lot of people who start out in other professionals and realize that...

Recently, I have been getting requests from companies outside Tokyo looking for skilled staff. Although these are name-brand firms and they normally would get oodles of responses from applicants in Tokyo, for some strange reason positions outside Tokyo seem to be of little interest - in fact, the further away from Tokyo the job is...

Just about every foreign "shacho" of a small- to medium-size company I've ever talked to has complained about how hard it is to find strong bilingual Japanese salespeople. By "strong", I mean people who are self-motivated and can maintain a high level of performance without a sales "bucho"...

One of the most important people in my team is my Personal Assistant (PA). Notice that I didn't call her a secretary. In a smaller company like DaiJob.com, staff often bear multiple responsibilities and almost certainly have to have a wider range of skills than in larger firms. This point of being able to do a lot of different tasks within the job description is...

For the last 15 years, Japanese manufactured goods have been too expensive for global markets. Consequently, most brand name makers are now running factories out of China. This has caused Japan's exports...

Although no one seems to have the real numbers, from what I can gather there are about 50,000 tertiary students studying in North America every year. Of this number, about 4,000 are doing an MBA or other Masters course. Outside the USA, there are probably another 30,000 people studying in similar ratios in Europe, Asia, and Oceania. That's quite...

Ten years ago, an American friend who was also the CEO of a technology company asked me if I could help him get more information about business opportunities in Japan. At that time, the Japanese bubble had burst and he thought it would be a good time to enter the Japanese market. I looked and looked, but quickly discovered that...

If you're a bilingual software engineer, a bilingual senior manager, or a high-powered sales person, don't bother reading this. However, if you're one of the "rest of us", then listen up. Like many people in the recruiting business, I've been getting calls on a daily basis from highly qualified people who didn't plan to be on the job market, but who now are. Many of these people have very specialized experience that was essential to their previous company, but...