Recruiting websites, agencies, etc.

[NomDeForum]

Regular poster here, using a different handle name because [reasons]. I'd like your advice on something.

Business is bad and the prospect of unemployment is frighteningly real right now. It has been decades since I was in the job market and I have no idea how job hunting works these days.

I see all these recruiting websites and agencies advertising their services, but I've never used one before so I view them with trepidation. Are they useful? Are they even legit? I'd like to hear your views on them.

[sutebayashi]

If you create a profile on LinkedIn and put your resume type details in there, my guess is headhunters will be all over you like flies at a bbq.

At least that’s worked for me in my line of business (IT work). I did not find it easy changing jobs after a long period of stable employment, but did it in the end, and then again a few years later.

[eyeswideshut]

Not an expert in this but I am tangentially involved in hiring processes for my company. I would start with Bizreach, Daijob and, of course LinkedIn. In any event, you want to be sure your LinkedIn profile is polished, up to date and contains key search words in both English and Japanese so your profile appears in searches. Internal recruiters will always go to LinkedIn first to source talent (it's free and low effort for them). Bizreach seems to be really popular with IT companies right now - not sure what other industries use. Good luck!

[NomDeForum]

Thank you both.

Quick question. Can I infer from this ↓

I would start with Bizreach, Daijob

...that these kinds of sites (databases?) and agencies are legit? They're not scams, right?
(Sorry for the basic questions. This is how out of date I am.)

[Moneymatters]

Remember folks. NDF asked for "views". Not wisdom or help. Just "views" of which I have no shortage..

OK. Obviously, your experience in this process and the avenues available will vary based on your location, industry and skills/experience. also this is very much more relevant to the gaishikei world..

It's decades since I job searched but I've been involved in recruitment my whole time here.

Any recruitment agency that has been in existence for more than a few years is clearly able to service its customers whilst remaining profitable.
so they are "useful" to at least one group and "legit" commercially.
That said. I just roll my eyes looking at some of agencies that seem to advertise more via browser based ads that other methods. And my brief interactions, as an employer, with some of larger domestic agencies left me horrified. (I refused to specify the age range and they said they couldn't progress. I told them politely* to fuck off.)...

Anyhow.. If you are in Tokyo, have experience and at least useful Japanese (at least N2 and experience of using it in a business setting), then I'd say hit up the bulge bracket players. which is basically just a case of googling a random male name apparently..
Rob Walters, Michael Page, Rob Half, Morgan McKinley, Alexander Hay (OK, just "Hays" now..)
Huge overlap and they actively compete, need to be firm about needing your permission before presenting you for a role. at least they cover just about all industries which is good.
what will happen is, you'll register, if you have in demand skills your phone will ring or at least you should expect an initial flurry of activity and you'll receive attention like a new debutant at a Southern (Ibaragi) Ball..
If you don't quickly progress to the offer stage or you cause problems by demanding too "high" a salary, you can and should expect them to cool. They are bulge bracket for a reason. The staff are out to seal the deal and move on fast like Robert Downey Jr's character in the, "OMG, I'd pay money to pitch this problematic script to Netflix now" 80's classic, The Pick-up Artist. But I digress.

Also include companies like JAC for their large domestic reach. wahl & case, Specialized much more slanted to IT.
there are niche player and genuine executive search companies out there, but with love and respect, if you'd benefit those you'd probably know about them and how to reach them. I mean. They aren't The A-team (Who each week I'd waste the first 15 minutes of the show wondering how I could find them if I needed them..)

*Obviously I didn't say fuck-off. Mainly as we were speaking Japanese. Because to find me the best bilingual talent they'd sent their most mono-lingual staffer. I was however, clearly not polite...

Oh. And whilst we're here. The guys voice on talent-palette makes me want to hurt things, well him.. Is there such a thing as a punchable voice?

And lastly, listening to friends, yes I know. most other people find that odd too.. Linkedin may not get you noticed unless you have hot/specifically in demand skills it is still worth having a decent presence there as people check. It is also useful for seeing what jobs are out there but when you open to applications from everyone that's what you get. Hence the need for agencies to filter candidates.. So you might want to scour linkedin jobs to get a sense of the market/latest lingo and to push an agency in a certain direction..
And second lastly, by way of an analogy, rightly or wrongly, you are meat for the butcher's shop/chop.. The hiring entity is the customer.

[eyeswideshut]

Thank you both.

Quick question. Can I infer from this ↓

I would start with Bizreach, Daijob

...that these kinds of sites (databases?) and agencies are legit? They're not scams, right?
(Sorry for the basic questions. This is how out of date I am.)

They are definitely not scams but obviously use with caution as they, like all recruiters, are paid by the companies that use them so their allegiance will never be to the job-seekers. I should also add, if there are companies you want to work for definitely check their internal job boards or career sites. Internal recruiters love when people apply directly for roles.

[NomDeForum]

Thanks to all who have responded. I appreciate it.
I have a couple of follow-up questions if you don't mind.

(1) Is it advantageous to sign up for multiple recruiting sites, or are they all connected and if you sign up for one you've effectively got the same exposure to agents and employers as if you'd signed up for all of them?

(2) Probably the most embarrassingly basic of all questions, but I can't afford shame right now, so...

If you [...] have experience

Do you mean experience in finance specifically, or experience more generally in the Japanese corporate workplace?

TIA

[sutebayashi]

(1) Is it advantageous to sign up for multiple recruiting sites, or are they all connected

Some of them are in competition to introduce candidates to the same vacancies, and some of them may claim to have good relationships with the hiring managers, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.

I’d say it may depend how much time you want to spend to job searching.

More may get you more introductions, but for my last job hunt I opted to narrow my focus ( to save time spent) and fortunately it went well without lots of wasted time. I was able to lean on my experience of my prior job hunt to know what sort of opportunities different recruiters would present to me though, so I’m your case you might like to talk with more recruiters and find out the sort of jobs they are focused on.

No answer from me on the second one. If you can hint at what sorts of work you’d be open to, that might give others more ideas about advice you might benefit from.

One thing I will say though is, don’t give up! If you set your mind to it, you will eventually find a new job. I had a struggle with the psychological battle of this myself, and really there is a lot of luck involved. So you need to stick with it.

[Moneymatters]

Thanks to all who have responded. I appreciate it.
I have a couple of follow-up questions if you don't mind.

(1) Is it advantageous to sign up for multiple recruiting sites, or are they all connected and if you sign up for one you've effectively got the same exposure to agents and employers as if you'd signed up for all of them?

(2) Probably the most embarrassingly basic of all questions, but I can't afford shame right now, so...

If you [...] have experience

Do you mean experience in finance specifically, or experience more generally in the Japanese corporate workplace?

TIA

1. Definitely more than one. No one agency covers all potential employers. But you’ll need to manage your interactions and some agents will be upset if you are less than exclusive with them whilst they’ll have no such loyalty to you.
I don’t recommend to sign on with more than 3 or 4 but be prepared to add others or even swap one out based on experience. Luck is a massive portion as sutebayashi mentions. Use your early interactions to see what clients they have but this info won’t be readily shared.
Log everything in s/sheets as you go..
oh. You are unlikely to get one agent assigned to you unless you possess a very particular set of skills Liam Neeson would be envious of. So be prepared to sell yourself to the agency staff you interact with. And don’t assume they communicate much with each other.

2. I just meant specific experience that would match a job description. Like lathe polisher or international sales.

Best of luck.

[NomDeForum]

If you can hint at what sorts of work you’d be open to, that might give others more ideas about advice you might benefit from.

Well, that's the key question, isn't it? It's also where my conundrum lies.

Because the industry I've worked in exclusively for more than 25 years is declining and my main skill is therefore not as widely sought and valued as once it was, I am confronted suddenly by the prospect of doing something completely new. The idea of starting afresh in a different field is exciting to me and I am open to it, but (i) I have been myopically focused on my current occupation for all those years and have no idea what else I could do, and (ii) all of my skills and experience are concentrated in my current occupation so I fear employers in those new fields won't be so open to me.

For example...

• Import/export: I am very interested in this field and eager to find something here. But I have zero experience.
• Finance (as per moneymatters's example): Seems like an exciting sector to work in, and I'd certainly be interested. But I have zero experience.
• IT: Seems like an exciting sector to work in, and I'd certainly be interested. But I have zero experience.

Incidentally, my Japanese is close to native level, I am comfortable in typical "Japan Inc." corporate settings, I have experience running a (small) business, and I live in Kansai.