Daijob.com is Japan's definitive job site for multilingual professionals.

—When did you first come to Japan? After graduating from university, I joined Dell Technologies in Ireland. My role as an analyst for the Global Business division was a fulfilling one. However, I was 22 or 23 years old at that time. I wanted to broaden my horizons and have various experiences, so I initially stayed in Japan for 10 days for sightseeing. I went around Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Shizuoka, Tokyo, etc., and returned to Ireland, but then I wanted to stay in Japan not as a tourist, but instead as a resident, so I subsequently returned to Japan to work as an English teacher.

—What problems did you encounter while starting work in Japan? I started working as an English teacher in Japan, and there were days where I had just 100 yen instant cup noodles for dinner. However, I originally didn't have a background in teaching English, and additionally I was not giving up on a return to a career where I could apply the business experience I had gained during my time in Ireland. I have never been afraid of so-called "MENDOKUSAI（troublesome）" things when working in a country or culture different from my home country, as I have always lived life whilst having a big overall perspective on life itself. After that, I became involved in the human resource industry by changing jobs to a career in Persol, which led to my current position in Cornerstone. I sometimes encounter "TAIHEN（tough）" things when I work, but I always think positively and live my life and work in Japan while enjoying living here. I am now commuting to work in a crowded train, and sometimes the streets are also very crowded, but on the other hand living here is also very safe and convenient at the same time. Delicious food is also easily available, and we are able to live a very fulfilling life.

—Please tell us the reason why you joined "Cornerstone” In the human resources industry, I had been advancing my career from a consultant to a consultant manager, but I wanted to be more responsible for recruiting important employees and developing teams for the management of my company's organization. When we were told by our founders Matt and Alex about joining Cornerstone, the visions that they had included many of the things I wanted to work on as my next steps. They want to be the best global recruitment agency in Japan. For me, becoming a director in Cornerstone has led me to bear a crucial responsibility toward a bigger vision than my previous career, but I decided to gladly seize this great opportunity.

—What is your day-to-day work like? I am currently managing two divisions: the Life Sciences Division and the Industrial Division. My main task is to support consultants in each division so that they can provide the best services to clients and job seekers. Our consultant members have devised several strategic business plans for aspects that might not be as readily visible to our clients and job seekers. We match our clients to the most suitable candidate for their positions, as we are constantly adding to a deep understanding of the motivation and skills of job seekers for their careers, and at the same time having numerous dialogues with our clients. Our consultants are very career-oriented, enthusiastic, and always seek to be talented recruiters. I am giving advice to them while making use of my own know-how and successful experiences.

—Currently, you are also recruiting people with no experience as consultants, but how will you train and educate inexperienced recruits? We are also enhancing our training to work professionally as a consultant, and we also have a lot of experienced consultant managers who are specialized in each field. We are introducing candidates to all industries, so I think even if you have experience as a consultant, you may be in charge of an industry in which you have little prior experience in. Even in such cases, we have the resources to ensure that work can be done, and we have the information necessary to provide excellent services. We are eagerly awaiting applications from those who want to progress their careers as a consultant.

—How do you plan to structure the organization in the future? During 2022, we plan to increase the number of members, particularly in the "industry" department. We intend to focus on and recruit bright consultants in areas such as automobiles, chemicals, and semiconductors. I'm also looking forward to receiving applications from Daijob.com registrants. The Industrial and Life Sciences divisions currently have eight employees in total in the two divisions, but we intend to expand this to more than 20 teams (as of January 2022) in 2023.

—What can you expect to experience in Cornerstone? We are based in Japan, but we also have a lot of clients overseas. And we do a lot of research on the recruitment industry overseas as well. I can explain and coordinate the differences between the Japanese recruitment market and their respective countries to clients who have been in charge of recruitment in Japan from Australia, China, the U.S. Europe, and etc.. The better the job seeker, the more difficult it tends to be for companies to recruit, but if they implement the right recruitment strategy, they can recruit candidates that match their desired job descriptions. Job seekers can also provide a wealth of information about the industry and post-employment jobs.
Consultants will be involved in companies and job seekers in a variety of industries, but our existing members are more than willing to teach and learn from one another on the various challenges that they face. This is an environment in which they can demonstrate an extremely high level of performance, even if their backgrounds are different from those of other members.

—In your opinion, what are the advantages of being part of Cornerstone? Without being a member of Cornerstone, I think it would have been difficult to grow the company so quickly. We are accelerating the pace of growth by continuing to attract and retain high-caliber people within the company. We are committed to becoming the best recruitment agency in Japan, and we want to be a recruitment partner that is continuously selected by our clients. I want to work with people who want to succeed in the human resources industry, people who want to be a member of a rapidly growing company, and people who want to grow together with us.

—Please give advice to those who want to play an active role on the global stage. This is a message based on my experience of visiting Japan from Ireland and jumping into the human resources industry, to whom I am a person today. Please consider from a broad perspective the various careers and jobs that are available today, and please do not shut the door of opportunity by your own hand. Seriously rethink what you really want to achieve in life, and try to come across a company that will draw out some seriously wonderful ideas from within you. And of course, there is every possibility that the company might just be Cornerstone.