BEING AN EXECUTIVE RECRUITER: PROS AND CONS, PLEASE

Hi everyone,

I came to Japan for my MSc program as a MEXT scholar at a national university. Although I studied Chemistry during my bachelor’s, I worked as a business developer for a mid-size hospitality firm in my country and a career consulting firm as a recruiter. I later realised I performed well in business/operations/strategy and its likes. Nevertheless, I kept up with modern developments in the Biotech industry, which I found fascinating. So, when the MEXT opportunity came calling, I applied, and as they say, it is history.

Months into the program, I feel disenchanted and distraught as it is not what I enjoy, unlike business strategy. Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the classes and breeze through them. However, I find the laboratory tasks too boring and slow compared to sales, developing profitable strategies for a business unit, adverts and ultimately, making good money.

My supervisor is retiring soon, and it is expected I cannot conduct a PhD in his lab. So, I have to apply to another lab with a much younger professor whose research theme aligns with mine. As a tradition in MEXT, I am offered the Ph.D. scholarship opportunity subject to necessary examinations and interviews. But I have the first right of refusal. If I decline the offer, I won’t be able to apply to anything MEXT for three years. The issue isn’t really the exclusion from MEXT offers but the reality of doing something I really don’t enjoy for three more years. My parents wish/desire me to do a PhD, but I must be honest, I am not mentally prepared to do it even for free. To illustrate this, I am willing to pay for an MBA at Hitotsubashi University rather than do a Ph.D. for free at this national university.

Based on my skill set (I worked for over four years, including exiting a rental start-up I started with a friend during my third year so I could focus on my academics), I am interested in working as an executive recruiter. From my basic search, many lampoon it, but some praise it as a path to earn good money.

Due to my ignorance of the industry, I would like to know what it is like to be an executive recruiter? Which firms do you recommend, names if possible. Large or boutiques? What are the exit options like? Can one transition into corporate/in-house recruiting for large or foreign-focused Japanese firms? Judging from the tradition of applying during the penultimate year to graduation, when is the right time to apply to executive recruiting firms, foreign or Japanese? What is the timeline like from application to an eventual offer?

What about working for the core recruiting firms owned by the Japanese, which focus squarely on the Japanese market? I have N4 and can hit N3 at least and N2 at most before I graduate. I might not get into those large executive recruiting firms now due to my poor language skills, but could this be possible after working for foreign-owned firms? What about getting into global firms like Heidrick & Struggles?

I know what it is to be in sales and business development. I know how to sell ice to an Eskimo or sand to those in the Sahara. I like the energy knowing the financial returns it brings, and I yearn for it. I wish to enter such.

My university is an imperial university, and I am from the developing world (non-East Asian), if that counts for anything.

Thank you.