The land of the 100% fee

Learning from Japan

This week on The Value of Recruitment Podcast my guest is Paul Roberts of Smart Partners, a niche Tokyo-based tech recruitment agency.

Paul shares his insights into what makes the Japan market unique, including perm fees that can go up to 100% of salary.

We talk about what recruiters around the world can learn from the Japanese recruitment experience, and also discuss some universal truths around making sure clients can see the value you create, and the importance of being prepared for negotiations.

Paul opens up a very different world of recruitment to the one you might be used to, and there’s lots for us to learn as we reflect on how we work in our own markets.

You can listen to the full episode here.

Jon

P.S. I’m a huge advocate of learning how things are done in different places. On perm fees, most UK recruiters would say anything above 30% is very high. Paul shows us that some clients - in the right place, in the right situation - are willing to pay three times more than that.

I hope the episode helps your own beliefs about what’s possible. You can listen to the full episode here.

Bonus content: Paul writes an excellent newsletter on life and jobs in Japan. If you want a deeper look at recruiting in a different culture, sign up here. (It’s also a great example of how recruiters can engage with their audience beyond posting jobs).