Q&A

About Headhunting

What is the difference between a recruiting firm and headhunting firm?

The main difference is the active vs passive nature of the candidates that will be introduced. In the case of a recruiting firm, active job seekers who wish to change jobs register themselves with a company that matches them with jobs based on the information in their database. The target candidates are mainly those actively hunting for a new job, which is a limited pool of about 5% of the workforce. Headhunting companies, on the other hand, search and scout for talent that matches the company’s requirements. The target is mainly from passive candidates who are not looking for a new job. Our team of researchers and consultants work together to find and approach potential candidates using a variety of methods, and introduce them to companies. This enables us to find and hire the best candidates in all markets.

The second difference is the focus on the candidate vs focus on the client. Recruitment agencies match companies and job seekers by proposing multiple companies to job seekers with the aim of getting them hired by one of them. The goal is to have multiple companies interested in hiring a single candidate with the aim to get a candidate hired, resulting in a low and unpredictable success rate of hiring. This system can be advantageous for large companies with well-known brand names. Headhunters, on the other hand, are strongly committed to the client company’s hiring process and conduct searches by focusing their efforts on finding the best candidate to join the client company. This difference in the way we introduce talent is one of the reasons that headhunting services have a higher success rate than recruiting services.

When is headhunting most effective?

Headhunting is effective for roles in which there are few appropriate applications from regular agents or in-house recruiters. Headhunting is recommended for confidential positions such as replacements or for new business launches. Headhunting is also suitable for cases where it is difficult to secure talented people or to attract talented people who cannot, or should not, be reached by in-house recruitment.

What are the disadvantages of headhunting?

Compared to registered recruitment services that introduce active job seekers from a database, it will take more time to conduct research to identify target candidates. In addition, when encouraging a passive candidate who has no intention of changing jobs at the time of engagement, it takes more effort and care to secure a decision and change to the company. It may also take more time for a passive candidate to transfer their job responsibilities. However, the investment in a passive candidate over an active job seeker usually always pays off in terms of commitment and business impact.

About RYZE’s Service

What makes the candidates from Ryze different from other headhunting firms?

One of our strengths is the wide range of candidates we can contact. Large headhunting firms have a very large off-limit (no-go zone) for pulling candidates from the companies with which they have contracts. However, since we do not work with large companies, we have a wider range of candidates to approach, allowing us to find the best candidates from the market. In general, it may seem that larger firms dominate the market with benefits to their clients, but this is not really the case for quality recruiting in the headhunting industry.

What if the open role has proven very difficult?

Difficult projects are our specialty, and we have a great deal of experience in this area. One of the reasons for our strength in difficult-to-fill positions is that we receive a relatively large number of requests for difficult jobs, particularly executive, sales, and technical positions at innovative foreign companies, and we have a wealth of experience in handling such requests. Because we are targeting passive and pin-point talent, we are able to achieve a high rate of success in recruiting. If you are unable to hire the personnel you are looking for through normal recruitment methods, or if you are considering new recruitment methods in order to acquire more talented personnel, please contact us regardless of the type of job.

Can you persuade someone who has no intention of changing jobs?

Working with passive candidates is our passion and our speciality. We have an excellent track record and long history in the human resources industry, and our success rate is much higher than that of ordinary recruitment agencies. Our consultants will be happy to provide you with more details.

How long does it take from the start of the search to an offer?

On average it takes about 2 months to start from scratch to the offer stage and one more month for the resignation period. So on average it takes 3 months until the candidate starts at your company. The timing varies depending on the search difficulty, internal processes and individual timelines. However in the case of an already identified target candidate the time required for the search is reduced by about one month compared to a full search.

Is it possible to recruit and conduct a search without disclosing the name of my company?

Yes, it is possible to do a confidential search.
We have many years of experience in this area and some clients request us to keep the search secret. There are various reasons for this with the disadvantages of disclosure being greater due to the nature of the position. Typical examples include launching a new business or service and replacement of an executive.
This type of recruitment is not suitable for public postings such as an advertisement on a company’s website or a job site. Therefore it is not easy to entrust this confidential search to a general recruitment agency with unsuitable and non-tailored search methods. We handle confidential searches with great sensitivity and do not disclose the name of the client company when we contact the candidates.
When a suitable candidate becomes interested in the assignment and requests a meeting with the client company, we will then disclose the name of the client company along with their promise of confidentiality.

What happens if a hired employee leaves the company in a short period of time?

We will refund the contingency fee within a certain period of time. Please contact us directly for the detailed period and refund amount.

However, the percentage of headhunted personnel who leave in short timeframes is extremely low. We place special emphasis on this point because the ultimate success of our headhunting activities is the retention and success of the placed candidate. We do have a money-back policy as a contingency guarantee, but you can rest assured that there is almost no turnover in the first place.

Do you provide services for industries and job types other than those listed on your website?

Yes, we do. We can handle basically any position in technology-related companies. If you are looking for a position in a non-technology company, we can help you with legal, finance, etc. through our headhunting partners.

Do you provide services outside of Japan?

Yes, we will work regardless of the location and do work on searches in Japan and around the world. We receive many requests from clients in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, as telework has been progressing recently, we are seeing an increase in candidates from outside of Tokyo and from overseas.

Is your recruiting service only for international companies?

We support both Japanese and international companies with their recruiting needs.