If it were you, which company would you choose?
We have some pretty good client companies here at DS Recruit, and candidates often end up with a choice between two or three companies when they work with us.
I usually can’t answer that question as the candidate is pretty much always in a different situation in their career and they have different aims, experience and skills to me.
Over the next three weeks, I will outline the advantages of the three different sized companies in the Japan market. This week I will look at boutique recruitment firms and the advantages of working in one.
Better Commissions
Generally, in order to attract people to work for them, boutiques often have to pay out better commission rates. They are also able to do this as they have less fixed overheads than larger firms, and they are privately owned, so the money usually goes back into the business as opposed to being passed up the chain to the parent company or shareholders.
More Autonomy
A boutique company is likely to give the consultant more flexibility in the way they work, with less of a focus on KPIs than a larger firm.
The large firms are successful because they have a set way of doing recruitment which works for them. Unfortunately, if the consultant does not fit the company style, they generally have no way to change the work style. Boutique firms often have their own ‘personality’ and the consultant will have the ability to do things their way, including more flexible hours and the ability to work remotely.
Specialization
Most of the boutique firms will be specialized in one coverage, like IT, Consumer, or Legal. This means everyone in the company is working the same industry and has knowledge and experience in that space. Legal is a good example of where the boutiques tend to do much better than the big companies here in Japan
More Coverage
What’s that you say? The last paragraph said boutiques were specialized.
We see it time and again that recruiters who are specialized and experts in their space have more success than people who cover any role that their clients ask them to do. This is where the big companies have their success. However, they also tend to have strict rules about what roles the consultant can do. In a boutique, the consultant can do roles outside their specialization if they have a candidate (This is only advisable if they actually have suitable candidates). As an example, in a big company, the consultant may focus on technical roles, but they come across a really good sales candidate who is a match for an open role with their client. In a boutique, they can place this candidate, but in a big company, they may have to give this candidate up to someone on a different team.
The Managers Bill
In many good boutiques, the managers are usually the owners, and they are still billing and hands on in the business. A reason we get from candidates about why they are looking for a new role is that their boss hasn’t billed for a few years and their ideas are out of date. In boutiques, your development generally comes from working alongside more senior recruiters who are still successful and on top of their game. Another benefit of having a billing manager is that your targets don’t require you to cover their cost.
Being Valued
I had a conversation with a client at a boutique about why he was constantly rejecting our candidates who were being hired elsewhere. He had experience in a large corporate and his reasoning was that because the boutique was small, getting the right person was vital. His experience was that in the large company they could be more flexible in who they hired as if the candidate didn’t work out, they could comfortably bring someone new in. In the boutique, they have to get the hiring right as the consultant is a vital part of the company and continuing success. Rightly or wrongly, we get a lot of candidates who want a change because they don’t feel valued in their current role in a larger company.
Growing with the company
Many boutiques aim to grow over time, and if you get in during the early phases, some companies can give you the chance for equity, giving you some skin in the game. For a lot of consultants, the challenge of growing a business is exciting and what drives them.
Born in Japan
Most of the time, boutique companies in Japan are started by recruiters who have experience in Japan. The great benefit of this is that the owners and managers understand that Japan is a different market and things need to be done differently here. What works in London, Singapore, Hong Kong or Sydney does not necessarily work here, and in many cases doesn’t work at all. Often larger firms coming to Japan don’t get this and have unrealistic expectations on activity and the lead time to get results. Usually in a boutique started here, the management know what works in Japan.
We work with some great boutique recruitment companies in Japan here at DS Recruit. Let us know if you want a chat about how we can find the boutique that is right for you
Next week, we will look at the flip side, and the benefits of working for a large international recruitment firm