James will speaking on the very timely and important career-related topic of "I'm 40 Now! Is It Really Game Over For Me In Japan's Job Market?" at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on November 20th.

Arguably no group of job seekers has been more negatively affected by this brutal reality than 40+ year old job seekers.

Many job seekers are shocked to find this is the reality not only in the broader US economy but even in vaunted Silicon Valley which is the supposed Mecca of open-mindedness and where, we are told, a meritocracy has reigned for decades.

And yet, for how bad it is in the US and even Silicon Valley, 40+ year old job seekers soon come to find that it's often much, much worse in Japan. Terrible. Impossibly frustrating. Depressing. These are words that come to mind when seeking employment in Japan as a 40+ year old candidate.

But how can this be the case in Japan, when Japan still has an economy which is the 3rd largest economy in the world and which is moving to further internationalize its businesses as rapidly as possible in the face of both falling domestic demand and a severe shortage of experienced workers.

The bottom line is this: 

Older, deeply experienced job seekers quickly run into five (5) seemingly insurmountable brick walls.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


We hear a lot these days about the supposed value of being a "digital native" (defined as a person born or brought up during the age of digital technology;  familiarized with computers and the Internet from an early age) as though being a digital native will automatically bring value to a hiring company.

Well, I'm here to tell you that a "digital native" is most often  a flat out nothing.

What, why? How can you say that? 

Because being a "native" doesn't mean the individual competent at the skill to which they claim to be native.

Doubt that?

Well, consider how the communicative efficacy of the English speakers we all know or have heard who claim to be "native speakers".

The problem with the "digital native" moniker is that most of the folks this applies to only have experience sole as digital consumers.

They no experience or only very limited experience as digital producers.

They don't possess digital competency in general and more specifically they don't possess digital competency in a business context.

They are competent at perhaps locating an app in iTunes or Google Play, installing it and then using it among friends for fun.

But can they write production quality code? No.

Can they design, run, analyze, interpret and improve an online marketing campaign? Heck no.

Can they troubleshoot or debug a software or hardware problem? Nope.

The answer is most likely no, no, no.

The bottom line is that signing up for a twitter account to tweet your college ski trip is not the same as creating a twitter campaign for a fashion brand let alone an integrated multi-phase marketing program for said fashion brand.

There is good news, so hang tight.

The good news is that for those digital natives that do go beyond the install, that take the time to look under the hood, that actually remove the valve covers and look at the source code or to work to apply these tools in a business context to satisfy real world use cases, well, those digital natives are worth their weight in gold as they are as rare as an honest politician. They can write their own tickets and would be welcome just about anywhere.

So stop thinking being a digital native is enough. It isn't. A digital native is just a fancy word for a digital consumer.

Strive to be a digital producer. Be a digital creator. Be a digital expert.

Think about it. 

You can thank me later.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


Who do I find to be among my most appreciative clients?

Well, I've noticed that for the individual career or executive coaching clients (as opposed to group-based skills training), the most appreciative clients (based on the feedback as well as unexpected gifts and dinners I've received) fall into broad two categories.

1. The Long-term Unemployed and the Chronically Underemployed.

These are clients who often have all but given up hope or who feel that their lives and careers are now on a depressingly difficult linear path.

I find that there's nothing like working to assess their situations, take a skills inventory, develop a gap analysis and then tear down and rebuild them from the ground up, equipping them to not just land "suitable employment" but to land a job that puts them back in the "race" or to where they were supposed to be before they hit difficult times.

2. The Victims or Targets of Office Bullying and Office Politics.

There's two aspects to this.

One aspect is helping the victim to carve out some breathing room as well as develop the ability to maintain their job/income/paycheck while considering options and an action plan.  This may be to keep their job and undone the work of the bully, transfer out to a new group or division or move on to a new company.

The second aspect, and I must say my favorite aspect, is working with a client to efficiently and effectively take out the office bully or politicker. This often entails setting snares, traps and/or pitfalls whereby the bully or politicker is hanged by their own petard.

This most often resolves itself when. using the proper techniques and methods, the bully or politicker has their actions exposed and/or reputation ruined (due to their own actions). In other cases, we'll see the bully or politicker fired or, of their own accord, they will see that there is no future and promptly leave of their own accord.

I have had great success with this across industries from high-tech, startups, pharma, medical devices, banking, insurance, commercial real estate brokeragess to fashion and luxury goods as well as across countries and cultures  from the US (north, south, east, west), Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, England, Germany, France and beyond.

The greatest feeling of all of this  is to enable and empower the "good guys" to win, effortlessly and completely.

After all, shouldn't the good guys win once?

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


There's a very pervasive and dangerous meme in the world today that suggests that businesses create jobs or are even "in the business of creating jobs".

Nothing could be further from the truth as Peter Drucker observed many years:

"The purpose of business is to create and keep customers."

That's it. Period.

"So what? Why should I care about this?", you may ask yourself. 

Simple.  

Because when one understands that job creation is not the goal of business but rather an extremely unwanted byproduct of creating, serving and retaining customers a powerful shift of mindset results.

The fact remains that if a company were able to, they would hire no one. There's absolutely no benefit in employing people unless the employees are creating value such as increasing revenues, creating assets or decreasing costs.

New jobs (in the private sector) are created only (in the vast majority of the cases) when a company finds that it can no longer create, serve and retain its customers with the existing workforce.

When you understand this and take this to heart, you can then make the mental shift to realize that any approach during a job search that views landing a job as either a lottery or an act of charity is doomed to always underperform if not flat out fail.

Conversely, by understanding how and why jobs are created and why companies are ultimately in business (and what keeps them there) as well as what they are not in business for (e.g.g, creating jobs), you'll have a major leg up on your competition by understanding you must Never, Ever Beg but Always Bring Value.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


Have you ever wondered why companies so often hire or overpay for the wrong talent? You know, talent that often is just terrible. 

All while you can't seem to land a job.

This presentation is from the HR or Hiring Authority's perspective but it would greatly behoove you to be aware of what so often goes on in the sausage factory, allowing you to better understand and leverage this reality for your own career benefit.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


Reader's Question:
I recently passed the interview stage for a Systems Engineer position, and they sent me an initial offer.

I found the proposed salary to be insufficient given my years of experience and level of education (M.Sc.), however; and I countered by asking for a substantial amount above what they offered.

In order to justify the increase, I mentioned how much my participation (in a technical capacity) may have contributed to revenues for past employers. Unfortunately, that was a mistake; but I was just expecting fairly straightforward negotiating.

Instead, they responded by telling me to come up with a business plan to make the same amount of money for their company.

However, I have no experience, nor interest, in the business end of things.

I'm obviously in a weakened bargaining position at this point, and I'm wondering how best to proceed without making it worse. Or better yet, turn the tables back in my favor.

Signed,
- Matthew

Ask The Career Coach's Reply

Dear Matthew,

First off, congratulations on successfully completing your interviews and receiving a written offer!

That's no small feat in today's continuing "uneven" economy.

With that said, you're now facing a common situation whereby you believe that what the hiring company is offering you in terms of compensation is below your market value or at least your expected salary.

Further, you're now seem to be feeling that you may have boxed yourself in and developed a weakened bargaining position. Perhaps there's also a tinge of a feeling that you may have pushed too hard, potentially straining your future working relationships should you accept the offer (or that it may even serve as an impetus for the company to even rescind the offer).

So let's get this straightened out.

First, let's back up and consider how offers are determined or calculated, what factors influence them and what can be done to generate the highest initial offer with the highest velocity of transaction or transactional velocity.

Salary negotiations begin the moment you contact the company.

That's right.

From the very first contact made by you (or your recruiter on your behalf if you are using one) or if it's inbound then it's contact made by them, you are imputing and signaling value -- whether you intend to or not.

Your task then is to position, package, promote, present, persuade, communicate and convey your value to the prospective employer.

Initially, through you resume, an online application, an online profile, an outbound phone call, outbound email or some combination thereof, you should be working to be seen as the "Must Meet Candidate". They must feel that they have to meet you. 
Sure, they may meet you anyways, even if they are not hot for you, but the idea is to get them hot for you by raising their buying temperature.

Next during the interview process, the purpose is to be seen as the "Must Hire Candidate". That is, they must feel that they need to hire you ASAP and bring you on board as both as a fully satisfied and as a fully engaged contributor. That will normally yield the strongest package and fastest delivered written offer.

That's the ideal scenario.

Now, more specifically to your case.

You feel that offer is too low. This raises several questions:

1. Why do you feel it is too low?
2. Upon what are you basing your argument?
3. How far apart is what you expect and what they have initially offered you?

There are many factors involved, and these may be reasonable (at least from the company's standpoint of cost minimization + production maximization) as to why they are offering you "less" than you think you are worth (or that the market is saying that you are worth).

Here a few of the more common factors involved:

1. The market has changed.
   
2. Your skills have aged.
   
3. They feel that you are a risky hire (job hopper, career damage, accumulated disadvantages, etc.)
   
4. They feel there is an abundance of qualified candidates.
5. They feel that your skills are fungible, that is, a commodity, like flour,  table salt, canned corn.
   
6. They do it because they can -- you're unemployed and have no other options. Therefore, your current salary is zip, zero, nada, zilch.
   
7. They have a hard budget number to meet.
   
8. many more.....
   

So rather than speculating this, let's look a little closer at their response to your push back. After pushing back (which can often be a very good thing as it also imputes and signals value), they asked you to justify your counter offer.

Hmmm.

Notice that they didn't say  "no", "nein", "nyet".... 
Nor did they say. "That's it, take it or leave it. This is our best offer"

They asked you to justify it.

This means they are open to your counteroffer but you need to prove it. 

Further it is a good sign in that by forcing you to justify it, they can still offer you the same initial amount if you can't justify it and not feel bad or look bad since even you were unable to justify the increased salary amount you had desired or requested.

Okay, so how specifically can you justify more money?

First, here's what not to do:

1. Don't push hard.
   
2. Don't give ultimatums.
   
3. Don't get whiny.
   
4. Don't try to value or give value to what they don't value. That is, you are thinking that a Masters degree has some intrinsic value, but if they don't value that, they don't want to pay for it.  Don't try to sell them a Mercedes if they only need a use pickup truck. That is a major mismatch or misalignment of talent and need.
   
5. Don't try to use "salary surveys" to justify it.
   

Alright, then what to do?

Glad you asked. :)

Look at the value that you will bring and then quantify that financial impact the best that you can.

I would start out like this:
"Look, I'm really interested in this position, I'm impressed with the company, I feel it's a really good fit for me and I know I can add value. I'm not here to roll you over, break any budgets or squeeze anything above my market value, but given what you are looking for and what I can provide, I'd like to be compensated for that."

"I'm not a financial whiz, I'm a system engineer and I think my track record shows I'm good at it, so I'll try to more clearly articulate the value I feel that I will bring you. Thank you for considering this."

The next part is where you need to take the difference of what they offered you and what you countered with and justify it.

You have two ways to justify it:
1. Revenues produced/ROI generated.
2. Costs reduced (minimized mistakes, increased productivity, higher quality, etc.).

Avoid Feature Focus and Spotlight Benefits Brought

Rather than stating that you have XXX years of experience as a Systems Engineer or that you have earned a Masters degree (primarily features but can serve as benefits), you are far better served to map out and align the actual benefits that these skills will bring to the company's needs (and their bottom line) and this position so that you can show the value and benefits you bring to increase revenues, increase productivity while reducing costs, decreasing risks and so on.

Case in point: 
Look at Heartbleed. Maybe your value is that you are good at testing both negative testing and regression testing and your enjoy trying to break your/others modules and so on. 

How much money would such a skill and talent like that save or have saved?

More examples:
1. XXX years of experience may mean that you can work more efficiently.

2. A Master in Computer Science may mean that you develop better product environments, write better software, etc.

Think along these lines.

And make it visual. Why not make a 2 or 3 slide document that shows just the difference of what you want.

Maybe it's a $10,000 USD difference.

Show that as $10,000 USD and then show what you'll produce and put a dollar figure on it. Ideally, show the incremental improvements of your skills as well, and hopefully you are producing an even greater amount of value above the total salary you would get when it matches your desired salary.

Hope that helps!

- James Santagata

By James Santagata
Managing Director, Career OverDrive! / SiliconEdge

Mark your calendars for this exciting, upcoming event!

(FYI: This is not a gratuitous beat down on recruiters, it's a hard-edged, constructive conversation to give job seekers the unadulterated truth along with immediately actionable, life changing information and know-how - all recruiters are more than welcome).

  The recruiting industry is notoriously opaque and riddled with informational asymmetries,  full of traps and pitfalls that can cost you dearly in terms of job opportunities, job offers, lower starting salaries and worst of all, even your reputation.

In this exciting, interactive session James will explore and then offer specific solutions to:

• What value do recruiters add to the job search besides collecting resumes?
  
• What do they do with your resume and how do they determine job fit & skill matching?
  
• What impact does local office hiring demands have on MNC operations in Japan?
  
• How can a foreigner sidestep the "language requirement" and put the focus on skills?
  
• How can a 40+ year old job seeker easily land an interview and close the deal?
  

Join James as he exposes the inner workings of the recruiting industry while guiding you to job search success.

Bring and ask your hardest or most fantastical questions on recruiters and the job search process.

James is the Founder and Managing Director of Career OverDrive!(tm) and SiliconEdge(tm) as well as Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Coaching Alliance (APCA).

He is a proven International Executive Coach and Leadership Development professional having deep US, Japan and Asia-Pacific coaching, training and consulting experience coupled with hands-on business & technical expertise. With over 20 years of industry experience, James has spent 11 of those years working in Silicon Valley for companies ranging from New Venture Start-ups to established Industry Leaders engaged in developing nascent technologies & pioneering emerging markets.

He is also the author of the forthcoming book, "Crush Any Interview!" and is a Certified Professional Coach, Certified Employment Interview Professional, Certified NLP Practitioner and has successfully completed the Corporate Human Resources Management and How To Be A Successful Trainer programs as well as the Principles of Persuasion Workshop.

Date: April 17th (Thursday)
Time: 18:30 open, 19:00 start, 20:30 end
Venue: FCCJ - The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan | Map to FCCJ
Cost*: ¥4,000 ICA members; ¥6,000 non-members.

Fun night at Mitsubishi Estate's EGG/T21C New Year's Kickoff Party (Shin-nen-kai). in Tokyo.

Heard great presentations from the Country managers of Pinterest, Box, Splunk and Millennial Media. 

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!

One of the major challenges that new or recent graduates face in landing their first professional job is not necessarily determined by what they've studied but rather by what value they can offer to a prospective employer as well as their ability to clearly communicate and convey that to the prospective employer.

It's not just that some degrees are "better" than others, it's that some degrees are either far more in demand (due to a constrained supply) OR certain degrees are
more monetizable by the firm in question.

Holding an easily or readily monetizable degree means that prospective employers don't have to spend time figuring out how to use the degree nor does the student even need to be "good" at conveying their value (of course, this is still very important and I'm speaking on a "relative" basis here).

Conversely, if a degree is not easily or readily monetizable (or it's perceived that way) and/or there is a huge supply of those particular degrees in the marketplace, then the graduate (aka job applicant) needs to turn on or develop some strong "marketing and sales" chops to ensure that they have the proper messaging and are properly packaged and presented to the employer, while clearly communicating and conveying their value.

There's more to it than that on the marketing and sales front, but these are the broad strokes that you should be thinking about and internalizing.