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
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.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!

I had the good fortune to be invited to participate in the 2014 After JET Conference's Career Panel which was held at the Pacifico Yokohama (Yokohama, Japan) on February 21st.