YES! Though I spend most of my time focused on a small group of HPLs, I always want to help people move forward with their careers. As time is my most precious resource, I've created a high-focused and highly-efficient 30 Minute Career Blast to help everyone find work they love (details in #4 below).

The most important thing I want to communicate to you is that I sincerely want to help everybody, but have had to create structure around what I do to maximize my effectiveness.

I understand that not everybody will qualify for the HPL group and not everybody wants to. I believe that we all have a path in life and they are all different. Over the years of working in recruiting and running my own business prior to that, I've spoken with thousands of people about their hopes, dreams, and ambitions and not one person is the same.

What I try to do in my work is to help people identify what they can do to make their way forward that is in alignment with those hopes, dreams and ambitions and to help them get where they want to go. The 30 Minute Career Blast is just one step in the process and I hope to be able to help you the best I can.

My strongest areas are advertising, marketing, sales, and mobile technology. Over the years I have built up a knowledge and contact base in these areas that helps me be effective in working with people to identify opportunities, develop strategies, and in some cases land a great job in these fields.

The other practice area which I am developing for the future is building teams for green/cleantech companies commercializing their products in Japan. My undergraduate degree is in Environmental Studies and I'm finally seeing a viable opportunity to combine my two passions of recruiting and environmental solutions as real markets emerge in energy, water treatment, waste management, construction, transportation etc.

I also work with motivated people in all other disciplines, as I'm able to leverage my client network, contact network, and my excellent colleagues at Robert Leonard Consulting to help job-seekers in almost any area.

Yes. Having been in the Japanese market since 1985 I have seen a dramatic shift in the shrinking of job opportunities for those people with limited Japanese language skills. These days candidates without JLPT Level 1 or Level 2 skills have limited job opportunities compared to the past with only a few exceptions.

It is especially hard for non-Japanese to get jobs via recruitment channels except at very senior levels where having interpreters is financially viable. 90% of my placement activity is focused on bilingual native-Japanese speakers. The other 10% is on senior-level leaders who have a track record of success in Japan regardless of their language skills.

For anyone who aspires to a long-term career in Japan, I strongly urge them to develop JLPT Level 1 or 2 language skills. Not only will this enhance job options, but I think it also enhances your experience while you're living here.

Having said all that, I understand that there are exceptions to this and many people have figured out how to have some really interesting careers here. Don't let your lack of Japanese skills deter you, just understand how that impacts your options here and how recruiters may not always be the best channel for job hunting.

To get a feel for jobs available for non-native speakers, one good way is to monitor the online job sites that focus on bilinguals:

www.careercross.com
www.daijob.com
www.ecentral.jp

This will give you a good idea of what job requirements are and where the demands are for non-native speakers.

I created the 30 Minute Career Blast to provide the maximum amount of support for you in a short 30 minute meeting either on the telephone or in person. As a result of the meeting you should get the following:

• Clarity on your career development path
• More understanding of your professional strengths
• Strategies for reaching your career goals
• Next steps for real job opportunities

Though I am spending 80% of my time on my HPL group (see High-Performance Leader FAQ section for details), I'm blocking out 4-5 days a month for doing 30 Minute Career Blast for people who are starting to think about a career move and want to speak with me to make sure they're planning/doing the right things for success.

In general, I'll do phone and in-person meetings every Friday and, for those who can't get away from their office during weekdays, one Saturday per month.

The Friday sessions will be by phone, in my office in Yotsuya, or at the FCCJ café in Yurakucho. The Saturday sessions will be by phone or in Machiya, Arakawa-ku where I live.

The format is simple....in the first 15 minutes of the session we'll go over 5 core questions to get an understanding of where you are at and where you want to go and in the next 15 minutes you can ask questions while we discuss specific steps to take for your future career development.

For the worksheet we'll use for this, please see the PDF here:

http://www.garybremermann.com/30_Minute_Career_Blast.pdf

I have created an automated calendaring scheduling system which lists my availability and locations. I'll send you the link to the calendar after receiving your request for a 30 Minute Career Blast. All you need to do is check the calendar and send me an email with your requested date/time and we're all set.

Yes, if I cannot help you directly or don't have an immediate open position for you I will do my very best to refer you to a qualified professional recruiter who specializes in your industry.

I work with a really great team of trustworthy recruiters at Robert Leonard Consulting who cover IT, Automotive, Accounting, Entertainment, Fashion, Consumer Goods, etc. and I'm always happy to get you connected with them.

I also know a handful of really good recruiters from other firms who I am comfortable referring people to.

Yes, referrals are the foundation of my business and I always appreciate being introduced to talented and motivated bilingual professionals. I always do my very best to be helpful to everyone who comes into contact with me.

Please note that sometimes I get overwhelmed by incoming email so sometimes it can take time for me to follow up, but I do attempt to reply to mail as much as humanly possible.

My email address is gary(at)robertleonard.jp

If you or someone you know has sent me a mail and I didn't reply, I sincerely apologize. Please go ahead and re-send it to me with the words "Re-Send" in the subject line and I'll be sure to take care of it.