Episode 50

full
Published on:

1st Jun 2024

Demystifying Japan's Recruitment Landscape, with David Chong

On the latest episode of the podcast FocusCore Managing Director, Simon Jelfs, interviews FocusCore’s Singapore Director, David Chong. David has over 17 years talent acquisition experience across internal TA roles, RPO, and Recruitment Agency. He has lived and worked in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and China. In this discussion David Chong shares with us some of his vast knowledge of recruitment, both internally and externally, and explores the current recruitment landscape in Japan, and internationally.

In this episode you will hear:

  • What made David Chong join the FocusCore team
  • Why Japan's recruitment landscape can be a mystery to international recruiters
  • Advice for hiring top talent in Japan and Singapore
  • The importance of trust and communication when recruiting
  • Common pitfalls for those pursuing a career in Talent Acquisition
  • Keys to building a great team

About David Chong:

David started his recruitment career in Tokyo covering Accounting and Finance. By now he has over 17 years Talent Acquisition experience across agency, internal function, and RPO, gained from working in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Singapore. He has a proven track record to implement and improve Talent Acquisition function, lead delivery, and sourcing. 

At Toll Group (a Japan Post company), David implemented a new RPO across APAC, EMEA & USA. Partnering with multiple stakeholders, he led process simplification and increased productivity across the team of 22 recruiters. To help build the Toll digital brand and talent communities, David optimized sourcing strategy via job boards and social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and WeChat.

At Pall Corporation (a Danaher company), David led the APAC Talent Acquisition RPO team in direct sourcing across China, India, Japan, Korea, Australia, and Southeast Asia. To align with Danaher practice, he helped rollout change management in Talent Acquisition Processes & Systems and promoted Diversity & Inclusion policies.

David is Singaporean and holds an MBA from University of Southern California and MIS degree from University of Washington. He was born in Malaysia, and has lived in Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, and USA. He speaks fluent English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and basic Japanese.


Connect with David Chong:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidchongy


Connect with David Sweet:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavidsweet/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/focuscorejp 

Facebook: :https://www.facebook.com/focuscoreasia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/focuscorejp/ 

Website: https://www.japan.focuscoregroup.com/ 




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About the Podcast

The FocusCore Podcast
Meet interesting and inspiring and entertaining people who show why Japan is a unique, fulfilling and sometimes frustrating place to do business.
We will discuss how to hire, train and retain talent. How to create values that motivate, and review best practices that have worked and attempts that have failed. David will be speaking to company presidents, CEOs, CFOs, HR professionals, coaches, consultants as well as sharing with you some of my own experiences and opinions discovered over the years in this great country.
The focus is simple: To explore how to succeed in business in Japan.

About your host

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David Sweet