JAC Recruitment India opens second office in Bengaluru

JAC Recruitment India has established its second office in Bengaluru to provide greater assistance to companies with Japanese operations in the southern region of India.

“We’re always looking at ways we can support our clients with their business and expansion plans,” said Adil Driouech, Group MD, JAC Group (Ex-Japan).

JAC Recruitment India is a specialist recruitment firm that supports clients through permanent hiring and client advisory across a range of industries, including chemicals, manufacturing, industrial, textiles, consumer goods, engineering, construction, logistics, IT supply chain, trading, and healthcare.

Its first office was established in Gurgaon in March 2014 and is managed by Kazuo Komaki, MD of JAC’s operations in India. Komaki will also manage the Bengaluru operation.

Hire for potential for long-term success: Robert Walters

When recruiters hire for potential in Southeast Asia, 94% of their hires are retained in their jobs. Yet nearly half (42%) of all hiring managers in the region remain reluctant to evolve their recruitment strategies beyond hiring based solely on experience, despite the resources required to recruit, evaluate and subsequently manage employees who are not a good fit.

These findings are based on Grow your Talent, Hire Based on Potential, a guide released by Robert Walters in October 2019. The guide offers insights on the motivations and results behind hiring for potential as a long-term strategy towards talent growth. Over 3,000 respondents, including hiring managers and professionals from six countries, shared their views.

Across the region, respondents cited a preference for candidates who can pick up work immediately, the technical nature of the role, and the lack of knowhow to evaluate the person’s potential as key reasons for not hiring high-potential professionals. The research has found that a significant number (42%) of hiring managers have never hired a high-potential candidate because they lack the 'right' experience. Further, about one in three (30%) respondents believe that a candidate with the right qualifications and experience will eventually show up.

While relevant experience is perceived to be of top priority during recruitment, the ability to deliver satisfactory work, display a good work attitude, and adapt to company culture are valued more highly in the workplace, according to Robert Walters.

“Vying for top talent will be an everyday occurrence as companies accelerate in their digital transformation journeys. This includes a sustained demand for professionals with skillsets such as in tech-related areas that may not have existed in as little as a decade ago. As companies become more competitive about attract the right talent, they are moving beyond adjusting compensation packages to consider longer term and sustainable strategies,” said Ling Xiang Lee, Manager of Sales and Marketing, Robert Walters.

In Singapore, over 65% of companies took at least two months to fill a position. Yet one in three of those hired did not work out, with 47% taking three months to over a year to reach a mutual decision that the employee was not the right fit. For those who hired high-potential candidates, 96% proved to be quality hires. On the other hand, hiring managers who had not hired a candidate based on potential were mostly unable to find the right opportunity (38%), although nearly one in 10 (8%) were not keen to consider the option at all.

Successful respondents said that top traits that hiring managers look out for are the willingness to learn, the motivation to take up the job and succeed in the role, and engagement (a perceived level of enthusiasm and dedication towards the job).

Faced with a shrinking pool of talent who have in-demand skillsets, hiring managers continue to place having relevant experience (64%) as the most important criteria. This is followed by the candidate’s ability to learn quickly (57%), soft skills exhibited (48%) and if they seemed aligned with the company’s culture (44%).

Having relevant experience, while commonly viewed as important at the recruitment stage, however proved to be less of a deciding factor in measuring the quality of hire. Top reasons cited for determining a bad hire include the failure to deliver satisfactory work (31%), a less-than-desired work attitude (23%), and the inability to adapt to the company’s culture (20%). Only 8% of respondents attributed the lack of relevant skills, knowledge or expertise as a reason for a hire that did not work out.

“Candidates who show strong potential may lack some of the job requirements, skillsets, industry knowledge or experience within a role, but demonstrate a positive learning attitude and aptitude, and fits well with your team. By hiring by potential and providing them with the support and training to grow, businesses will find that in the long run, they gain employees who are not only skilled, but also loyal, resourceful and motivated,” added Ling.

The guide suggests that companies can identify what is crucial or secondary requirements to the role, ensure a realistic job description, look out for signs of opportunities or progress in the candidate’s job experience, and engage the expertise of recruitment consultants, especially in hiring talent with niche skillsets.

Glassdoor shares list of top-rated companies for culture and values

Glassdoor has announced its report of the Top 25 Companies for Culture & Values, based on workplace insights shared by employees. Recognisable names in Asia Pacific include:

Twitter, which tops the list with a rating of 4.5* and the comment "the best place I have ever worked".

Rated no. 2 is PR agency Edelman, rated 4.4, which one employee says is "the only agency I will ever work for". Google was ranked no. 3 and also scored 4.4. It is called "an amazing company to work for" by one reviewer.

Riverbed is no. 4, with a score of 4.3. Facebook is rated 5th with the same score and National Instruments is 8th with a score of 4.2.

Apple is in 15th place and Nike is 16th; both scored 4.1. Disney is next at 17th, Citrix is 19th and Adobe is in 20th place; these three scored 4.0.

View the full list of 25 here.

*A rating of 4.01 or higher is equivalent to 'very satisfied'.

Ten percent of job candidates in Asia Pacific lie: First Advantage

First Advantage, a background verification company, has revealed that more than 10% of resumes received from Asia Pacific candidates contain some form of discrepancy. The problem is worse in Australia where 12% of all candidates were found to have major discrepancies in their CVs. A higher number of Australian candidates were found to have alerts on criminal and employment checks as compared to the other countries, the company said.

First Advantage advises companies to perform screening not just for industry compliance, to ensure competency, and to protect themselves against physical, legal and financial risk, but also for brand reputation. According to the company:

• One in 11 candidates misrepresents their last job title/designation 
• One in 14 shows a variance in the reasons for leaving a past job. Examples include an applicant who indicated he resigned due to “personal reasons” but when background checks were conducted, it was found that a candidate was asked to leave for “poor performance.”
• One in 25 searches identified a lower previous salary than listed on the application, with First Advantage saying that the discrepancies could be an effort by a candidate to obtain a higher salary offer from the new employer.

To manage people risks and strengthen organisations background screening processes, First Advantage offers the following guidelines:

Verify at the source
Establish strong relationships with various entities including education institutions and employers. Evaluate your internal resources to follow a strict pre-approved process, conduct the verifications in a consistent manner from person to person, and document the attempts and results.

Adhere to compliance and local privacy lawsBackground screening involves collection and transmission of personal information across borders. Checks are subject to data protection and privacy laws of many countries. These laws are dynamic and subject to changes. Develop a mechanism to be abreast of latest laws in your candidates’ source country.

Determine the number/type of checks to conductAsia Pacific employers conducting six or more checks are 11 times more likely to uncover a discrepancy as compared to those who conduct two checks. Decide what screening components make the most sense based on the position being filled. Determine what data restrictions or limitations and employment screening guidelines are in effect within the country being searched.

Get a 'one-world' viewUse advanced online technologies to help juggle multiple language differences, time zones, local restrictions, country guidelines on data privacy and manage multiple logins, passwords and reports for separate websites. Some screening providers unify all screening activities under one login and password. A screening provider with more branch offices and employees around the world will better understand local cultures, resources and regulations, minimising risk.

Travelauto to offer limo service rentals next

Travelauto.com, a car rental portal, expects to launch its global limo service product in July. Bookings for chauffeured limousines will be made available in the United Arab Emirates and subsequently to the rest of the countries it serves, including Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, and Thailand.

Source: Travelauto.com website.

According to Travelauto.com, identifying reliable limo services has not been easy. With this service, businesses will be able to book limo services for international visitors from a list of chauffeur-driven service providers and refer to reviews from actual users. 

Said V Chandra Mouli, Founder and CEO of Travelauto Middle-East: "Travelauto has been recognised for its first class car rental customer support, with 90% of customers returning to book a car hire."

The worst words to include in your resume: CareerBuilder

Nearly seven in ten (68%) of hiring managers spend under 2 minutes reviewing resumes, according to a CareerBuilder survey, making word choice crucial for job candidates. 

"Hiring managers prefer strong action words that define specific experience, skills and accomplishments," said Rosemary Haefner, VP of human resources at CareerBuilder. 

"Subjective terms and cliches are seen as negative because they don't convey real information. For instance, don't say you are 'results-driven'; show the employer your actual results." 


The Best Resume Terms

1. Achieved: 52% 
2. Improved: 48% 
3. Trained/Mentored: 47% 
4. Managed: 44% 
5. Created: 43% 
6. Resolved: 40% 
7. Volunteered: 35% 
8. Influenced: 29% 
9. Increased/Decreased: 28% 
10. Ideas: 27%

 The Worst Resume Terms

1. Best of breed: 38% 
2. Go-getter: 27% 
3. Think outside of the box: 26% 
4. Synergy: 22% 
5. Go-to person: 22% 
6. Thought leadership: 16% 
7. Value add: 16% 
8. Results-driven: 16% 
9. Team player: 15% 
10. Bottom-line: 14%

CareerBuilder helps companies target and attract talent, and operates in the US, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia.

*The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from November 6 to December 2, 2013, and included a representative sample of 2,201 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes in the US.