Vol.10 – A Recruiter Nurturing Trust and Bonds in a Multicultural World
Today we met with Tomoki Kawaida, to talk about his 2-year career so far at Centre People. As one of the first consultants to join the Netherlands office, we wanted to get his thoughts on the cultural differences between Japan his new home, and his views on working in recruitment.
How did you get started in recruitment?
“I came to the Netherlands because of my partner’s job, and so I was looking for a job here. Miraculously, Centre People was opening a Netherlands office in August 2023 and so, let’s say, I got lucky, and they offered me to join the company.
In Japan I did different jobs, like as a Sales Executive for an ecommerce company. I was very interested in graphic design, so I worked at an advertising company for a year before moving to Amsterdam.”
What’s something your clients and candidates might be surprised to learn about you?
“I’ve done different jobs before, but I was working in a Japanese supermarket in the Netherlands before, explaining Japanese food ingredients to Dutch customers, which surprises people.
I enjoy focusing on one hobby, but I’d say I’m more the type who loves to keep trying new things and taking on new challenges. For example, I started bouldering recently, now I have the special shoes, and it’s my weekly habit. I like to be challenged by new things”
What’s the best thing about living in the Netherlands?
“So I love the Netherlands because the country is very international and yeah, diverse, like including myself, there are different types of people, they’re very generous to immigrants and foreigners like me. I feel very welcome here.”
Is there a moment from your career that you’re proud of?
“I feel really excited for the candidates when I place them in a role, especially when I bring someone from Japan to the Netherlands, or help them to move country, like I contributed to changing their life, I feel really happy that I helped in their life. I’m very proud of that. Moving country is a really big challenge, and I like that I can help them make that decision.”
What do you think are the key differences in working culture from Japan and the Netherlands?
“I think people here see efficiency as a high, high priority. My normal process is to send an email then send follow-up emails, but they don’t really like it, they would prefer a quick 5-minute phone call as it’s much more efficient.
Japan focusses a lot more on the process and working as a team, so information is organised in detail. Now I’m doing both, a balance between team oriented and structured. As a recruitment company, I think we’re a lot more team oriented than others.”
What do you think is the most important quality in a recruiter?
“I believe there are many qualities like speed and networking, but I think the most important thing is becoming free from bias. Not like Japan, the Netherlands has many different types of people, so as a recruiter is important to avoid being bias. Of course, everyone has biases, you can’t avoid it – so you need to identify what they are, and do as much as you can to see the individual’s good talents instead, and fully understand them.”
What’s the most rewarding part of working as a recruiter?
“I think to know about different people. Each person has a different life and different background, and to know their life itself is very interesting to me. Also knowing about different jobs that exist that I didn’t know about, is very interesting, as well as learning people’s reasons for changing jobs too. Knowing these things is very exciting to me!”
Any final thoughts or comments?
“I love working at this company because we recruiters are all different. Everyone has different careers paths. Our manager has been a recruiter all his career, but there’s different people, it’s nice to work with colleagues that all have different backgrounds and experiences.”
We’re lucky to have Tomoki on our team, it’s good to see the new office thriving! Feel free to connect with Tomoki here on LinkedIn, and follow us to meet more of our fantastic consultants!
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