{"id":4965,"date":"2026-01-08T17:09:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/?p=4965"},"modified":"2026-01-08T17:09:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:09:46","slug":"meet-the-team-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/meet-the-team-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Vol.19 – 28 Years of Commitment \u2013 Connecting People and Trust at Centre People\u2019s Core"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To kick off 2026, (the year of our 40th<\/sup> anniversary!), this week\u2019s Meet the Team article features our longest serving member, with 28 years\u2019 experience at Centre People Appointments \u2013 our Deputy Director, Takako Yoshihara. A key colleague in our daily working life, Takako\u2019s constant dedication and commitment to CPA, to our candidates, clients, and colleagues, has given her a truly unique perspective on how times have changed, and how Centre People has stood the test of time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All those years ago, how did you get started in recruitment at CPA?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

\u201cI used to work for my governmental office in my hometown of Miyazaki, and we had around 100 JETs (Japan Exchange Teachers) that I helped to look after – There was a large number of British participants. I became very close friends with one of them, and when she returned to the UK, she got a job at Centre People and she asked me if I wanted to join! It was that simple really. Coming from a very countryside area, I had no idea what the recruitment business was, as this was almost 30 years ago. But I knew I wanted to use my English and work with people, that’s all.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOutside of work, I love meeting my friends and family. Not just local friends, but from all over the world! We live in London, so many friends come to visit and I love to take them around and show them London \u2013 always with good food and drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also practiced Yoga for nearly 20 years, which helps me unwind or de-stress, you know, clear my busy mind, and it\u2019s a good exercise, as well as building positive energy as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s something our clients and candidates might be surprised to learn about you?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think people are often surprised when they call the office and they say, \u201cWow Takako you are still at Centre People!\u201d. I\u2019ve helped a lot of people change jobs, but I\u2019ve stayed here for so long. Not only that, but I remember the people, their personal lives and stories, and even after all these years I still personally interview candidates and I love staying close to the daily work and operations here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the biggest change you\u2019ve seen in recruitment over the years?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s shifted from \u201ctraditional recruitment\u201d, which is more relationship driven, to a more technology driven recruitment, I believe. The tools and the platforms have changed a lot, but the people are still the same, still facing the same challenges in recruitment and job searching. You can see the different generations of recruiters though, and although I\u2019m more people focussed, I love to learn from the younger generation too. At Centre People we are still dealing with people, so it\u2019s great to have a balance of these views.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Is there a moment from your career that you\u2019re particularly proud of?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably the long-term relationships I\u2019ve built along the way, really. It\u2019s incredibly rewarding to have these 10, 15, 20 yearlong relationships with companies and their people, they\u2019re not just clients nowadays, it\u2019s become more personalised. I also met lots of friends \u2013 originally, many might have been candidates. So this is what I\u2019m proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What is the biggest challenge in operating a successful recruitment agency?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo many, recruitment sounds very interesting and fun, but often it’s a battle of speed and quality. We do have competitors obviously, and the clients are results-driven so we work hard to prove that we\u2019re the best option for them. People can often change their minds, and so our work can be unpredictable. We strive to \u201cMake Everyone Involved Happy\u201d, and sometimes everything seems to be going well, but then someone can change their mind at the last minute, which is often beyond our control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What makes Centre People different from other recruitment agencies? <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very team oriented, even though it\u2019s a sales team, and I\u2019m very proud of the teams that we have here. Our strength is our people; we focus on hiring people that fit our culture, that understand the Japanese way of working, to provide our \u201cJapan Standard Service\u201d. It\u2019s serious work for us, taking time to understand everybody\u2019s needs \u2013 the clients, candidates, and businesses. Not just matching a job spec to a person, but looking at each situation individually and tailoring the service. It\u2019s our business, and changing jobs is one of the most important things you can do, and we take that change very seriously for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

How do you want to see CPA growing in the future?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe that all our consultants can continue to grow, to develop new skills, and take up new challenges together. Our teams can build their lives here, with lots of opportunities and rewards, this is our growing future. Naturally though, for the business, we want to continue to show our clients and candidates that they can trust us as their recruitment partner, building our brand and becoming the best-known agency within our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s without doubt that CPA owes its continuous growth and success to the dedication of Takako, and we\u2019re very lucky to have her as one of our directors as she leads from the front, setting an amazing example for all our consultants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feel free to connect with her here on LinkedIn and follow us to meet more of our fantastic consultants!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

#Recruitment #MeetTheTeam #TalentExperts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To kick off 2026, (the year of our 40th …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2252],"tags":[2299],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/202411-meet-the-team-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4965"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4965"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5018,"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4965\/revisions\/5018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centrepeople.com\/jp\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}