The Low-Down on High-Tech Hiring

There's no question that the computer industry is a dynamic business. Yet as every IT firm knows, innovative technology - the basis for the dynamism - can be more trouble than it's worth if you can't find talented human resources who know how to apply it.

by John Boyd

Foreign-based information technology (IT) service companies providing support to the Japan offices of multinationals, overseas banks, and insurance firms, as well as international securities companies, face special problems finding and holding onto engineering and technical staff in Japan. For one thing, most of these service companies are still small, having been established within this decade. With only a few exceptions, they simply don't have the prestige or the resources to compete with big Japanese IT firms like Fujitsu, NEC, Hitachi, and Toshiba when it comes to hiring and training college engineering graduates.

       In addition, Japan is a land where top graduates traditionally sign on with a company for life, which means mid-term hirings are relatively scarce. At the same time, the foreign service companies' big-name clients - the Salomon Brothers, the Citibanks, the AIUs, and the Coca-Colas of the world - employ their own highly experienced expatriate staff to oversee their mission-critical computer systems. These high-salaried expat managers are as hip, technologically, as their colleagues in headquarters back in New York or London; so, when they do require additional IT help, they usually seek engineering and technical support that's out on the leading edge.

       One obvious way for service companies to fill their staffing needs is to hire proven non-Japanese engineers and technicians. The question is how do they go about finding and hiring the right people in the right numbers?

"Most of our hirings come through personal contacts. When you have 30 people on the streets, they have a lot of friends in the business."

       Since its founding in 1992, Fusion has grown from 4 people to its current staff of 80, the vast majority of whom are engineers. And Ribble says the company will soon top 100. Fusion's most successful means of finding new engineers is through recommendations from its own people. "We have an incentive program in place, and offer a ¥300,000 finder's fee to bring someone on board," says Ribble. "It's worked out very well, because our engineers know what we want, and do a lot of the preliminary Q&A for us." He estimates that more than eight out of every ten such internal recommendations are hired.

       Staff recommendations was also cited as the most popular recruiting method at other service firms. "Most of our hirings come through personal contacts," says Brad Bartz, founder and president of Internet Access Center (IAC) in Roppongi, Tokyo. "When you have 30 people on the streets, they have a lot of friends in the business."

       IAC recently downsized from 50 to 30 employees. "We grew too fast, and we had to bring things back in line," explains Bartz. But he says that IAC is still on the lookout for the right technical people.

       Bartz doesn't put much stock in paper credentials. "A resume is a piece of fiction," he says. Instead, Bartz has his staff interview candidates and check out their Web portfolios to see what they've created. He keeps out of the way in the early stages of recruitment, coming in at the final interview to give his input. "I leave it to my managers, because they will work with the new hirings." If the hiring manager gives the thumbs up, the new technician then must complete trial and probation periods before being offered a contract.

       Cyber Technologies International, another service company specializing in designing webpages, supplying content, and providing the delivery systems to make it all happen, also uses recommendations from its staff of 20. But Cyber has added a twist of its own.

       Damon Doran, senior general manager at Cyber, cautions that while graphics design and layout people, HTML programmers, and C++ engineers may be proficient in their respective technologies, they may not necessarily be able to immediately apply their know-how to the needs of an Internet company. "What we do is give them a little project that normally takes about three days," says Doran. If the candidate turns in good work, he or she is signed on as a contract employee. A candidate who doesn't meet all the criteria yet clearly shows promise is offered a chance to join Cyber Technologies' "human resources pool."

       "We offer them the opportunity to come to Cyber to learn new skills or hone their current skills, and apply them to the Internet," says Doran. The scheme has the trainee go to the company two or three times a week to work with the staff using the company's computers and software. "Any work they do becomes the property of Cyber," says Doran. "That's how they pay for their 'tuition.' If we actually use any of the work, then we pay them for it." And if the trainee continues to improve, the company will sign him or her on as a contract employee, and eventually possibly as a staff member.

Looking abroad for talent
One company that actively recruits abroad is the local subsidiary of $14.4 billion Texas-based Electronic Data Systems. EDS (founded by former US presidential hopeful Ross Perot) provides a full range of IT services and vies with IBM as a leading computer outsourcing company.

       Aiming to expand its position in Japan, the Japanese subsidiary acquired LINC Computer (from Computing Japan publisher Terrie Lloyd) in November 1995. The move boosted its computer systems employee-base to about 400, with more than 70% being engineers. "We cover everything from mainframes to desktops, networking, and telecom," says Mark Guth, human resources manager for the company's 130-strong client/server group. "A big part of my job is finding qualified staff. Client/server is exploding in Japan, and I'm always hunting for good people.

"We don't really care about the degree per se, but if they are foreign, they must be able to get a visa."

       "Intuition plays a big part in the interview," says Guth. "I ask about their successes and failures, and get personal comments about their jobs." From his side, he aims "to give the most realistic description of what life is like in Japan."

       Guth says he's especially on the lookout for team players who have an interest in Japan. "And tolerance is important in our multinational environment," he adds. All foreign candidates must be eligible for a Japanese visa to work as an engineer, which means having an appropriate degree or ten years of work experience in the field. "We don't really care about the degree per se," says Guth, "but if they are foreign, they must be able to get a visa."

       Fusion is also active in hiring abroad. One fruitful channel it has begun tapping is the FAS Overseas Graduate Program set up by the Republic of Ireland's Training and Employment Authority (a government agency established to ameliorate Ireland's chronic job shortage). Through the graduate program, FAS works with overseas companies to select and prepare Irish university graduates for contract employment abroad in a wide range of industries.

       About 40 graduates a year, typically aged between 21 and 23, come to Japan on the program to work in various companies, including Fujitsu, NEC, Toshiba, and Canon. Last year, Fusion signed on two graduates, and this year five will arrive in October.

       "The first two graduates have been very successful," says Fusion's Ribble. "In fact, we got to know about FAS from one of our own engineers, who had previously been through the program, and who now sits on the board of directors at Fusion."

       That the program is a success is not surprising, given the preparation FAS puts into creating the list of graduates and then matching them with possible employers. "First, we create a database of graduates with the appropriate skills, and who are also well rounded and have some work experience," says the Japan coordinator for FAS, Jim Reid.

       Companies select candidates by matching their skills with company needs, then send HR people over to Ireland to do the interviewing. "If the graduates are suitable, a company will make a proposal, and we sort out all the details on salaries, bonuses, etc." said Reid. "But they don't sign up every candidate, and not every candidate decides to go."

       Once contracts are signed, FAS makes arrangements for visas. "The contracts are for two years," notes Reid. "A five-year contract would frighten [the graduates] away." Before coming to Japan, graduates enroll in an FAS-organized 150-hour intensive Japanese language and culturalization program. "We also ask the companies to offer 150 hours more of Japanese language in the graduates' first year in Japan," adds Reid.

       This year, eight software engineers and eight computer engineers, out of a group of 40 graduates, will make the trip to Japan. The engineers all have qualifications in computer science or applied computing.

Other recruiting methods
Fusion has also begun an intern program in cooperation with Temple University, which has a branch campus in Tokyo. While the local campus doesn't offer a degree in computer science, fourth-year students selected by Fusion have taken courses in programming, database technologies, or client/server systems.

       "It's something to build on," says Ribble. "We find out what they are interested in, and they get a chance to work in that area while getting credit for it." So far, Fusion has hired all but one of the interns who have completed the program.

       Other channels service companies use for hiring include the Internet -though with mixed results. And while some companies have tried head hunters, none of those I interviewed do so now. Reasons given were the high finder's fees, a lack of commitment to stay on the part of those hired, and too many unsuitable candidates.