Editorial · 57 terms

Glossary

Plain-language definitions of recruiting terms used across this directory — from contingency and retained search to the Japan-specific licensing framework, the bilingual market, and the corporate vehicles you will see on firm pages. Each entry links back to the guide where the term is discussed in context.

Recruiting models

How recruiting agencies in Japan structure engagements, from contingency to retained to embedded delivery.

Contingency search

A recruiting fee model where the agency only earns a fee if its candidate is hired. Fees in Japan are typically 30–35% of the placed candidate's first-year theoretical annual income (TAI) across most verticals; the directory's reported standard for banking & financial services contingency desks is 25%. Charged on placement. Most non-executive recruiting in Japan operates on contingency. The agency carries the search risk; the employer carries no upfront cost but typically engages multiple agencies in parallel.

Retained search

A recruiting fee model where the employer pays the agency in instalments — typically 1/3 on engagement, 1/3 on shortlist delivery, 1/3 on placement — regardless of outcome. Total fee is typically 30–33% of expected first-year total compensation at executive level. Used predominantly for board, C-suite, and senior leadership roles where the employer wants exclusive search effort and the agency wants compensation for the research time required.

Executive search

Retained recruiting for board, C-suite, and senior leadership roles. Engagements are exclusive, work is partner-led, and the search method emphasises confidential outreach to passive candidates rather than advertising or contingent shortlisting. The Japan executive-search desk is concentrated among the global retained firms (Korn Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds, Spencer Stuart, Egon Zehnder, Boyden, Stanton Chase) alongside a handful of Japan-anchored boutiques.

360 desk (full-cycle)

An operating model where one consultant owns the full recruiting cycle for their book of business — client development, job intake, candidate sourcing, screening, submission, interview coordination, offer negotiation, and post-placement follow-up. Common at Japanese-domiciled and boutique firms; less common at large foreign-capital agencies which usually run split desks. The 360 model concentrates relationship continuity but limits scaling.

Split desk (180)

An operating model where business development (BD) and candidate management (CM) sit with different consultants who share commercial credit on placements. The BD consultant manages the client relationship; the CM consultant sources and manages candidates. Standard at large foreign-capital generalist firms (Robert Walters, Hays, PageGroup, Michael Page) because it scales more cleanly across high-volume contingency desks. Adds handoff coordination cost in exchange for specialisation.

RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)

An engagement model where the recruiting firm operates as an outsourced internal talent-acquisition function for the client — typically multi-month or multi-year, priced as a fixed monthly fee or per-hire fee well below standard contingency rates. RPO covers requisition intake, sourcing, screening, employer branding, and reporting. In Japan the RPO market is concentrated at the larger generalist firms — Robert Walters, en world Japan, Korn Ferry — where headcount can be allocated to a dedicated client team.

MSP (Managed Service Provider)

An engagement model where a single vendor manages a client's entire contingent-worker supply chain — agency selection, onboarding, time and expense, compliance, and supplier consolidation — usually through a Vendor Management System (VMS). MSPs are common in large enterprises with significant contractor and contingent populations. Distinct from RPO, which targets permanent hiring. Most MSP work in Japan sits with specialist contingent-workforce vendors rather than the bilingual permanent-recruiting firms in this directory.

Embedded recruiting

An engagement model where a recruiter (or small team) sits inside the client's talent-acquisition function for a defined period, working from the client's tools and reporting line as if they were internal staff. Pricing is typically a daily or weekly rate, not a percentage of TAI. Used by scaling tech and high-growth foreign-capital subsidiaries when internal recruiter headcount cannot ramp fast enough to meet hiring demand.

Contingent staffing / contracting

Placement of workers on fixed-term contracts (haken / 派遣 in Japanese), through-payroll arrangements, or independent-contractor structures rather than direct permanent hire. Distinct from contingency search, which despite the similar name is permanent-hire recruiting paid only on placement. Contingent staffing in Japan is regulated separately under 労働者派遣法 (the Worker Dispatch Act); most permanent-recruiting firms in this directory do not operate dispatch desks at scale.

Fee structures

How placement fees are calculated, structured, and protected — the fee mechanics that sit underneath every engagement.

Placement fee

The fee the employer pays the recruiting agency when a candidate is hired. Calculated as a percentage of the placed candidate's first-year theoretical annual income (TAI). Reported Japan bands in 2026: 25% for banking & financial services contingency desks (the only directory vertical at this level), 30–35% for contingency desks across most other verticals, and 30–33% for retained search. Sales and commercial mandates are often calculated on on-target earnings (OTE) rather than base.

Theoretical Annual Income (TAI)

The base figure used to calculate recruiting placement fees in Japan. Typically defined as the candidate's annualised first-year on-target earnings — base salary plus expected bonus and any guaranteed allowances — but excluding stock-based compensation and one-time signing bonuses. Definition varies by agreement. As an illustrative example, a 30% contingency fee (within the directory's reported standard band) on a candidate with ¥15M TAI yields a ¥4.5M placement fee.

On-Target Earnings (OTE)

Total expected compensation if a candidate hits target — base plus on-target commission and bonus. Used as the fee base in sales and commercial recruiting where commission can be 30–50% of total compensation. A senior account executive with ¥10M base and ¥10M on-target commission has an OTE of ¥20M; per directory data on standard contingency rates, a 30% fee on OTE is ¥6M, against ¥3M if the fee were calculated on base only.

Refund / replacement guarantee

A clause in the placement contract requiring the recruiting agency to either refund all or part of the placement fee, or run a replacement search at no additional fee, if the placed candidate resigns or is terminated within a defined window. Contingency guarantees in Japan are commonly 30–90 days, sometimes pro-rata. Retained search guarantees are typically 6–12 months. Specifics vary by agency and contract.

Retainer (1/3 model)

The standard retained-search billing structure: one-third of the agreed fee paid on engagement, one-third on shortlist delivery, one-third on placement. Each instalment is non-refundable once the corresponding milestone is met. The structure aligns agency cash flow with search progression and gives the employer cancellation points after each milestone. Some agencies vary the split (e.g., 40/30/30) or fold instalments into a fixed-fee container (see container fee).

Engagement fee

Paid on signing of the engagement letter as the initial instalment of a retained search, typically one-third of the agreed total. Triggers research start, candidate-pool mapping, and confidential outreach. Non-refundable once research begins. Distinct from an upfront fee on a contingency engagement, which is rarer in Japan and typically credited against the eventual placement fee.

Container fee model

A hybrid retained / contingency structure where the employer pays a smaller fixed engagement fee upfront — the “container” — with the balance contingent on placement. Sits between pure retained and pure contingency. Used when the search is harder than a typical contingency mandate but the employer is unwilling or unable to commit to full retained instalments. Container fees are often credited against the eventual placement fee.

Fee floor / minimum fee

A minimum placement fee that applies regardless of the percentage calculation. Used to protect the agency on lower-TAI placements where the percentage fee would be uneconomic relative to the consultant time invested. A common Japan pattern is a fee floor of ¥1.5–2M on contingency mandates and ¥3–5M on retained mandates. Specifics vary by firm and engagement.

Off-limits clause

A contractual restriction barring the recruiting agency from approaching employees of a client company for a defined period — typically 12–24 months from the most recent engagement. Standard in retained search; less common in contingency. The clause protects the client's bench from being recruited away by the agency that just placed into it. Scope varies — some clauses cover the whole employer, others only the function or business unit served by the engagement.

Replacement period

The window during which the recruiting agency will run a replacement search at no additional placement fee if the placed candidate resigns or is terminated. Contingency replacement periods in Japan are commonly 30–90 days from start date; retained replacement periods are typically 6–12 months. The clock starts on the candidate's first day of work, not on offer acceptance.

Roles & ladders

Who actually does the work inside a Japan recruiting firm — consultant types, career tracks, and partner ladders.

CM (candidate management)

The candidate-facing half of a split-desk model. The CM consultant sources, screens, prepares, and supports candidates through the interview process and offer stage; they are typically the candidate's main day-to-day contact. CM consultants build deep candidate-pool relationships within their vertical — bench breadth and quality of candidate communication are the primary measures of CM performance.

BD (business development)

The client-facing half of a split-desk model. The BD consultant pitches new mandates, manages hiring-manager relationships, and owns the client side of the engagement. BD consultants build deeper client portfolios across multiple roles and verticals; the primary measure of BD performance is mandate volume and the quality of client-side intake.

Researcher / Sourcer

A consultant whose primary job is candidate identification — building the long list, mapping target companies, and surfacing passive candidates against a brief. Researchers do not typically own client relationships and are paid less than full-cycle consultants, but their work underpins the quality of every shortlist. Common at retained executive-search firms; emergent at the larger contingency generalists as part of split-desk structures.

Account Manager

A consultant who owns the relationship with a single named client — or a small portfolio of named clients — across all roles, replacing the role-by-role mandate model with a continuous relationship. Account-management structures are common at RPO desks and at firms with anchor enterprise clients. Distinct from a 360 desk: an account manager's coverage is the client; a vertical-focused 360-desk consultant's coverage is the vertical itself.

Practice lead

A senior consultant — typically Director or Partner level — who heads a vertical practice (e.g., Banking & Financial Services, Life Sciences, Consumer) inside a recruiting firm. The practice lead carries personal placement responsibility, manages a team of consultants under them, and represents the practice externally to clients and at industry events.

Consultant ladder

The standard career progression inside a Japan recruiting firm: Associate Consultant or Researcher (year 1–2) → Consultant (year 2–4) → Senior Consultant (year 4–6+) → Manager / Principal (year 6+) → Director / Partner (year 8+). Compensation is base plus tiered commission; OTE typically scales from ¥6–9M at junior level to ¥30–60M+ at partner level. Tenure norms in Japan recruiting are short — 2–3 years per firm before moving.

Partner (retained search)

At retained executive-search firms — Spencer Stuart, Egon Zehnder, Russell Reynolds, Heidrick & Struggles, Korn Ferry, Boyden, Stanton Chase — Partner is the most senior client-facing role. Partners personally lead C-suite and board engagements, carry placement responsibility, and participate in firm governance. The path to partner is typically 8–12+ years and is gated by both sustained billings and partner-vote election.

MD vs Partner ladders

Two career-track conventions in Japan recruiting. The MD (Managing Director) track, common at large foreign-capital generalist firms (Robert Walters, Hays, PageGroup, Korn Ferry), is corporate — MDs hold P&L responsibility and are appointed by group executive. The Partner track, common at retained executive-search firms (Spencer Stuart, Egon Zehnder, Russell Reynolds, Boyden, Stanton Chase), is partnership — Partners are elected by the existing partnership, hold equity, and share in firm profits.

Japan market specifics

Regulatory framework, hiring-process vocabulary, and bilingual-market terminology that sit underneath every Japan recruiting engagement.

MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)

The Japanese government ministry (厚生労働省, Kōseirōdō-shō) that regulates paid recruiting agencies. All paid placement firms operating in Japan must hold a 有料職業紹介事業許可 license issued by MHLW, and must comply with the Employment Security Act (職業安定法). Licenses are listed publicly in MHLW's job-placement business registry.

有料職業紹介事業許可 (paid-placement license)

The MHLW-issued licence required to operate a paid recruiting agency in Japan. Licence numbers follow the pattern NN-ユ-NNNNNN — a two-digit prefecture prefix (13 = Tokyo Labour Bureau jurisdiction), the standard ユ class identifier, and a firm-specific number. Licences are held at the legal-entity level, not the brand level, and require renewal (typically every 3 years). Holders publish the licence number in the firm-information section of their website.

特定募集情報等提供事業者 (4号 information-provision filing)

The separate MHLW filing regime for businesses that publish job-posting information without operating as paid recruiting agencies — i.e., job-board-style platforms that do not introduce candidates to employers for a fee. Filed under the 4号 framework of the Employment Security Act amendments. Distinct from the 有料職業紹介事業許可 paid-placement licence; the two regimes apply to different activities and a firm may hold one, both, or neither.

入社 (nyūsha — start date)

The candidate's first day of employment with the new employer — literally “entering the company.” Used in Japan recruiting as the canonical start-date marker, against which replacement-period and probation clocks run. The candidate is considered a placement on 入社, not on offer acceptance. Standard Japanese employment contracts specify a 入社日 (entry date) explicitly.

内定 (naitei — informal job offer)

A formal commitment from the employer to hire the candidate, conventionally treated as binding on the employer side once the candidate accepts. 内定 sits between the verbal offer and the signed employment contract. The employer issues a 内定通知書 (naitei letter) confirming the position, start date, and headline conditions. Withdrawal of naitei after acceptance can give rise to legal claims by the candidate.

退職 (taishoku — resignation)

Resignation from the candidate's current employer — the milestone that frees them to start at the new employer. Standard Japanese employment contracts require 30 days' notice (some senior contracts require longer); industry convention often extends this to 1–2 months for handover. The 退職届 (resignation notice) is the formal written submission. Recruiters in Japan typically support candidates through the resignation conversation and counter-offer dynamics.

外資系 Gaishikei (foreign-capital)

A firm in which the controlling ownership is non-Japanese. In recruiting, “gaishikei recruiter” usually means a Japan office of an internationally-headquartered agency — Robert Walters, Hays, PageGroup, Korn Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles, Spencer Stuart, Egon Zehnder, Russell Reynolds, etc. Gaishikei recruiters typically operate in English by default, run split desks, and concentrate on bilingual and English-only mandates.

日系 Nikkei (Japanese-domiciled)

A firm with Japanese parent ownership and governance — Japanese-listed or Japanese-private parent, predominantly Japanese senior leadership, Japan-headquartered operations. In recruiting, nikkei firms include JAC Recruitment (TSE Prime: 2124), RGF (Fullcast Holdings, TSE: 4848 since 1 April 2026), en world Japan, and Cornerstone Recruitment Japan. Nikkei recruiters typically default to Japanese as the working language and have deeper reach into Japanese-domiciled corporate hiring.

Bilingual (日英バイリンガル)

In Japan recruiting, “bilingual” typically means business-level functional fluency in both Japanese and English — the ability to lead meetings, write business correspondence, and operate in both languages day-to-day. The bilingual candidate pool is the structural moat for English-speaking recruiting in Japan: foreign-capital Japan offices need bilingual hires; the candidate pool is scarce; international recruiters cannot screen Japanese fluency efficiently from outside Japan.

JLPT (N1, N2, N3, N4, N5)

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験), the standard certification of Japanese-language ability for non-native speakers. Five levels: N5 (basic) through N1 (near-native). Japan recruiting roles commonly tag JLPT requirements: N1 (business leadership and Japanese-domiciled employer roles), N2 (most bilingual professional roles), N3 (functional but limited business use), N4–N5 (introductory). Most bilingual mandates require N2 or above; many Japanese-domiciled corporates require N1.

Corporate structure

Japan and global corporate-vehicle and listing terminology that recurs across firm-page disclosures.

株式会社 K.K. (Kabushiki Kaisha)

The most common Japanese corporate form — a joint-stock company with shares, board, and statutory auditor structure. Equivalent in concept to a US C-corporation or UK plc/Ltd. Most Japan recruiting firms — including all the foreign-capital subsidiaries in this directory — operate as 株式会社 K.K. The form is required for paid-placement licence application and has the strongest market familiarity in Japan.

合同会社 G.K. (Godo Kaisha)

A simpler Japanese corporate form — a limited-liability company with members (rather than shareholders), no required board, and lighter governance than 株式会社. Roughly equivalent to a US LLC. Used in Japan by a number of foreign-capital subsidiaries where the parent prefers a flow-through-style entity (e.g., several US tech subsidiaries). Less common in recruiting itself, where 株式会社 K.K. predominates.

TSE Prime

The senior tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, restructured in April 2022. Lists Japan's largest and most-traded companies and applies the strictest disclosure, governance, and free-float standards. JAC Recruitment Co., Ltd. (TSE: 2124) and Recruit Holdings (TSE: 6098) — the former parent of RGF until 1 April 2026 — are TSE Prime listings.

TSE Standard

The middle tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, post the April 2022 restructure. Lists established mid-cap companies that meet baseline TSE disclosure and governance requirements but not the senior Prime-tier free-float and corporate-governance thresholds. Fullcast Holdings (TSE: 4848) — the new parent of RGF since 1 April 2026 — trades on TSE Standard.

TSE Growth

The growth-company tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, post the April 2022 restructure. Lists companies with high growth potential whose track record does not yet meet Standard or Prime requirements; lighter disclosure and lock-up provisions apply. No directory recruiting firms currently list on TSE Growth as of 2026.

LSE listing

London Stock Exchange listing. Per directory data, hosts a notable concentration of recruiting firms operating in Japan — Robert Walters plc (LSE: RWA), Hays plc (LSE: HAS), PageGroup plc (LSE: PAGE), and SThree plc (LSE: STEM, parent of Computer Futures, Huxley, Real Staffing, Progressive, and Global Enterprise Partners). LSE-listed parents publish quarterly trading updates and annual reports that disclose Japan-specific segment performance.

NYSE listing

New York Stock Exchange listing. Hosts Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), Robert Half (NYSE: RHI), and ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) among recruiting firms operating in Japan. NYSE-listed parents file 10-K annual and 10-Q quarterly reports with the SEC, providing detailed Japan and APAC segment commentary in some years.

NASDAQ listing

NASDAQ stock-market listing. Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. traded as NASDAQ: HSII until the firm went private on 10 December 2025 in a $1.3bn transaction led by Advent International and Corvex Management. As of 2026 no directory recruiting firm has a current NASDAQ listing; the HSII ticker is historical.

Industry & methodology

Industry bodies, trademarked methodologies, and structural patterns that shape how directory firms operate.

AESC (Association of Executive Search Consultants)

A global professional association for retained executive-search firms. Members commit to a published code of professional practice covering client-engagement standards, candidate confidentiality, off-limits clauses, and conflicts management. AESC membership is one of the durable signals of executive-search-firm credibility, and is held by directory firms including Stanton Chase. Membership is by firm — not by country office — so a Japan office's standing is inherited from the global firm's AESC status.

Search+ (Stanton Chase methodology)

A retained executive-search methodology trademarked by Stanton Chase International — USPTO Reg. No. 7544198, registered 22 October 2024. Search+ extends the standard retained-search engagement with structured leadership assessment, succession-planning framing, and post-placement integration support. Operated globally by Stanton Chase partner offices for retained engagements.

Boutique federation model

An organisational pattern common to several global retained executive-search firms — Boyden, Stanton Chase, and others — in which the firm operates as a federation of country-level partner-owned offices coordinated through a central international office and shared brand. Distinct from the wholly-owned-subsidiary model used by the larger global firms. The federation model supports local autonomy at the cost of cross-border integration depth.

Partner-owned country office

A country office structure where the local partner (or partnership) holds equity ownership in the office under a master franchise or membership agreement with the global firm. Common in the boutique-federation model (Stanton Chase, Boyden). The structure aligns local-partner economic incentives with client-engagement quality and encourages long consultant tenure, but limits the parent's direct control over office-level operations.

ESAI Score

The 0–100 candidate-fit score produced by Headhunt.AI, the AI-recruiting platform operated by ExecutiveSearch.AI K.K. Each score is paired with a written fit rationale explaining why the candidate matches (or does not match) the pasted job description. Used by recruiters to triage long lists down to high-fit shortlists in minutes rather than hours. (Sponsor entry — recruiters.fyi is sponsored by Headhunt.AI; see [About](/about/) for full disclosure.)

Headhunt.AI scoring

An AI scoring framework that takes a pasted job description and returns a ranked list of Japan-market candidates with per-candidate fit rationale, sourced from 4M+ Japan-focused profiles. Built and operated in Japan by ExecutiveSearch.AI K.K. against Japan's Personal Information Protection Act (APPI) from the start; AWS Tokyo region; tenant-isolated workspaces. (Sponsor entry — see [About](/about/) for full disclosure.)

Process

Day-to-day recruiting-process vocabulary — the specific steps and artefacts that recur across most engagements.

Headhunt (verb / noun)

Direct, confidential approach to a candidate currently employed elsewhere — typically a passive candidate who has not applied to or otherwise expressed interest in the role. Headhunting is the core method of retained executive search and the bilingual senior end of contingency search; it is distinguishable from advertising-driven recruiting in that the candidate is identified, mapped, and approached one-to-one rather than reached through job-posting platforms.

Cold approach

An initial outreach to a candidate who has no prior relationship with the recruiter — often by InMail, email, or phone. Standard Japan-market practice for cold approaches is bilingual scout messaging that names the role, the rough seniority and compensation band, and the recruiter's firm; the candidate self-selects in or out before any further detail is shared. Confidentiality of the candidate's interest is implicit from the cold approach onward.

Reference check

Structured conversation with the candidate's nominated former managers, peers, or direct reports, conducted at the offer stage, to validate competency claims and surface working-style information. Done by the recruiting agency at retained search level; sometimes by the employer's HR or external provider at contingency level. Reference checks happen with the candidate's explicit permission and on references the candidate has nominated — not blind backchannel calls.

Background check

Third-party verification of factual claims on a candidate's resume — most commonly education, employment history, and (for regulated roles) regulatory or criminal-record screening. Done by specialist providers in Japan under tightly defined APPI consent. Distinct from a reference check (qualitative working-style information). Common at the offer stage in financial services, life sciences, and senior leadership roles; less universal at lower-seniority hires.

Counter-offer

An offer made by the candidate's current employer in response to the candidate's resignation — typically increased compensation, a promotion, a new role inside the company, or other retention measures. Industry consensus is that counter-offers carry significant risk: the underlying motivations behind the resignation typically remain, and accepted counter-offers often resolve in departure within 6–12 months anyway. This is opinion, not law.

Naitei letter (内定通知書)

The formal written confirmation issued by the Japanese employer once an offer is made and accepted — naming the position, start date (入社日), compensation, and headline conditions. Functionally analogous to a US offer letter, but with stronger conventional binding force on the employer side: withdrawal of naitei after acceptance can give rise to legal claims by the candidate. The naitei letter is typically issued before the full employment contract is signed.

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