Japan’s mid-career hiring market is under pressure. The MyNavi 2025 survey shows rising costs, talent shortages, and early quits across domestic companies – challenges that hit foreign firms even harder. Sales, IT, and bilingual roles are toughest to fill, while job boards underperform. Our take: global firms need stronger brand positioning, smarter channel strategies, and proactive sourcing. This post explains the data and what HR, TA, and business leaders should do differently.

Applicant Tracking Systems were never built for proactive recruitment. They’re fine for processing applicants, but useless when it comes to headhunting, market mapping, and building lasting talent IP. Too many RPOs still rely on bandaid solutions – recruiters armed with LinkedIn and job boards – leaving clients with nothing once the project ends. It’s time to move beyond ATS bandaids and deliver long-term value through platforms that embed AI, capture passive talent, and leave behind real assets.

Recruitment is full of tasks that matter but rarely get done – updating databases, capturing emails, tracking market news. The result? You hit a brick wall with weak data and lost opportunities. AI changes this by doing the work in real time, keeping everything accurate and visible. At TalentHub, we’ve built a platform that turns AI into infrastructure, so recruiters can run their business end-to-end without drowning in admin.

One of the most powerful lessons I learned as a recruiter came from a simple spreadsheet. We mapped every client by market segment, then colour-coded by account manager. The picture was clear: low performers were scattered across random accounts, while top billers had clusters of clients in tight blocks. The lesson? Specialisation wins. Depth beats dabbling, every time. I’ve used this approach in every company since, and the results have always spoken for themselves.

Recruitment is being squeezed. Budgets are tight, and headcount cuts mean low performers won’t last. To thrive, three traits are essential: trust, work ethic, and AI. Trust is the foundation – without it, you fail. Work ethic defines how far you succeed. And AI multiplies your impact. Our platform is built so every recruiter becomes an AI power user by default. The winners will combine all three. The question is: which circle are you standing in?

Recruitment relies on public data, but using it responsibly is critical. LinkedIn remains the backbone of candidate sourcing, while tools like ZoomInfo, Apollo, and RocketReach provide contact details. Compliance must come first: cases like LinkedIn vs HiQ Labs show the risks of scraping. At TalentHub, we only use trusted providers via licensed APIs and GDPR-aligned datasets. With consent secured before client sharing, recruiters can use data effectively while maintaining trust and protecting privacy.

The adoption curve isn’t just for products — it’s a powerful tool for hiring. In a startup, you don’t want people waiting for the “right time” to join. You want innovators and early adopters, the ones who lean into uncertainty, see opportunity in risk, and want to shape something new. Later adopters are vital once the business is stable, but bring them in too early and it’s a cultural mismatch. The curve explains it all.

Most recruiters think AI means plugging ChatGPT into their workflow. That’s bolt-on productivity — faster tasks, same problems. The real shift is AI-native platforms that automate beneath the surface, giving recruiters smarter outreach, market visibility, and trust. Companies won’t fix this; most won’t invest. Recruiters who’ve outgrown their desks must decide whether they control their future — or let their company control it for them. TalentHub is being built for those ready to take ownership.

Most mid-career recruiters struggle to break into executive search. The skillset, mindset, and presence required are different. This article outlines 8 essentials for making the shift - from finding mentors and building executive presence, to sharpening storytelling and focusing on the Why over the What.