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各業界のスペシャリストがあなたの声に耳を傾け、国内のグローバル企業からベンチャー企業まで、さまざまな企業にご紹介します。共にキャリアの新たな一章を開きましょう。

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採用担当者

当社は各企業のニーズに合った迅速かつ効率的な採用ソリューションを提供しており、国内のグローバル企業からベンチャー企業まで、さまざまな企業より高い信頼を獲得しています。各種サービスやリソースをぜひご覧ください。

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当社の専門分野

経理/財務から金融、人事、マーケティング、ITにいたるまで、多岐にわたる専門分野を取り扱っています。

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Interview: Helping women succeed in their careers

Associate Director Yuni Hong leads career consultants who specialise in three industry sectors where professional women enjoy prominent success: retail, consumer goods, and hospitality. A mother of three herself, Hong helps develop organisations in a diversity-conscious way and supports professional women in building their careers. Committed to empowering women to flourish both in their careers and personal lives, she shares her insights on the concerns working women face and how to overcome them. 

What guidance do you offer based on your own experience as a professional woman?

I cannot count the number of times I have helped encourage other women as a career consultant. In some cases, the women we support at our company are hesitant on taking on managerial positions or advancing further in their careers.  We often also have women come to us seeking advice about switching to a position with fewer obligations (even if it translates to a pay cut). This often happens when they encounter a change in life stage, such as returning to work after parental leave. Some want to change to a position that does not require people management. Many wish to continue working in PR but can no longer take on the work associated with events.

I have also heard some women express a desire to shift from a managerial position to a specialist position, or from a specialist position to a supporting position.  Since these women have worked for a long time to get where they are, I always advise them against changing to a job in a lower position. Using the experience they have developed throughout their careers, they can aim for a position with a higher salary.

When I work to support women looking to change jobs, some are astonished as to how I am able to work in my position despite having children. In response, I share useful strategies that I have implemented in my own life. I also explain the importance of not making sacrifices in either career plans or personal life.

If women who come for consultation are unsure about what to do, I show examples of professional women who are enjoying success in the same company or in the same industry. Sometimes, I share with them the experiences of other people with similar values or people slightly further ahead in their careers or stages of life.

What is important for women to build a long-term career?

There are many women in their 20s and early 30s working in the retail, consumer goods, and hospitality sectors. I offer these women case studies of successful women around the age of their seniors or supervisors who are enjoying success in managerial or leadership positions. Almost all successful women have enhanced their expertise by building experience in a particular profession.

Taking PR as an example, one woman accumulated experience and advanced her career by moving from a PR specialist to a PR manager, a PR director, and then to a PR VP position. In some cases, women have advanced even further up to become the head of marketing, brand manager or even country manager.

The same applies for sales positions. One woman was working in sales for a luxury brand over a long time, and built a strong relationship of trust with department stores, commercial facilities, and other clients. On top of this, she gained new skills and experience, helping her move up in her career to become head of the sales department. Because the entire focus of work in sales revolves around developing industry networks and nurturing trust, giving up in the middle of one’s career would be a waste. In foreign-affiliated companies, moving through multiple professions and growing to be a generalist tends to be detrimental in terms of career advancement. This often gives the impression that one has acquired a general skillset but no specialization.

On the other hand, overly restricting the range of one’s expertise could limit one’s career possibilities. It is true that specialists are more likely to succeed. There is still a chance for young women who desire to move beyond being a generalist to develop expertise in a certain field. However, the harsh truth is that employers will have doubts about candidates’ strengths if they do not possess any specific expertise by the age of 40.

Are there any concerns or worries that are specific to professional women?

Many women still leave their workplaces after getting engaged or married, or when giving birth and raising children. Newly married women in their late 20s will consult with me, saying "I'm highly interested in this company, but I am unsure about my work-life balance as I want to have children in the future." Other women bring up similar issues regarding taking care of their children after coming back to work from childcare leave. Since my work often involves supporting professional women to change their job, I aim to understand the individual values and priorities of each person in detail through one-to-one sessions.

At the same time, I strive to gain a firm understanding of the culture, work style, and flexibility of each company. I speak with these companies in order to know details that cannot be found in the job postings. I need to ensure that each woman's values match with the company, in addition to her skills and experience. Otherwise, I cannot offer full support for building the organization or developing a career in the long term, even if the company does decide to hire her.

Women will tend to move their focus away from their careers at one point or another, though the timing varies from person to person. Some women might feel like having children after being married for a while. Alternatively, some women may feel they want to spend more time with their children once they are born. Soon after giving birth, I myself thought that it might be better to continue taking care of my children without going back to work. Looking back now though, I am very happy that I returned to the company.

Women need someone who can cheer them on to go back to work, to reconsider how important their career is, or to continue working. Women can strive to achieve more if they have someone besides themselves cheering them on. For instance, they have the support and encouragement of their families and their companies. Although nobody actively talks about this issue,  I think it is a very important point that deserves consideration.

How do you work to tackle these areas of concern faced by professional women?

I often approach these issues not only through the perspective of a career consultant but also a fellow woman. For example, one woman who was trying for a baby left her job because she found it difficult to take time off from work to visit the fertility clinic. I could empathise with her in some ways both as a woman and a mother. I had met many other women in similar circumstances who had to undergo fertility treatment. I invited her to lunch as I wanted to better understand her situation. I want to support her in any way I can, as a separate matter to our conversation about her career. She was concerned that the treatment was not bringing the expected results, but she also felt that she was becoming distanced from society after having left her job. Her expression was forlorn as we talked together.

To avoid falling into a lifestyle of only going back and forth between her home and the clinic, I suggested her to start working again. I also helped alleviate any concerns about losing her career. She had worked hard until then to achieve success in her career, and she told me later that she had decided to return to the workforce. I had helped her with job searching, and she told me she had successfully joined the ideal company that she had set her heart on for a long time. She uses her skills and experience to work hard in her job while also maintaining a balance to continue with her fertility treatment.

Working mothers have a wealth of experience in terms of performing well under limited time. But despite demonstrating high levels of productivity in the workplace, many working mothers tend to linger in their current status. As long as the salary seems acceptable, they feel comfortable without having a promotion. Many don’t feel a sense of urgency about changing jobs or building their careers further. The tendency to think that it's only natural for working mothers to stay where they are needs to be questioned.

I believe that it is my job to give these women opportunities to take a step-up in their careers. I strive to provide them with the chance to find a place where they can utilise the experience and skills. I support them to find positions with greater responsibilities and better pay. Therefore, I take great care in listening sincerely to what each woman has to say, and I aim to build a relationship of trust together.

I want to encourage women to consider their long-term life plans and support them in taking on new challenges to grow further throughout their entire lives. I want them to know that there is a wealth of career opportunities to be grasped even if they are caring for their first or second child.

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