"It was amazing to be back in an industry I knew best."

Mike’s story with Robert Walters began more than 20 years ago when consultant David reached out to him with a lucrative opportunity for him to reconnect with the energy industry in a top c-suite role.

At the time, Mike was working in a consulting role after moving back from working in New Zealand for Mobil when they merged with Exxon in 1999 and downsized.

As a director leading a team of several 100 people at Mobil in New Zealand, Mike had started working for Mobil in Japan in supply planning and worked his way up to a role at headquarters in Washington DC before then being offered the director role in New Zealand. Eventually, he came back to Japan to seek new work, and a friend introduced him to a role that led him to become a partner of a leading consulting firm in Tokyo.

It was a time when I wasn’t even proactively looking for a new job, when I received a call from Robert Walters Tokyo,

"It was a time when I wasn’t even proactively looking for a new job, when I received a call from Robert Walters Tokyo," shares Mike. The conversation went something like this:

“Looking at your background, Mike, I have an excellent opportunity at a major oil company for you,” David proposed.

“Which company?” asked Mike.

"President of Shell Gas & Power Japan."

Mike saw this as an excellent chance to work back in the energy industry that he had had to leave a few years earlier, especially for such an iconic firm like Shell. Fortunately for Mike, he aced the interview, and they offered him the job.

“Thanks to David reaching out and connecting me to the opportunity, I could connect back with an industry I knew so much about and knew I could offer a lot to the role. Not only that, amazingly, I was able to connect with other former Mobil employees who had moved to Shell after the merger, and was made very welcome.”

During his time at Shell, Mike was promoted and moved to their office in Singapore and oversaw other Southeast Asian markets, as well as managing China, South Korea and Vietnam for a while, too.

“I always loved the atmosphere in South East Asia as it was so diverse with people from different  cultures and religions living side by side. I have definitely benefited a lot to learn about diversity firsthand, even way before it became a key trend like it has today.”

Mike eventually settled back in Japan as Chairman of Shell. “I am forever grateful for that call from David which changed the course of my professional career. Working at Shell gave me the opportunity to experience a plethora of areas within the energy industry across several markets.”

Mike Takeda, Former President of Shell Japan and Country Chairman for Royal Dutch Shell