The Recruiters I Want to Build With

Mature recruiters, without the daily office commute

At this early stage of building Aspiring Partners, I have no intention of taking a fixed office. I want to work with mature recruiters who can organise their day, take responsibility for their work and build relationships without needing to sit in the same room every morning.

That independence comes with responsibility. Clients and candidates still need us to be prepared, responsive and reliable. We need to stay close as colleagues, share what we are learning and help one another when a search becomes difficult.

If I am going to put money into a place, I would rather explore a company retreat or holiday home, what we call a bessō (別荘) in Japan, than spend it on office overhead. I have fond memories of company retreats at firms where I worked, and I have been looking at properties around the country. Nothing is settled yet, but I like the idea of somewhere we could spend time together, talk properly and enjoy ourselves.

I think that will appeal to some of the people I want to build with: serious about their work, comfortable with independence, and interested in being part of a company where the time we spend together means something.I want to build with recruiters who care about becoming excellent at their craft. The opportunity that excites me is helping a good recruiter become great, with better guidance, better tools and a team that takes the work seriously.

I am Murray Clarke, Founding Partner of Aspiring Partners. Over more than 20 years in executive search in Japan, I have helped build search firms, led teams and owned and run a business. Those experiences have taught me to look beyond a polished interview or a confident sales pitch.

The question I come back to is simple: If I were ill tomorrow, would I be comfortable asking this person to represent me in front of a client?

Or, to put it in my own language: would the client leave the meeting thinking, “Murray’s colleague is a cheeseball”?

I mean someone who talks confidently, waffles through recruitment jargon and never really understands the business problem. Our industry has enough of that. I want colleagues who ask useful questions, speak plainly and know when to listen.

Almost all my business comes through referrals. I believe part of the reason is that business leaders can have a straightforward conversation with me as a peer. We talk about what they need to achieve, what is getting in the way and what the person we hire must deliver. That is the confidence I want every colleague to earn.

Recruitment’s low barrier to entry is part of the problem. Too many people learn a “paint by numbers” routine of activity KPIs, requisitions and forwarded CVs, then carry those habits into their next role. But the habits can change: at RGF Executive, I saw two contingency recruiters take about a year to learn executive search, billing nothing in that first year, before becoming million-dollar billers. Their work rate and ambition became powerful strengths once they understood the business behind the search.

Read about the transition from contingency recruiting to executive search →

Client trust has to mean something

I am interested when a recruiter can describe relationships in which clients trust their advice and will make time for a conversation. A large contact list tells me much less than an example of earning that trust.

Can you explain a client’s business, the challenges behind a hire and the consequences of getting it wrong? Can you challenge a brief respectfully when the market evidence points somewhere else? Would a client turn to you for advice before deciding to hire?

Established relationships matter, but so does the ability to build them. I do not expect anyone to disclose confidential client information or bring another employer’s database. I want to understand how you have earned confidence through your own work.

Clear thinking earns more respect than impressive talk

Recruiting requires conversation. But a conversation should help someone understand a problem, assess a choice or move a search forward.

I value recruiters who distinguish what they know from what they assume. They can explain why a candidate fits, where the evidence is incomplete and which questions still need answering. They listen carefully and give a useful answer, rather than filling the space.

That requires genuine interest in the industries we serve. Learning how a client sells, competes, builds a team and measures success is part of the job. It makes our advice more useful and our candidate conversations more credible.

High standards include humility

A good recruiter does not need to have every answer. They do need to recognise what they have yet to learn.

I enjoy working with people who ask thoughtful questions, accept feedback and change their approach when the evidence calls for it. I also expect that of myself. Owning and leading a business showed me the limits of what I knew, and seeking executive coaching helped me improve.

Read the lessons I took from building search firms in Japan →

Ambition becomes useful when it is matched by the willingness to practise, learn and follow through.

I need colleagues who make me better, too

I can become impatient when an executive search conversation gets reduced to process questions before we have understood the business. Sometimes I show that frustration too readily. That is a weakness I need to improve.

Talent acquisition colleagues have responsibilities and constraints that deserve understanding, too. I value recruiters who can build those relationships, manage the process well and help me become a better partner. A strong team should make good use of my strengths and challenge my shortcomings.

Some of my best results have come from exactly that kind of partnership: a colleague building the candidate and recruitment relationships while I worked closely with the business leader. We shared what we learned and brought the search together.

Read how I help recruiters win business and deliver →

Activity needs a purpose

Early in my career, I learned that results require a certain amount of purposeful work, and the confidence to ask for the business. I also learned that an unsustainable pace has a cost.

In executive search, effort should serve the brief. That might mean a more complete market map, a difficult conversation with a candidate, a better reference question or a clear recommendation to the client. We should be able to explain what the work is helping us learn or achieve.

I want recruiters who take responsibility for progress and outcomes. Our business depends on delivering value. A placement needs to work for the client and the candidate, so their interests must stay central to our decisions.

Why AI makes the choice of people more important

We are building Aspiring Partners with AI and our TalentHub platform at the centre of how we support the work. These tools help us organise information, develop research and present the evidence behind a search.

But powerful tools still need a thoughtful operator. A recruiter has to question an output, check a source, protect confidential information and decide what matters. Producing more material is useful only when it improves the quality of the work.

The prospect that excites me most is giving capable recruiters the tools, leadership and resources they need to reach a higher standard. I want to work with people who already care about the craft and are eager to deepen their ability.

I cannot scale myself. I can help other recruiters grow.

My experience comes from more than 20 years in Japan, including in-house recruiting, leadership and helping build three successful search firms that were acquired, including my own business, which we built from zero. That experience shapes my judgment, but I cannot simply hire people and expect them to do exactly what I do or produce the same results.

I cannot scale me. What I can do is make more of what I have learned available to other capable recruiters.

That is why I am putting my intellectual property, our working methods, lessons and best practices, into AI and our TalentHub platform. The aim is to help colleagues become better at their own work, with useful guidance available when they need it.

TalentHub includes Ask AI across much of the platform, alongside search and other ways to find relevant information and best practices. A colleague may not have daily access to me in person, but they can consult the platform as they work. I am also almost always online and do my best to be responsive when they need my input.

The AI provides support. Recruiters still need to question its answers, check the evidence and use judgment with clients and candidates. I want people who can develop that judgment, rather than simply repeat an answer.

My ambition is to build a profitable business that can support me later in life and could also be attractive to an acquirer. Either path requires a business that can deliver through capable people and dependable systems, beyond my own personal output. Hiring and empowering people I respect and trust is central to that.

Executive search, with RPO as the next part of the business

Executive search is the core of what we are building. We also plan to develop an RPO division, recruitment process outsourcing, to support clients with specific needs, whether those involve high-volume hiring or highly specialised requirements.

I have no interest in building a manual contingency operation around repetitive CV forwarding. Where that work can be automated, I want us to use AI extensively and put our people’s time into the decisions and relationships that require it. Our RPO plans will be shaped around what each client actually needs.

If you want to develop your craft with that combination of experience, technology and responsibility, contact me and take a look at what we are building.

A career worth building

Needing a salary is normal. What I am looking for alongside that practical need is a real desire to build a career: curiosity about clients, pride in good work and the ambition to keep improving.

I am also open to helping capable people eventually build their own business, including exploring how TalentHub could support them. That is a conversation about development and possibilities, rather than a promise of a particular ownership or partnership arrangement.

I want us to build something we can take pride in, and I want the people around me to develop enough confidence and skill to make meaningful choices about their future.

The opportunity for a specialist firm

Global retained search firms set a benchmark for how executive search is positioned. My view is that brand and presentation are only the starting point: the real test is delivery. A boutique firm with deep knowledge of its field, trusted relationships and a strong reputation can compete for important work and earn a leading position in its niche.

Our country manager search work in Japan during 2026 has strengthened that conviction. I want to build on it with recruiters who know their markets and care about delivering well.

If this sounds like you

If you recognise yourself in these standards, I would be interested in a conversation. Tell me about the sector you understand, how you have earned client trust, a difficult search you handled and what you want to become better at next. You can explain the substance without sharing confidential names or information.

That tells me more than a claim that you are passionate or a list of contacts. It gives us a starting point for understanding what we could build together.

Contact me and take a look at what we are building →

Read the personal story behind my approach to leadership →

Written by Murray Clarke, Founding Partner of Aspiring Partners.

The role that helps you become great

I am looking for recruiters who want more than a job. I want people seeking the role that helps them become successful and excellent at their craft: work that challenges them, develops their judgment and meaningfully improves their lives.

Earning a living matters. What excites me is the ambition alongside it: wanting to learn, take responsibility and build a career you can be proud of. If that is what you are looking for, contact me and take a look at what we are building.