What Working Outside Recruitment Taught Me About Executive Search

WorkBrain Japan exposed the limits of what I understood as a recruiter. Helping technology companies build their business in Japan required a deeper understanding of partners, customers and commercial relationships. Learning that firsthand changed the questions I asked, and made me a better recruiter.

I am Murray Clarke, Founding Partner of Aspiring Partners. My experience includes more than 20 years in executive search in Japan, in-house recruiting and business leadership. Four years with WorkBrain Japan are an important part of that story.

After Boyd & Moore, I needed to learn something different

After five years helping build Boyd & Moore during its formative period, I felt ready for a change. Clients had often asked me for advice about Japan and how to build their businesses here. I wanted to understand that work more deeply.

I partnered with Naoki Iwamitsu, a Japanese country manager who had built several businesses in Japan, including Cognos. Alongside many former Cognos team members, we supported technology vendors in developing their Japanese partner businesses.

That meant working with companies such as Fujitsu, Hitachi, CTC, Ashisuto and Nomura Research Institute. I had been a recruiter advising business leaders. Now I was learning more directly what building a business involved.

I was experienced in recruiting, and embarrassingly naive about the business

I arrived with confidence in my recruiting experience, but limited exposure to the commercial work itself. In some respects, I was embarrassingly naive. That became obvious when I worked alongside people who understood those businesses from the inside.

I am particularly grateful to Naoki and to the late Morimoto Kazunari, whom I knew as the president of Fujitsu Middleware. They helped broaden my understanding of business in Japan in ways that recruiting alone had not.

I am forever indebted to Morimoto-san and Naoki for what they taught me and the support they gave me. They passed away within a few years of each other during the Covid period. They were wonderful people: warm, generous and sincerely interested in contributing to the next generation. They gave me more than business knowledge; they showed me what it means to support someone who is still learning. What I learned from them continues to shape how I work. Naoki’s son, Shunuke, now runs the business.

I am grateful to the team I worked with during that period, too. They knew how naive I was, but they also knew I was sincere. They supported me despite my shortcomings and gave me room to learn. I have not forgotten that generosity.

The lesson I carried forward was humility. Familiarity with job titles and hiring conversations did not mean I understood the work those people had to deliver. I needed to listen, learn and reconsider what I thought I knew.

Two years focused on WorkBrain, then two alongside VMware

For the first two years, WorkBrain Japan was my main work, although I did a few recruitment assignments along the way. Then the global financial crisis changed the environment. From where I sat, investment slowed and fewer technology companies were coming into Japan.

I realised I needed a steadier income. VMware asked whether I would join them. I had previously been their leading recruitment agency partner in Japan by a narrow margin, so there was an established relationship.

I continued WorkBrain Japan for another couple of years alongside my work at VMware. I worked at VMware during the day and fitted the other business into early mornings, evenings and whatever time I could find.

I worked extremely hard and loved how much I was learning. I also felt the pressure. I remember both parts of that experience; I would not suggest that everyone should copy the hours I kept.

Recruiting in-house without the recognised email address

My VMware role involved in-house outbound recruiting in an RPO capacity. One practical challenge was that I was not allowed to use a VMware.com email address for candidate outreach. I used my own WorkBrain Japan domain instead.

To someone who did not know me, that meant hearing from an unfamiliar recruiter on an unfamiliar domain. The recognised employer brand was not there in the email address to help open the conversation.

It was difficult. It also made me much better at working through referrals. I had to earn introductions and make each conversation useful enough for someone to trust me with the next one.

That experience still influences how I work. A brand can help someone notice you, but your understanding, credibility and follow-through have to carry the relationship.

Why this matters to the recruiters who work with me

WorkBrain Japan helped prepare me for VMware. Together, those experiences gave me a broader view of what clients and candidates were dealing with: building a business, developing partners, hiring leaders and navigating internal constraints.

When a colleague brings me into a conversation with a CRO or regional president, I can draw on that experience to help understand the problem behind the hire. I can also remember what it felt like to be new to a field and discover how much I had to learn.

That is part of the support I want to offer recruiters at Aspiring Partners. We are putting my working methods and lessons into AI and TalentHub, while continuing to learn through real conversations and assignments. A platform can make guidance more accessible; people still have to ask useful questions and develop their judgment.

If you want to deepen your understanding of the businesses you recruit for, contact me and take a look at what we are building. I would be interested in hearing what you have learned outside recruitment, too.

Read what building search firms in Japan taught me →

Read how I help recruiters win business and deliver →

Written by Murray Clarke, Founding Partner of Aspiring Partners. This is my personal recollection of that period.