Pacific Associates Limited Minato-ku Tokyo Japan, Recruiting in Tokyo is my life's work

I have been in the recruiting industry in Tokyo since graduating business-school at the end of the '80s. Growing up in Chicago in the '60s and high-school there in the '70s, the thought of moving to California and graduating from U.C. San Diego (Economics) would have seemed a dream. Leaving for London with a duffle-bag on graduation-day and never coming back certainly would have seemed the things of fantasy, but if one follows their heart good things can happen. Thus it was I arrived, in due-course, in Japan in 1985. The opportunities and dignity of the place have kept me here ever since.

The opportunity to help professional (people to whom career is vitally important) find a path to a better life via proactive career building is, in my opinion, an honorable undertaking. That it can be done in the elegant way of Japan, where each placement we do is 'hand-made' after intensive in-person discussion with our candidates and clients has led me to dedicate my life to this work. An important goal of mine has long been to be a master-craftsman in the art of recruiting. To this end I am still meeting candidates and clients to further develop my art.

K.K. Pacific Associates Limited

President, Paul A. Levine

President Bio & History

In 1998 I made the decision to move my own career forward from being a senior recruiter who happens to own a head-hunting company to being a full-time president who happens to be expert in recruiting. Though the difference may sound pedantic or rhetorical, the day-by-day reality is quite different. The bottom line is that from the time of making this transition, my company at that time Access Technology Japan, grew from roughly 10 staff to 189 with operations in four countries in the space of three years. Further evolving, in 2004 I changed my role to Chairman, appointing one of my long-term managers as President. This facilitated the sale of that company in 2007; the largest such deal in the Tokyo recruiting-market up to that point.

My goal then was to discover life beyond that of 12+hours days and enjoy the life of the early-retired. This allowed time with my family, work my limited abilities in photography, enjoy travel and compete more often in power-lifting.

Like a pleasant afternoon nap that comes to a refreshing end, my time in retirement came to a happy finish with my establishment of Pacific Associates Limited in 2010. Pacific Associates Limited (PAL) is established as a partnership rather than sole-proprietorship. The difference is huge: my current professional objective, beyond growing my skills as in pursuit of being a master-craftsman in recruiting, is to lead my partners to be presidents. As far as I know, in the Tokyo recruiting market there has not yet been a company dedicated to helping its staff to leave the company by becoming, first a partner and then president of a separate company.

Paul Levine's Profile

Paul Levine first visited Japan in 1985. He got an MBA at the University of San Diego and the California State University in 1989, and in the same year, came back to Japan to be a headhunter. In 1992, he established Access Technology Japan; the very first Japanese headhunting company specialized in the high-tech industry. He obtained a master's degree in business administration at Harvard University in 2007. He established K.K. Pacific Associates Limited in February 2010, and continues to expand the company to new heights every day.

He has been married with two children. He loves bourbon, photograph taking and weightlifting and his skills in both fields are semi-professional. He is still active in the weightlifting field, winning first prize at a tournament in Tokyo. He still works out twice a day, coached by Chuck Wilson, his friend for over 10 years.

His trademark white shirt, red tie and red suspenders have been prominent since 1995. "I meet different candidates in the same meeting room, dressed in the same clothes. Staying consistent really helps you to concentrate on the people you meet. As a professional in judging people, "I can understand an individual within about five minutes of speaking with them".