Hunt Executive Search continues to expand footprint with new partner in South Korea

Hunt Executive Search continues to expand footprint with new partner in South Korea

Hunt Executive Search continues to expand footprint with new partner in South Korea

Hunt Executive Search and IRC Global Executive Search Partners (IRC), an alliance of independent executive search firms and a market leader in the global executive search industry, welcomes South Korea-based Honors Career International as a new member firm.

“IRC clients know they have access to personalized local and global executive recruitment expertise, wherever in the world they plan to recruit – which increasingly includes countries such as Korea and China,” says Sylvia MacArthur, president of the IRC Executive Board. “Honors Career International’s expertise in the South Korean market means IRC’s global clients have an extra edge in a challenging recruitment market.”

Chris Kim, Honors Career International CEO, explains why she is delighted to be part of the IRC alliance: “Many Korean companies want to globalize their business – some conglomerates are very active in market expansion. They already have global branches, so they are very keen to recruit top talent in each geographic market, and therefore, are excellent prospective clients for the IRC global alliance. And, we can broaden our own global network and, therefore, our marketing reach for local Korean clients.”

Founded in 2002, Honors Career International is based at the Korea World Trade Center, in Seoul, South Korea. The firm specializes in searches for middle management to executive-level talents for multinational companies with industry focus on healthcare, technology, chemical and energy, FMCG, and finance and banking. “We want to balance the business in our four focus areas,“ explains Chris. “We are concentrating more on technology and health care. These fields are especially important because Korea has a strong basis of world-class high-tech industry such as semiconductor, IT and telecommunications, automotive, shipbuilding, plant engineering, and energy. Also, Korea has strong growth potential for advanced pharmaceutical and health products.”

Chris explains that recruitment challenges for international companies coming into Korea include language barriers (“not many top talents are bilingual”), and competition with major local conglomerates (“young Korean professionals prefer local conglomerates with better benefit packages and long-term job security – and no language barriers”), so foreign companies need to offer better working conditions and better benefits.

“There is tremendous growth potential in the South Korean market – and Korean companies that are interested in expanding know they will need top talent,” adds Chris. “Becoming a member of IRC means Honors Career International can now offer global boutique executive recruitment expertise to local and international companies.”