64: Kenji Govaers, Director, Bain & Company

<p>Kenji Govaers originally grew up in France but has been going back and forth between France and Japan due to his half French and half Japanese background. Mr. Govaers started his career in the 80s bubble economy in Japan as a sales engineer. Afterwards, he moved back to France and went into consulting working for Mars & Co. Mr. Govaers enjoyed the inquisitive and client-based nature of consulting that opened him up to new opportunities and growth. Mr. Govaers then helped open an office in San Francisco where he was inspired by the diversity of people and ideas which were different from his experiences in Europe and Japan. In the late 90s, Mr. Govaers helped open an office for Mars in Tokyo. Mr. Govaers then moved to Bain & Company where he has been for the last 12 years and is currently the Partner and Director of the Tokyo office.</p> <p> </p> <p>On recruiting new graduates, Mr. Goavers says in addition to considering candidates from the top schools, he also looks at the types of specialties they have studied. For example, at Bain, they will likely consider someone with a strong engineering background. Mr. Goavers also looks for people who have a high sense of lateral thinking, which can be seen in interviews. According to Mr. Govaers, the industry is one of the popular choices among university graduates in Japan. Mr. Goavers thinks that young people are attracted to the project-based structure of consulting that is different from a routine job. Mr. Govaers notes they are drawn to the network of other ambitious and intelligent people they will be working with who will enrich their work experience. </p> <p> </p> <p>Mr. Govaers highlights the importance of building an engaging culture especially being in the business of consulting. He says: “the purpose of the business in many ways is to change the industry of a client [and] help you grow as a person.” When placing his staff in different projects, Mr. Govaers explains they consider whether the person will be a good fit or not and have the right level of experti