Emily Kwan

Emily Kwan

Co-Founder & Principal, Talent Edge

For Emily, a career in recruiting wasn't something she originally planned.

At 21, she was headhunted for an opportunity in Taiwan.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Emily had only two weeks to pack her bags and move across the world for what was supposed to be a one-year contract.

One year eventually became 11.

During her third year in Taiwan, a friend asked whether she had ever considered getting into executive search.

At the time, Emily wasn't familiar with the industry. But she knew she wanted to build a career in the corporate space, so she decided to explore the opportunity.

Her introduction to executive search came through one of the top recruiting firms in Taipei.

The interview itself took place inside Taipei 101, on the 52nd floor.

There was just one problem.

She didn't like the owner.

She didn't like the company.

But she loved what they actually did.

Rather than walking away from the industry altogether, Emily started thinking about how she could enter executive search without working for that particular company.

So she reached out to one of their direct competitors in another city.

She got an interview.

And she was hired on the spot.

That moment became the beginning of her career in executive search.

Building a Career in the Semiconductor Industry

Because Emily was living in Taiwan, she didn't initially realize that the industry she would eventually specialize in was semiconductors.

It was a completely new industry for her.

Some of her earliest clients included TSMC, NVIDIA, and Honeywell.

From there, Emily helped grow offices in Taiwan and Shanghai, building her experience in executive search while developing a deep understanding of the semiconductor space.

What started as an unexpected opportunity ultimately became the foundation for a career spanning executive search, leadership, and talent strategy.

Learning the Value of Business-First Leadership

Throughout her career, Emily has encountered people who significantly shaped how she thinks about leadership and talent.

One of the most influential was a boss she worked with during her time at Colliers.

What stood out to Emily wasn't simply her leadership style, but the way she approached HR.

Her philosophy was simple:

Business leader first. HR second.

That perspective changed how Emily thought about the role of talent within an organization.

She learned that HR and talent leaders need to understand the business first.

They need to know how to speak the language of executives.

They need to understand what the organization is trying to accomplish.

And they need to know how to get business leaders to buy into their ideas.

For Emily, that became one of the most valuable lessons of her career.

Find Sponsors, Not Just Mentors

Another influential lesson came from a senior professional who had experience at Morgan Stanley and was also a well-known author and performer.

The advice she gave Emily was something that stayed with her:

Don't focus on finding mentors.

Focus on finding sponsors.

The distinction matters.

A mentor can provide guidance, perspective, and advice.

But a sponsor can advocate for you when you're not in the room.

Sponsors are part of the conversations that can influence promotions, opportunities, and career advancement.

The more sponsors someone has within their professional network, Emily believes, the more opportunities and doors can open.

It's advice she has taken to heart throughout her own career.

She has also passed that lesson along to many of her candidates and says she has seen significant success from people who embrace that approach.

For Emily, sponsorship can sometimes be more powerful than traditional mentorship.

AI Is Going to Reshape Recruiting

When it comes to AI, Emily describes her current relationship with the technology as something of a love-hate relationship.

But personally, she has embraced it.

She believes AI will have an enormous impact on recruiting over the next two to five years, particularly when it comes to entry-level roles.

In her view, many entry-level positions may eventually become obsolete or be replaced by AI.

That doesn't mean leadership becomes less important.

Emily believes the opposite.

Leadership will need to rethink how it creates value within organizations.

The leaders who make the biggest impact in the future won't simply be the people who provide strategic direction and expertise.

They will also be the leaders who understand how to leverage and embrace AI.

For Emily, the differentiator won't necessarily be whether AI takes over.

The bigger question is how effectively people learn to use it.

The Rise of Leaner Recruiting Teams

Emily also believes AI could fundamentally change how companies structure their internal recruiting organizations.

Maintaining a large, highly specialized recruiting team in-house can be expensive.

At the same time, recruiting often requires specialized expertise that companies may not need every day of the year.

That creates an opportunity for a different model.

Emily believes companies may eventually operate with leaner internal recruiting teams while outsourcing specialized talent work when they need it.

Instead of keeping every type of recruiting expertise permanently in-house, organizations could bring in specialists when a particular talent challenge requires them.

For companies, that could potentially make recruiting more cost-effective.

And for organizations seeking highly specialized talent, Emily believes the results could also be more effective.

Focus on Weaknesses, Not Just Strengths

When asked what advice she would give other talent leaders, Emily offered a perspective that goes against how many organizations traditionally evaluate candidates.

Focus on weaknesses rather than strengths.

Her reasoning is straightforward.

Most people don't leave their jobs because of their strengths.

They leave because of their weaknesses.

Understanding those weaknesses early can help organizations better understand what they're actually dealing with when competing for talent.

No candidate is perfect.

Nobody will walk into a new position with every skill the organization needs on day one.

And even if someone did, the organization's needs would eventually change.

New challenges would emerge.

New skills would become necessary.

The key, therefore, is understanding where the gaps are and figuring out how to navigate them.

Having the Uncomfortable Conversations

Emily recognizes that this philosophy can also create uncomfortable conversations with candidates.

Candidates naturally want to talk about their strengths.

They want to highlight what they're good at and demonstrate why they're the right person for the role.

Talking openly about shortcomings is much harder.

But Emily sees value in those conversations.

Understanding where someone struggles can reveal important information about whether the opportunity is truly a good fit.

For her, those conversations have become an important part of how she approaches interviews and evaluates talent.

Disrupting the Talent Industry

Emily's interest in changing the talent industry extends beyond executive search.

She believes there is significant room for disruption within the talent space, which is one of the reasons she started Talent Edge with her business partner.

Her concern is that talent advisors need to understand both sides of the table.

They need to understand executive search.

But they also need to understand what it is like to actually sit inside an organization, work with a C-suite, and operate as part of the business.

For Emily, that distinction is critical.

If someone has never been in-house and never had a seat at the table with senior executives, it becomes difficult to provide meaningful consultation to CEOs, founders, investors, and other senior decision-makers.

The business environment has become increasingly complex.

Organizations are constantly thinking about how to scale, grow, compete, and build leadership teams.

Emily believes talent professionals need to understand those business challenges before they can effectively advise the people responsible for solving them.

Bringing Both Sides of the Table Together

That experience on both sides of the talent equation is central to Emily's vision.

She wants Talent Edge to provide clients with advisors who understand executive search while also understanding what it means to operate inside a business.

For her, premium talent consulting should go beyond simply presenting candidates.

It should involve understanding the organization, its challenges, its leadership, and its goals.

Only then can talent professionals provide meaningful advice.

That is one of Emily's biggest frustrations with the industry—and also one of her biggest motivations for disrupting it.

Preparing for the Next Generation of Talent

Emily's perspective on the future of recruiting ultimately comes down to adaptability.

AI is changing how work gets done.

Organizations are reconsidering how they structure recruiting teams.

Candidates are being evaluated differently.

And the expectations placed on talent leaders are becoming more strategic.

For Emily, the leaders who thrive will be the ones who understand how to adapt without losing sight of the fundamentals.

They will need to understand technology.

They will need to understand business.

They will need to understand people.

And perhaps most importantly, they will need to understand how all three connect.

Her career—from moving across the world at 21, to entering executive search unexpectedly, to working with major organizations in the semiconductor industry, and eventually launching Talent Edge—reflects that same willingness to embrace change.

For Emily, the future of talent isn't simply about finding better candidates.

It's about becoming better advisors, understanding businesses more deeply, leveraging technology intelligently, and ultimately helping organizations make better decisions about their people.