Job Hunting in Japan
Job Hunting in Japan
With "Japan boom" of geisha, manga and anime spreading around the whole world, more and more people want to work and live in Japan. Finding a job in Japan by applying from abroad may be an endeavor due to the physical distance and also the language gap, however things may turn easier if you come to Japan first and try a job hunting in Japan.
Out of Japan's low birth-rate and aging society problem, almost all of the companies and industries in Japan are competing for labor forces, ranging from high-skill talents to low-skill labor workers, which creates job opportunities for foreigners. Nowadays no matter you can speak perfect business-level Japanese, or just daily conversation, or even no Japanese, there are absolutely jobs for you in Japan.
How to hunt for jobs in Japan
Job hunting process for new graduate students is very special in Japan which will be discussed in part2. Here we will focus on job hunting for non-students. After applying for a job vacancy, telephone interviews or face-to-face interviews will be waiting, then you may obtain a job offer and prepare for entering the company. The flow is the same as other countries but the details differ.
To get information for job vacancies
Job descriptions can be found on the internet such as job searching websites and home-page of companies. You can also check newspapers or information pamphlets in supermarkets, convenience stores, railway stations and so on. However, the power of connection should never be sneezed at when it comes to collecting information in Japan.
Because of the lifelong employment, Japanese companies tend to hire applicants who are recommended by someone or some agencies, instead of hiring somebody unknown. So, the majority of open positions won't be posted in public.Try to build connections with business groups in your field, talk to people who've been through the job-hunting process already and the like. This connection internet will not only bring you information about available positions but also help you get recommended to them.
Interviews in Japan
Japan has its own rules on business interviews, like how to write a resume and business attire for interviews. In one-word, Japanese employers regard business manners very important, and much more on whether the applicant obeys to the rules. Moreover, it may be confusing for many foreigners to be asked about private in an interview, such as what your parents think of you being in Japan, marital status, current or foreseeable children, however it's normal in Japan.
Potential employers would like to know everything about the applicant, not only work and college history, but also scholastic or career gap. You should be ready for all these possible questions. However, if you understand all those rules and follow them, it will be easy to clear an interview.
How to hunt for jobs in Japan for international students
You may have heard about "Shukatsu", which means the job-hunting activity for graduate students in Japan. Usually third-year students attend career seminars organized by universities or presentations from company recruiters, and in their last year, they apply for job vacancies and pass a structured selection process to obtain a position which is called "Naitei" by the time of their graduation. As to wear black business attire is also a ritual, thousands of soon-to-be-graduates in Japan can be seen to make their way around town dressed in penguin suits in the Shukatsu season.
However, this scene may disappear in the future as the organization who has created Shukatsu system in 1953, Keidanren, announced it would abolish the traditional job-hunting schedule as well as existing guidelines on how member companies recruit new graduates from next year. The fierce competition on talents is thought to be the reason as Non-Keidanren members who are not bound by the guidelines, have been snapping up promising students before member companies have even started recruiting. Though how job hunting for graduate students may change in the future is not clear yet, it is thought that students may have much wider choices and hunt for jobs with much more freedom in their own pace but also feel much more anxious out of no organizing.
Useful job-hunting websites
Job hunting websites will be very helpful for both students and non-students job seekers because of the enormous job information and powerful search function. Some websites also provide services such as info-magazines and job vacancy alarms, and many companies also accept entries through some websites directly. We are going to introduce some main websites.
Websites for full-time jobs
Rikunavi
An employment portal site for all of the graduate students, people who want to change jobs, and people who want to find dispatch works. Many Shukatsu students are said to have registered on it and events such as joint company presentation is also held throughout the country by this site. In addition, some large banks and trading companies only accept entries through Rikunavi, which makes this site one of the most popular.
Mynavi
A portal site of human resource information, including information for new graduate students, for people who want to change jobs, to be dispatched, to secure higher education, and people who want to work part-time. Featured on comprehensive information, Mynavi has become a strong competitor of Rikunavi.
Wantedly
As a Tokyo-listed job recruitment networking company, Wantedly only gets messages from in-house human resources departments instead of connecting companies directly with jobseekers as other job recruitment sites do. It now has 25,000 companies including many large Japanese companies like Sony, Panasonic, Nissan as well as big American companies such as Uber and Airbnb.
Websites for part-time jobs
Quick jobs japan
A website specialized for foreigners who want to find part-time jobs in Japan. In Quickjobsjapan.com, you can search job information by Japanese level from native level to no-Japanese-speaking, which should be really useful for foreigners. There are plenty of job vacancies from different job categories and different prefectures in Japan.
Jobs in japan
A website with slogan of "Foreigner friendly jobs across all industries". It has information for both full-time and part-time jobs posted, and special sectors for visa offered jobs.
Daijob
Maybe one of the largest jobs change websites in Japan for bilingual talents seeking new opportunities with global companies. It has a large number of jobs posted and the largest pool of registered bilingual and global IT-skilled talents.
Job hunting rules in Japan
As mentioned above, Japan has many rules on job hunting and employers think a lot about whether a potential employee follows these rules. Remember to check them before and during your job hunting.