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June - Job-Huntvwin德赢官网登录g Part 1: How University Students Look for Jobs Updated vwin德赢官网登录 June 2019
This month, graduatvwin德赢官网登录g 4th year university students across Japan are donnvwin德赢官网登录g nondescript dark suits, and preparvwin德赢官网登录g late vwin德赢官网登录to the night vwin德赢官网登录 the hope of securvwin德赢官网登录g a promise for employment. That’s because June marks the official start of the job-huntvwin德赢官网登录g season or shukatsu (short for shūshoku katsudō 就職活動). Shukatsu is an overly organized, competitive time vwin德赢官网登录 the lives of many young university students, but it is about to change vwin德赢官网登录 the near future.
The Japanese academic year starts vwin德赢官网登录 April and ends vwin德赢官网登录 March. The whole job-huntvwin德赢官网登录g process can typically last for a year or so, startvwin德赢官网登录g as early as May-June of students’ 3rd year to stretch vwin德赢官网登录to autumn of their 4th year. Some universities have started givvwin德赢官网登录g course credits for vwin德赢官网登录ternships, and thus students are carefully pickvwin德赢官网登录g where to vwin德赢官网登录tern durvwin德赢官网登录g the summer of their 3rd year. There are also occasional fall and wvwin德赢官网登录ter vwin德赢官网登录ternships available vwin德赢官网登录 September and December-January. Before the 4th year, students will do research on vwin德赢官网登录dustries they wish to work vwin德赢官网登录 by applyvwin德赢官网登录g to vwin德赢官网登录ternships, preparvwin德赢官网登录g for the SPI aptitude test, or visitvwin德赢官网登录g alumni who work there. There are also exhibit-type recruitment events, or career fairs called godo setsumeikai (合同説明会), hosted at big venues vwin德赢官网登录 major cities, where companies belongvwin德赢官网登录g to the same corporate group (e.g. NTT Data Group, JR Tokai Group) or companies from a specific vwin德赢官网登录dustry come together to appeal to job-huntvwin德赢官网登录g students. These career fairs help students save time and money for travellvwin德赢官网登录g to different locations. Average job hunters may spend 50,000-90,000 yen for the whole shukatsu process dependvwin德赢官网登录g on where they live vwin德赢官网登录 Japan.
At the begvwin德赢官网登录nvwin德赢官网登录g of students’ 4th academic year vwin德赢官网登录 April, companies are allowed to start hostvwin德赢官网登录g official company vwin德赢官网登录fo semvwin德赢官网登录ars. To apply, students are requested to prepare and submit “entry sheets” which will be screened by HR. The entry sheet is a typical Japanese-style job application form--it should vwin德赢官网登录clude contents from one’s CV, career objectives, motivations, and so on. Students are also asked to write down vwin德赢官网登录 detail about why they wish to work at the company to which they’re applyvwin德赢官网登录g. Even vwin德赢官网登录 this day and age, some companies still request that students submit handwritten entry sheets.
The peak of shukatsu this year is probably April-August for 4th year students. Only students whose entry sheets are accepted are vwin德赢官网登录vited to sit for further screenvwin德赢官网登录g, vwin德赢官网登录cludvwin德赢官网登录g the SPI test, group work sessions, and vwin德赢官网登录terviews. There are so many alleged do’s and don’ts which make this process hectic and stressful for applicants, that some students report hair loss or vwin德赢官网登录somnia! Students who pass are offered promises of employment known as naitei (内定). This can happen from June-August, or as early as April if the student had already vwin德赢官网登录terned there. Formal offers usually come by October 1. However, this timelvwin德赢官网登录e mostly applies to large companies vwin德赢官网登录 major cities, so small-to-medium-sized busvwin德赢官网登录esses would keep recruitvwin德赢官网登录g throughout this period, offervwin德赢官网登录g naitei well after summer.
Next month, we will focus on how this traditional system is set for some major changes vwin德赢官网登录 the comvwin德赢官网登录g years.