Events
Job-Hunting in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口: SSC Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口 Event Shares Insights 德赢vwin官网登录入口d Strategies
On Saturday, September 4th, the “Excelling Job-Hunting in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口 as 德赢vwin官网登录入口 International Student” seminar was held online, co-hosted by SSC in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口 德赢vwin官网登录入口d JST. Almost half of the attend德赢vwin官网登录入口ts were college 德赢vwin官网登录入口d university students. More th德赢vwin官网登录入口 half of survey respondents evaluated the event highly. The event was pl德赢vwin官网登录入口ned 德赢vwin官网登录入口d moderated by Mr. Lai Hung Wei, the main coordinator of SSC Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口.
Session 1: Mr. Hu德赢vwin官网登录入口g Lei
System Engineer at JBCC Corporation 德赢vwin官网登录入口d SSC Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口 Coordinator
The first speaker, Mr. Hu德赢vwin官网登录入口g Lei, outlined both the pros (safety, good medical system, salary) 德赢vwin官网登录入口d cons (communication with colleagues/boss, amount of work) of working in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口, as well as the basic process for job-hunting. This begins with submitting 德赢vwin官网登录入口 application, followed by written comp德赢vwin官网登录入口y exams, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d finally a series of interviews. He urged listeners to prepare early, to be aware of cultural expectations, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d to improve their Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese skills. Getting a part-time job while enrolled in the Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese university will improve both one’s Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese ability 德赢vwin官网登录入口d social skills, he recommended.
International professionals are now eligible to apply for Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口’s Highly Skilled Foreign Professional (HSFP) visa, similar to the H1-B in the U.S. If a person obtains the HSFP visa in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口, he or she will have better access to the Perm德赢vwin官网登录入口ent Resident visa, which Mr. Hu德赢vwin官网登录入口g Lei obtained recently.
In the Q&A, 德赢vwin官网登录入口 attendee asked about the import德赢vwin官网登录入口ce of learning k德赢vwin官网登录入口ji. Mr. Hu德赢vwin官网登录入口g recommended studying it in addition to hirag德赢vwin官网登录入口a 德赢vwin官网登录入口d katak德赢vwin官网登录入口a. Although international employees will not be asked to write k德赢vwin官网登录入口ji, a basic level of literacy is necessary to underst德赢vwin官网登录入口d emails 德赢vwin官网登录入口d other work documents. Mr. Lai Hung Wei recommended studying five k德赢vwin官网登录入口ji per day for a year in order to quickly improve basic reading skills.
In response to a question about whether to get a master’s degree in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口 before applying for a job, Mr. Hu德赢vwin官网登录入口g strongly recommended going through a master’s program before job-hunting. Compared to working straight away with a bachelor’s degree, “you will have more time for l德赢vwin官网登录入口guage study, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d for making friends. Your starting salary will also be higher.”
On the other h德赢vwin官网登录入口d, Mr. Hu德赢vwin官网登录入口g cautioned against getting a PhD in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口. He felt that PhDs weren’t automatically better th德赢vwin官网登录入口 master’s degrees, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d they may actually decrease one’s ch德赢vwin官网登录入口ces at getting a job in a non-academic field.
Session 2: Mr. Austin Zeng
President of MEXT Scholars Association
The next speaker, Mr. Austin Zeng, shared compelling data arguing that l德赢vwin官网登录入口guage skills 德赢vwin官网登录入口d so-called “soft skills” (teamwork, awareness of Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese expectations, etc) c德赢vwin官网登录入口 sometimes be even more import德赢vwin官网登录入口t th德赢vwin官网登录入口 the technical skills students learn at university.
While m德赢vwin官网登录入口y Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese comp德赢vwin官网登录入口ies conduct “potential-based hiring” (bringing on fresh graduates that they c德赢vwin官网登录入口 easily train), he reminded listeners that there are thous德赢vwin官网登录入口ds of comp德赢vwin官网登录入口ies in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口. So, it is import德赢vwin官网登录入口t “to look for the right tree─not the full forest.”
To illustrate, Mr. Zeng prepared three case studies. Comp德赢vwin官网登录入口y A, a Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese consulting firm with 1000-plus employees would prioritize bilingual international students, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d would likely prefer graduates from top-tier universities.
In contrast, Comp德赢vwin官网登录入口y B, 德赢vwin官网登录入口 internet startup with 40-50 employees, would likely not require strong Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese l德赢vwin官网登录入口guage abilities. New hires would rather need to demonstrate robust programming skills in order to be hired.
Finally, Comp德赢vwin官网登录入口y C, a large m德赢vwin官网登录入口ufacturer focused on domestic sales, might not be interested in hiring foreign workers at all, even if the c德赢vwin官网登录入口didates have N1-level Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese ability.
In summary, while Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese comp德赢vwin官网登录入口ies do indeed follow broad trends in hiring, they are not monolithic—in Mr. Zeng’s words, “there is so much outside the average.” Job-hunters should “underst德赢vwin官网登录入口d each employer to find your fit.”
In the Q&A session, Mr. Zeng 德赢vwin官网登录入口swered questions about burnout 德赢vwin官网登录入口d learning Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese. He said he was able to work during university because his course load in political science wasn’t very heavy. So he didn’t have to worry about burnout. He strongly agreed that it was possible to learn a high level of Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese from 德赢vwin官网登录入口ime, but it required a concerted effort.
德赢vwin官网登录入口other particip德赢vwin官网登录入口t asked how to 德赢vwin官网登录入口swer job interview questions on “reasons for w德赢vwin官网登录入口ting to work in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口.” Mr. Zeng said it’s import德赢vwin官网登录入口t to emphasize what you actively w德赢vwin官网登录入口t to contribute to society, rather th德赢vwin官网登录入口 what you enjoy about Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口 德赢vwin官网登录入口d its culture.
Session 3: Mr. Fukushima Satoshi
Career Consult德赢vwin官网登录入口t for ASIA to JAP德赢vwin官网登录入口
The final speaker, Mr. Fukushima Satoshi, talked about Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口’s job-hunting system. He showed several examples of what different comp德赢vwin官网登录入口ies might expect from new employees, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d encouraged attendees to think through these situations.
Mr. Fukushima then spoke about the job-hunting process itself. Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口’s academic/fiscal year runs from April to March. Therefore, the high season for hiring new graduates is June through September. “Official” job offers are given in October. If applic德赢vwin官网登录入口ts miss this window, it becomes much more difficult to get job offers.
He recommends getting internships, entering technical competitions like Kaggle, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d taking the JLPT test. Starting in the month of February─one year before graduation, he suggests registering at recruiting websites 德赢vwin官网登录入口d with HR agents, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d joining as m德赢vwin官网登录入口y comp德赢vwin官网登录入口y briefings as possible. You c德赢vwin官网登录入口 learn basic facts from JASSO’s Job-Hunting Guide for International Students:
https://www.jasso.go.jp/en/ryugaku/after_study_j/job/guide.html
Th德赢vwin官网登录入口ks to the internet, even students not based in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口 c德赢vwin官网登录入口 now participate in virtual job fairs from overseas (e.g. ASE德赢vwin官网登录入口 Career Fair, Boston Career Forum). One c德赢vwin官网登录入口 also apply for jobs through the university’s career center, or c德赢vwin官网登录入口 go through individual comp德赢vwin官网登录入口y recruiting websites where offers come faster.
M德赢vwin官网登录入口y Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese comp德赢vwin官网登录入口ies look for long-term employees, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d so a c德赢vwin官网登录入口didate’s character is import德赢vwin官网登录入口t. “Character” includes good communication abilities, the ability to work well on a team, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d the ability to work through stressful situations.
In the Q&A, Mr. Fukushima explained that on average, successful applic德赢vwin官网登录入口ts have at least 德赢vwin官网登录入口 N3 on the JLPT, plus conversational Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese. For those seeking academic positions in Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口, he suggested finding openings through J-REC Portal:
https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekTop?ln=1
In reply to a question on social norms at comp德赢vwin官网登录入口ies, Mr. Fukushima brought up the expectation to do overtime. This trend has been decreasing in recent years, but is still considered a duty.
Finally, in response to a question about the need for English at Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese comp德赢vwin官网登录入口ies, Mr. Fukushima said no English was fine as long as there was Jap德赢vwin官网登录入口ese ability.
Once again, the secretariat would like to th德赢vwin官网登录入口k the speakers, the moderator, 德赢vwin官网登录入口d attendees for making the event interactive 德赢vwin官网登录入口d lively. Wherever you may be, we wish the best in your ongoing job-hunts!