Training in each company varies, however, no matter what company you work for in Japan, you will probably get some. This training is a way to start to mold you into the employee they want you to be. It is also the big reason why they like to hire new grads and don`t have many Entry Level positions like they do in America when it comes to open employment. This is also one of the reasons companies usually have one hire date for the year for students is because of this.
What is taught during training?
Of course this depends on the company you are working for and where they start out the new comers. Some companies will hold training a big meeting room depending on big the hire groups was or it might be handled by each department if the company hires a lot of students.
In my current company, training is held at our office for almost 2 months. As an IT company everyone is trained as an SE so that means everyone in training will get a crash course in computers and programming regardless of what you studied in University. However, this is not all that is covered as most companies will cover other things such as; business manners and customs, presentations skills, how to use the company system, and Office.
Towards the end of training, some companies at that point will decide where to put you depending on your performance in training and also company need at the time. You will then be assigned to your department and then at the start of the next month, you will head to your new department.
Some companies may have you already before you even start training and that is why they offered you job for your particular skills. If this is the case you will hear about this during your offer meeting and what they want you to do.
Also during training you might travel somewhere together or do some sort of team building fun activities. Again all companies are different this is just what we do in the current company I work for.
After training then what?
This varies on each company as some might have you assigned to a trainer who will be with you for an extended amount of time. Others might have you jump around to various parts of the company for 1 to 2 years and in some cases I have heard 3. Japanese companies want utility players not specialists and this is the way they do it.
At my company you are with that person for one year and they will teach you the ropes of the company and help you survive the first year by assigning you different tasks. These tasks usually will be very small tasks that might leave you pounding your head on your desk in boredom leaving you to wonder why you are working for this company. However, this is part of the process as you need to show you can work and complete simple tasks with no problems. Please also keep in mind Japanese companies will SLOWLY introduce to things and it will be a slow process. Unlike American companies where once after training they expect you to start performing. For a Japanese company, you still have your training wheels on so you are ok until the next year. That doesn’t give you the license to slack off so you still need to perform as it will be judged.
A Guide to Job Hunting in Japan 