5) Company seminar/job fairs (What to expect)

The next topic are company seminars and jobs fairs.

Company Seminars

Most all companies will require you to attend their company seminar. Whether this maybe at their office, on a university campus, or at a job fair. One thing you need to be careful about is that most companies only hold seminars in Japanese. More and more are SLOWLY starting to offer seminars in other languages, but still a majority will be in Japanese. These seminars can be very dry and boring and you might just end up falling asleep. However, you still need to attend as this is part of the process.

So what happens during these seminars?

At the seminars this is where you actually apply to the company.  Most of the time you will get to meet employees and of course someone from HR who you could possibly be interviewing with, so it is important to make a good first impression. As soon as you set foot in the room you are being watched. Some will watch you like a hawk and some won’t do so heavly. So be on your best behaviour as this may make it or break it for you.

Usually at these seminars, you will hear about the history of the company, why work for them, and possibly information about the job. Then some companies like to have group work/discussions and also Q&A time with employees. Again this a time to be on your best behaviour and make sure you ask GOOD questions and interact with others, as you are being watched and judged and in some cases, people start to get cut in this process.  This is also to test on how well you work in a team as this is very important in Japan and the company wants to see if you are one to lead, follow, or turn into a monster that wants to control everything. 

To give you an idea about my company seminar, it usually lasted about 2 hours. We spent the first 40-60 minutes talking about the company and what we do and possible career choices. The next part we had a Q&A session with employees where the students asked questions. Finally, we gathered resumes and had the students fill out a survey. Please make sure to take the time to fill it out as some companies will use it during your interview. 

We also held our seminars in both English and Japanese and when I did the English seminar, we did the aptitude test (English paper version) right after the seminar.

Another thing, we let students who attended our seminar at job fairs or universities, skip coming to our HQ and let them take the aptitude test.  This varies from companies though as they might still want you to visit the office.

What to wear and bring.

Wear

In most cases you will need to wear a suit, however, during the summer it can be very hot here so you can usually dress in cool biz style that means no tie or jacket. Business casual is usually the safe bet, but I have seen a few that wear polo shirts. My company doesn’t really care though but some might. 

 Resume

Next thing is to bring your resume. You can do your resume in the western style format, however, some companies will require you to bring your resume in the standard Japanese format form.  You don’t have to write it out by hand either unless you want to impress them with your beautiful handwriting in Japanese. You will also need to have a photo of you as well on the resume and there usually is a spot for it. Make sure it is a decent passport style photo. Coming from America this is unheard of however, in Japan it is the norm.  Most Japanese people don’t smile in their photos, but I would suggest to smile!!! It sure looks better than a straight face photo that makes you look like a criminal especially if you are a big person you might just freak them out!  

Does it have to be in Japanese?

 Having it in Japanese does help especially if it is for a traditional Japanese company. I know a lot of career centers in the universities here help the students with this, so if they have this service, take advantage of it.  If you can’t write it in Japanese it is no problem, especially if the job description doesn’t require you to have N1 Japanese. 

JOB FAIRS

Job fairs are great way to be introduced to many companies and have a chance to network with the HR staff from companies. Many are held throughout the year in major cities. However, there aren’t that many for international students so make sure you make an effort to attend a few.  These fairs will be worth your time as these companies are actually “looking” for international students compared to other job fairs where you might be just wasting your time.

Some job fairs to take note of:

Global Mynavi (sometimes the hold seminars in other countries such)

http://global.mynavi.jp/

Global Leader (held both in Tokyo and Osaka)

http://www.globalleadernavi.com/jp/

Career Fair from Daijobs (not as big as the other two for students, however, students can attend although mostly career type jobs)

https://www.daijob.com/en/cfair/eventmain/13

Asiajobfair.net (has posting about upcoming job fairs)

http://asiajobfair.net/ 

3) Time period (When to start looking for work) and 4) What sites to use

In America, we usually start searching for internships our 3rd year and our 4th year we start interviewing. In Japan however, students look for work and internships while they are in 3rd year of school and this continues into their 4th year.

Why is this? This is because everything in Japan starts in April and Ends in March when it comes to the school year and also the way Japanese companies function. So when people retire, or get promoted or transferred usually April 1st is when all this takes place.

When do companies start promoting their open positions?

Currently, it is Dec.1st is when companies open up their sites for students. In Japanese they say, エントリー or Entry, which comes from the term entry form.

When do companies hold their seminars?

This depends on the company however, most will start in January after the New Year holiday and February.

Sites to use to find companies and seminars

The two majors places to find jobs are with Rikunavi and MyNavi. There are of course a few others but these two are the main ones which companies poor thousands of dollars into to have their company listed. Please keep in mind these sites are all in Japanese, so you will need to make use of Google to help. In some cases you can’t even copy and past, so good luck! There are a few companies that specialize in international student recruitment, however, there won’t be as many companies compared to Rikunavi and MyNavi. I will list those below.

Here are the links for 2015 recruitment class as most companies are now finishing up or have finished with 2014.

Rikunavi

http://job.rikunabi.com/2015/

MyNavi

http://job.mynavi.jp/2015/

For International Students

As mentioned above there are a few companies that can help you with finding companies that are recruiting international students. They will probably try to get you to attend various seminars as companies are paying them to get students to attend their seminars. Also some companies will get money if you are placed with the  company, so they may push you to join a specific company. It may be the best of your interest to ask if they will get paid if you join this company or not as I have heard stories from students who got two job offers and were pressured to join one company over the other due to the fact one company was their client and would be getting money (anywhere from 100,000 yen to 1 million yen depending on the company) if they joined.

These are just a few who can help you who are upcoming/recent grads.

MyNavi Global (they usually hold a few job fairs for international students, this year it was held on June 22 and 23rd in Tokyo)

http://global.mynavi.jp/

Global Leader/Vein Global (usually have a few job fairs in Tokyo and Osaka as well as overseas)

http://www.globalleadernavi.com/jp/ 

Top Career/Fourth Valley

https://www.topcareer.jp/inter/login/?action=login&next=mypage

 

2) Age (How old is too old? Does it matter) Education ( Will getting my Masters or PhD help?)

In the section I want to talk about age and education as I feel they go together here in Japan. It is something I still bang my head against my desk as I hope to make changes but in some cases, I also understand where they company is coming from.

Sorry so long but this is a very important topic that can make or break you when it comes to working in Japan.

 

AGE

Does age really matter here in Japan?

The answer is yes it does especially when it comes to entry-level positions for Japanese companies. Japan’s laws have changed where they are not supposed to publish the desired age anymore. So this publicly will never be mentioned or written. However, internally, it is still there and in most cases, you age will not go in your favor should you be an older student.

So how old is too old?

This depends on your skill set and what you can bring to the company but in most cases, 28 is pushing it and above that, you better have some good excuse or skills or don’t even try. I don’t know how it is with the foreign companies here, but with most Japanese this is the case. Even for some 26 is too old. I will get more into this when it comes to skills and age when I talk about education below.

I have seen a case where the company is  willing to hire someone in their early 30`s, but that person (a Japanese girl) had studied overseas for a year, could speak fluent English, scored perfect on her TOEIC test, went to university, and was able to make her point during the interviews. So it is not impossible, but you better have a few cards to play or you won’t get the job.

Why do they care?

They care because when you start your training group will be with a bunch of 23-25 year old students. For most people, they don’t care about this as they just want to have a chance to work. However, the company feels you might be out-of-place in some cases. Also this comes down to your career path and advancement in the company. Think about it, a 36-year-old starting as an entry-level job being trained by someone who is 25 to 28 in most cases, how is this going to work? Most people are humble and would listen, but the person training you could feel intimidated.

EDUCATION

You would think getting more education the better off you would be right? Well in Japan, it is not the case.  Yes you will need a four-year degree and in some cases, a 2 year degree from a vocational school is ok just be prepared take a little bit of a pay cut.

Does going to a major university help?

In most cases it does help as company have their “target” students. However, if you can’t get into a big named university, don’t sweat it.

Does what I get my degree in matter?

Most of the time NO, unless you are trying to become a Chemical Engineer with a degree in History then it does matter. In America, usually what you study relates to what you want to do in life. In Japan, it is not the case for most jobs. Especially if the company has a training system  then you don’t have to worry,  Although getting your degree in a Liberal Arts field is no problem at all, I found that companies look at those with a science background a little different. Just make sure you don’t study something like Poli Sci or Japanese History, as most of the time the course work does not relate to what a company needs.  If you do decided to go down this path, make sure you have some sort of business classes (Finance,Accounting, and so forth) or have strong Japanese skills. 

Does getting my Masters or PhD help?

In Japan, most of the time NO.  Japanese companies could careless if you have a Masters and a PhD, forget it, you have just become too specialized and you probably are now at the age of 28 or older.  It doesn’t mean they frown upon people who get thei graduate degrees and it does help you get a little higher pay.

However, the first thing that comes to mind of those interviewing you is that the student probably couldn’t get a job during their undergrad time so they went to grad school. There are some companies who desire those with Masters, but usually they are foreign companies, and companies that need Engineers.  So if you do go this route be very careful if you want to work in Japan. As I mentioned above, this is where the age card/experience card is played. I have seen a few people with PhD who had the skills we would like, but they spent too much time working on their PhD. One student was 36 and the other was 41 trying to get an Entry Level job. I would have been more than happy to have them on board but in reality, people at this age should either be in a Leader role of some sorts and not some rookie with a bunch of people 10 years younger than you are.  Sure the government will give you a scholarship and pay your way, but in the long run, it won’t help and in most cases it will hurt you. Of course if you are going to work for the a university, teacch, do research, or work in some pharmaceutical field, go for it, just make sure you know that specific industry needs it.

1) Japanese skills (Do I really need to have perfect Japanese?)

The big question I get is,

Do I need to have perfect Japanese in order to work in a Japanese company?

To be honest there is no clear answer as this depends on the company you are applying to.

As Japan makes a push to become more global there is a need for those that can speak various languages such as;  English, Chinese, Vietnamese, just to name a few, and of course Japanese. So it all depends on where the company needs employees whether it is working mainly with offshore/outsourcing projects, overseas branches or clients, or domestically.

However, the sad news is that most Japanese companies still require people to have N1 Japanese with a few allowing N2. There still is a fear that if the foreign employee can’t speak/read/write Japanese they won’t be able to communicate with people in the company or clients. 

Very few “Japanese” companies will hire you if you can only speak daily conversation Japanese (N3 level) or lower. Unless you have a special skill they want it is going to be difficult. There is a lot of competition here with those that have attended Japanese universities and have some exposure to Japanese and can speak at least at an N2 level. 

Just to give you an idea, my company used to require at least N2 Japanese. However, since I started and the CEO wanted to make us more international (rather than just hire Chinese and Koreans) so he lowered the requirement to daily conversation level Japanese but with fluent English. However, those that speak daily conversational level Japanese usually have some sort of IT background when they are offered a job.

Another thing with knowing Japanese is that most of all the companies will require you to do an aptitude test in Japanese which I will talk more about what this test and what they are looking for. 

My advice

So my advice, if you want to increase your chances of getting a job here, learn Japanese. Why not right?  Also for those who are not native English speakers, make sure you can score at least 650 or higher on your TOEIC test, which would be business level English.  Of course, if the job requires you to work with people in your native tongue and just Japanese that is fine, however, you will have just one more extra tool when you interview for a job.

Japanese are not the best English speakers so they are looking for those that can fill in this void for them when especially with this global push going on.