Foreign students in Japan job hunt online amid pandemic

Japanese job hunting is unique and difficult? Seriously? Better add it to the UNESCO list then

Good Luck, because you really need it.

It is not just foreign students.

Both my children graduated university last April ( one 4 years the other masters).

A good 25% of their friends still haven't found any permanent job and they are all Japanese and from good universities.

My daughter has changed jobs 3 times since graduating because the companies she was with couldn't survive the closures and down turn in business due to covid ( both subsidiaries of very large companies).

Where their school in helping those students through this?

The answer to that is it depends on the school.

One problem is the well known but unwritten list of companies that do not hire foreigners or even mixed people.

My children went to different universities and got given a verbal list of no go Companies because they are mixed both lists contained many of the same companies.

So these foreign students have quite a challenge a head of them.

Japanese job hunting has been changing quite dramatically in comparison to past years.

While for some corporations, the university you graduated still matters, many middle and smaller companies do not give a crap where you graduated from, and only that you will take the initiative and do the job.

Pasona Inc, a major staffing firm that organized the event, said Japanese job hunting is "unique and difficult,"

There wouldn't be a plethora of recruitment agencies like Pasona if not because of this. You have to learn how to bow, when to bow, when to sit, how to stand up, where to place your hands... it's ridiculous.

If a company can't accommodate the differences in cultures, then it's not a good company.

the challenge of finding work in a foreign country, overseas students in Japan have taken to visiting online job-information fairs,

Where their school in helping those students through this? Their school just busy in recruiting another new students for next semester?

Questions from the job seekers included wanting to know what the companies expect from foreign students to the level of Japanese ability required and how much overtime there would be per month.

Japanese ability will be required but won't be told them in the beginning, overtime does exist but that too won't be told in the beginning.

Japanese job hunting is "unique and difficult,"

That unique such other countries won't follow. What are benefits of this uniqueness? So they can attract and select more talented people that has skill like people who works in tech like Facebook and Google?

the myth that Japanese companies will not hire foreigners or mixed Japanese nationals is a complete lie. Learn the language and doors will start opening everywhere. 

So you think my children born and raised in Japan with mostly Japanese family and friends went to top Japanese universities, cannot speak Japanese?

Get real 3 companies as seishain!

Or is that Keiyaku seishain, very big difference.

I raised my children here, all the way public system, they knew more about Japan by the time they were in primary school than 90% of the Gaijin that say " learn the language and doors open" a far to often used line that is blatantly false.

@Coffee

I guess you missed the little DHC Corp CEO comment on mixed race.

I have to give it to him, at least he said publicly what many other companies do quietly.

Sorry, but job fairs are a complete waste of time. The unscrupulous recruiters will sign you up on their mailing lists, databases and deliver nothing.

They are students. They should be studying, unless they are frauds.

Yes, as you know, it’s always the hunt, not the catch.

Japanese job hunting is "unique and difficult

For new graduates certainly difficult.

For professionals, well. it is the same as in western countries, at least for what I have experienced for me three jobs here.

Would they want work for such companies anyway?

No most would not but because not every school knows the full list or dates tell students many will waste their time applying.

These companies know they are being watched so interview people anyway especially mixed Japanese nationals as to avoid legal action then just reject them as not passing the hiring process.

One problem is the well known but unwritten list of companies that do not hire foreigners or even mixed people.

Would they want work for such companies anyway?

95% of people here on student visa are actually here to work! It’s an abuse of the whole student visa system. Get the proper visa if you want to work in a foreign country! Many foreigners go through so much hard work to get proper visa but some people just want to exploit the system. They used to do the same in Australia and Singapore in the past but with tighter regulations they can’t do so there now. So they’ve found a new place of exploiting the system in Japan where authorities in the past turned a blind eye since they needed cheap labor. But with the COVID 19 pandemic it’s difficult for everyone to get a job!

As a foreigner who has enjoyed seishain status at three Japanese companies, all listed on Tier 1 of the Tokyo Exchange and founded in the Meiji Era, and two of them in the annual top 20 for companies that new grads want to work for, the myth that Japanese companies will not hire foreigners or mixed Japanese nationals is a complete lie. Learn the language and doors will start opening everywhere. I have had coworkers of all races and nationalities and regularly meet others working with the client or partner companies. Don’t get discouraged.