Job-hunting season begins for Japanese university students

I hated that back in post University days. Everyone wearing the same crap ¥10,000 made in China suitable. I just wore Giorgio Armani silver or beige. Being original is a concept phase here.. To much 'tribal' or socialist? mentality here if that's what you call it.

How did I know the first comment would be negative in tone?

Just that pic alone, I can see 4 guys with the same ties even! how funny is that.. plus the rest of the men and women wearing the SAME style suit..

drones, lining up for a life of drudgery where individuality is a thought crime.

i appreciated this initiative of Japanese firms, and believe this will be highly effective to support the labor shortage of japan.

You guys are lucky to be in Japan. You have a 98% chance of landing a good job. The another 2% will go to grad school. I feel sorry for the poor Koreans, they can't find a good job.

I hated that back in post University days. Everyone wearing the same crap ¥10,000 made in China suitable. I just wore Giorgio Armani silver or beige.

You wore a Giorgio Armani silver suit? Or a biege one? To go to job interviews? That's downright radical in Japan. How did you ever get hired?

You guys are lucky to be in Japan. You have a 98% chance of landing a good job

50-60 hours a week? I don't know how good that is really...

Being a recruiter here, I tend to find some kind of originality here. There have been a few who have approached me. Yes, some are shy about speaking English, there there are the few who will try. Sometimes, photos like this don't always do justice. From my experiences, I have been able to find some originality within the bunch as this photo. Most of the time, they work out for the best and bring out their personalities in the interviews. However, we tend to help them relax.

I just wore Giorgio Armani silver or beige. Being original is a concept phase here.

Nothing shouts "individuality" more than wearing an expensive brand suit and then boasting about it.

I can see 4 guys with the same ties even! how funny is that

Interesting that everyone is wearing a striped tie as well. As a Brit I find that rather odd because for cultural reasons, Brits do not usually wear striped ties (or it is a bit gauche if you do).

Why everyone wore the same suit in Black to attend a job fair? Like going a funeral !

Good luck to all graduates.

not quite the same ties, the lines here are going up to the right, not up to the left ;)

I do like that there is an annual national hire. A sense at least that there is a national responsibility to hire fellow citizens. This is a process that would be in place for guaranteed jobs. Wish it was more general as in all ages though, and all levels, and better hours. Don't be mean, let's wish them well

Job fairs? For groups that are supposedly desperate to land top candidates, they sure have an antiquated way of going about attracting students.

I remember coming out of college. Companies that alumnis work for and companies that were connected to my fraternity were offering me internships since first year and job offers from my third year. My first job was secured even before beginning my senior year.

In America, work environment has become a huge thing. If there are certain things not offered as a minimum such as relaxation rooms, snack and drink bars, children play rooms, and more, many of the top recruits or skilled employees won’t even look at that company.

1984 had already arrived in Japan even before 1984.

It would be nice to see more colour and self expression at these fairs...but I guess old habits die hard.

Why everyone wore the same suit in Black to attend a job fair? Like going a funeral !

Sadly for many it kind of is!

That lame white paper mask hanging below your nose (right in the center of this photo) is not going to improve your chances. Looks ridiculous and proclaims you have a weak body, doesn't it?

I'm quite sure in some 'recruiting guide' that you can buy in your local conbini while waiting on your FamiChiki or some other food, there is a section on ties that fully explains the benefits of a diagonally striped tie. With, of course, the stripes best descending from the left to the right. Probably a list of 'power colors' in there too.

It's the only way to explain why 10 of the young men in that photo are all wearing maroon or navy ties with silver stripes, the majority fo which drop diagonally from left to right.

That's not even counting the rebel with less than perfectly black hair and an X-striped tie in the front. No doubt he'll be working at some burakku-kaisha next year, what with those nonconformist streaks of his.

There is a reason for the striped ties. When I was researching about how to conduct interview in japan every website i came across recommended striped ties.I belive it is the only individual thing you can add to your attire in japan.

I remember coming out of college. Companies that alumnis work for and companies that were connected to my fraternity were offering me internships since first year and job offers from my third year. My first job was secured even before beginning my senior year.

JJ - your very mentioned of the connection with fraternities demonstrates a class-based system designed to keep the best jobs in the family of the rich. I think that Japan's system is far superior. America's class system is even more rigid than the UK's, according to data analysis of inter-class movement, and this really shows in comments such as yours.

While Japan has not quite shaken off its class-based system, given that it is only 150 years from a feudal system, it has done very well, and perhaps these anonymous black uniforms and open job fairs are one of the ways that has helped acieve this.

The guy rocking the SARS mask should probably ditch it when talking to potential employers.... just sayin'

@Ah_so

I do not agree with you that the Japanese system is far superior to the American system. Japan still uses the exact same system that is very similar to that in America. Why do you think many people want to go to Tokyo University, Kyoto University, Osaka University and so forth? It is not to learn, but to many, going to those Universities guarantees you a good job.

Currently I teach at the oldest University in Japan and the High School connected to it is one of the best High Schools in Japan. Our High School students don't go to the connected University. They end up in Tokyo University and other high level University. When you ask the student and their parents, why Tokyo University? It is because it guarantees them a high paying job. Also, we all know that many of the acceptance is based on who you know rather than what you know. So I see it the same as the American system.

As for me, I am by no means from a rich family and I have always had to work hard for everything i earned. How did I make my connections? When I was in JHS I went around to local community boards to volunteer. From there I gained part time jobs in politics. From there I gained connections and gained referrals to University and even the Fraternity. I must have went to 70 different community board offices across New York city before someone finally gave me a chance to volunteer.

Also, I came from a poor West Indian family in the Bronx. While I wasn't the first to go to college, I was the first to attend something higher than a community college and I was the first in my family to graduate with a Bachelors degree. So what class-system advantage did I have?

Im not boasting.. I don't care about the bread per second, stating I don't want to be like the other roboto due to being the same race.. Aside from the suit or brand, need to have strong communication, which I can tell you now they lack even IF those kids were bilingual..

*brand

Those ties their wearing you can find at daiso 100 yen stores..

You only live once, regardless why copy others or be frugal

@Kenji

What you say is correct. In the business world in America, what you wear can severely impact the way managers view you when they are interviewing you. It sounds bad, but especially in client facing positions, caring for your appearance is important.

When I was a manager or district manager and doing interviews, I hated that these were points used against people when we were interviewing bankers. There are many times I would hear, this person's tie looked cheap, or he had the wrong knot, or the suit seemed like it came out of a bargain bin.

This particularly hurts those from poorer families and it isn't right, but it happens often.

Good luck to them all! But they wont need it. 2 jobs to choose from for every graduate. There has never been a better time to be a job hunter!

Japan interview system is strange as hell!

I remember doing interviews for an internship and at first I didn’t know why I failed. And I knew that in fact I did interviews like here in the EU.

So I tried to act like a Japanese will do, being not too friendly not trying to make some jokes. I just answered by saying my university is one of the top, that I have worked for top companies before. And it worked well!

I heared sugoi sugoi and got my internship.

@JJ - I picked up on your mention of your fraternity - as I understand it, these are very elite sub-groups within universities that are associated with wealth and privilege. They are an additional expense not normally afforded to the majority.

As Cornell’s official website states, while only 2 percent of America’s population is involved in fraternities, 80 percent of Fortune 500 executives, 76 percent of U.S. senators and congressmen, 85 percent of Supreme Court justices, and all but two presidents since 1825 have been fraternity men, according to Cornell.

white and higher-income students are much more likely to join fraternities and sororities

“Fraternities don’t breed leaders so much as leaders breed and perpetuate the fraternity system.” Traditional groups are defined as much by whom they include as by whom they exclude. In the case of fraternities, America’s historic elite—white, rich, and Christian men—are among the in-crowd.

etc etc

https://tcf.org/content/commentary/separate-but-unequal-in-college-greek-life/?agreed=1

The very fact that you mentioned that employers associate directly with fraternities speaks for itself about perpectuating class and privilege.

You mention that you have a working class background and are not clearly in a successful middle class job, nut that does not change the fact that overall, class bounderies in the USA are far harder to cross than in other countries.

Japan, by contrast, has a much more fluid social class system. There is one - if you are of samurai descent you are more likely to hold a good job, but people are far less bound by their birth than in either the USA (or Britain).

@JJ - sorry - an erroneous "not" got included in my middle paragraph.

@ah_so

i don’t agree. I think the class system here is a lot harder than in the U.S.

That is part of the reason Japan has a much larger gap between the 1% than the U.S. does.

Another example of this is one of my best friends. She comes from Tottori. Her family are descended from people considered Burakumin. Even today, her family doesn’t allow them to tell people where they are from. They always say they are from Osaka. Her brother even had to drop out of college because of the bullying that came from his background.

The U.S. gives you more opportunities to work your way up than Japan. Seniority is the key here in Japan, but even then, only select members are selected. Japan also gives the same precedence over family, friendship, and lineage as all others do.

Lose the herd mentality.

Plan at least two years ahead, research your vocation, skill specialise, seek smart sponsorship by approaching companies and businesses at their headquarters.

Be at the front of the queue, not a face in the crowd during job-hunting season.

Seasons are best reserved for cauliflowers and cabbages.

I like this pic very much. Confidence on their faces is best thing ever. One young person here almost looks like young "Takeshi Kitano".

I have nothing again this tradition, why not?

And I have no issue with the principle of life employment.

The problem is that traditional J. Inc do not hire outside experimented people to be incorporated in the management to bring new perspectives.

Breeding origami professionals seems the J. Inc destiny unfortunately.

Why everyone wore the same suit in Black to attend a job fair? Like going a funeral !

If they wore black ties I would agree. Black suits here are considered formal.

My son is finishing his second year at a rather famous university in Japan, he is getting all sorts of pressure from professors and his counsellor to start looking for jobs now. He is uncertain about what he wants to do after finishing university, but with all this crap he is getting now, he wants to take a year off to get away from it all!

Hi Yubaru, If your son needs a pause, to collect his thoughts, his studies will be awaiting his return.

Ambition is not and never will be a, be all and end all, or a, means to and end.