Job Hunting in Japan and My Path to Employment
By Chul Kim ‘15, J. F. Oberlin University (2015-2017)
Job hunting in Japan these past few months has been an unexpected chance at introspection and contemplation. Looking back on my past 1.5 years in Japan, I grow increasingly fonder of the many memories I’ve made as a Shansi fellow. Not only have I learned Koto and Shakuhachi (as mentioned in my last narrative), but I have performed with the university orchestra, visited lectures on Korean-Japanese relations, finished reading my first novel in Japanese, taken the TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean), visited Singapore and South Korea, completed an internship, and made many new friends. However, as the end of my fellowship draws near, my thoughts regularly drift toward the big million-dollar question: “What next?”
It took me my whole first year to decide that I would like to pursue a career in Japan. That decision then exploded into many follow-up questions I must now answer: What kind of job do I want? How do I apply to companies? How do interviews in Japan work? The deeper I go into the process, the more overwhelming it feels. This is partly because the job hunting culture in both Japan and the US have many differences. In fact, I am still getting the hang of the proper way to enter the interview room (two knocks, a cheerful “yoroshiku onegaishimasu”, and a greeting with a 45-degree bow). Let’s not forget preparing entry sheets, formulating a personal spiel for every interview (jiko PR), and handling job offer negotiations once you receive them. Although some of these things are similar back in the States, there is definitely a cultural difference when interviewing for Japanese companies. Deciding to work in Japan was easy, but making it a reality has proven to be a stressful and complicated path.
My first step was the Boston Career Forum, which is a job fair with hundreds of company booths looking for Japanese and English bilinguals. I’m incredibly thankful that I researched way in advance, as there was a lot to prepare beforehand. Many applicants purchase special resume sheets from their university and handwrite their resume, which on average took me about 10 minutes each. Multiply that by 10 companies, and that is quite a bit of labor. You can imagine how cramped my hand was after a couple hours! Not to mention that this is all done by pen, which means one wrong stroke would render your entire resume useless and warrant a re-do. These documents you prepare may not even pass the initial document screening for the company, and so extra copies were necessary. This is just one of the many shocking things that I encountered during my job hunt.
Another thing that caught my attention during my job hunt was the attire. Applicants feel a pressure to wear a pure black or dark navy “recruit suit” when interacting companies, to symbolize a sense of freshness (seiketsukan) expected of new graduates. I didn’t think too much of it at first, but was shocked at the career forum when I found myself surrounded by a sea of job applicants wearing the exact same suit style and color as me. Did you know that these recruit suits can only be used for job hunting? I’ve been told that it’s difficult to wear this suit in any other context in Japan, while in America it would be completely acceptable to wear this suit at business meetings. There are voices that say that this tradition constricts one’s sense of individuality and self, and I can definitely empathize. Although the job hunting culture is slowly shifting out of its conservative traditions, many companies still follow the strict guidelines of handwritten resumes and recruit suits, and it adds a new challenge to my job hunting process.
There are a lot of challenges during job hunting, but I think the biggest for me has been going through the entire process without any peers. Until now, when preparing college applications, fellowship applications, and job applications, I have always had peers to consult with, complain with, and get excited with through the entire process. My co-fellows and friends have been a wonderful support network (thanks everyone!!), but I do wish I had someone to work on job applications with me at 2am while eating chocolate covered pretzels like back at Oberlin. Regardless, I also think this has been a great opportunity to gain a sense of independence as I research and pursue my next career step.
I’ve had my fair share of anxiety and worries from job hunting, but I have just as much hope that it’ll all work out. I had 6 interviews this past month while fulfilling my Shansi duties, received one job offer, and am in the process of interviewing with two more companies. Although it hasn’t been the most adventurous, exciting experience, it has been a defining part of my past half year, and will become a memory that I can look fondly back on and retell in the future. Thanks again to Shansi, who has made my past year and a half an amazing one, and I’m looking forward to the final stretch. I can’t wait for my remaining time filled with Koto, teaching, traveling, language studies, friends, and –of course– job hunting.
