BA Graduated in September 2020
Job offers: Cosmetic firms
A. Reasons for Working in Japan
The main reason is because working in Japan opened a lot of opportunities for me. This is especially so for the Japanese firms due to their special recruitment system. It is possible for you to land a job that is outside your specialisation as they will train you from scratch and develop you into professionals of that field.
B. Your Job-Hunting Period
I started my job hunting in December 2019 and ended it in April 2020.
C. Industries & Corporations Approached
I looked mainly into manufacturing industries as I want to make fully use of what I have learned in my undergraduate studies later on. On top of that, after doing self-analysis I realized that I have a strong passion for cosmetics therefore I scaled down to cosmetic firms.
D. Methods of Job-Hunting
I made frequent visits to Waseda Career Centre for consultations. I also attended career fairs organized by Global Leader, a job hunting agent for international students. They provided me with a lot of help on my resume revision and interview practices.
E. Challenges Faced
There are few employments offers for international students and some companies do not even have solid records of employment of international students. Therefore, it is important to find out about the past international students employment rate before submitting your resume to the companies of your interest.
F. Importance of Japanese Language
Depending on the type of companies that you applied to( Japanese or International firms), I felt that Japanese firms tend to focus more on Japanese communication ability.
G. Message to Potential Jobseekers
It is important to do self analysis in depth and find out what kind of companies (Japanese or International, B to B or B to C) suit your personality before applying to them. When doing self analysis it would be helpful to ask people around you ,be it your parents or your friends so that you can get a more critical judgement of your personality and strengths from a third person’s point of view.
