Job Hunting Costs in Japan: Over ¥80,000 on Average for the Class of 2024 – How Graduates of 2025, 2026 and 2027 Can Save Money
Job hunting in Japan (known as "shukatsu") costs money at every step. You may want to earn extra cash, but with interviews and company info sessions filling your calendar, a part-time job may not be realistic… Sound familiar?
In this article, we cover what job hunting typically costs and how to cut those expenses.
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How much does job hunting actually cost?
According to a survey by Recruit's Shushoku Mirai Research Institute, university students nationwide who graduated in 2024 spent an average of ¥82,905 on job hunting. Nearly ¥100,000 is a heavy burden for a student.
In fact, these costs dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Info sessions and interviews moved online, so students no longer needed to pay for lodging or travel.
Now that the pandemic has passed, in-person info sessions and interviews have returned. Together with rising prices, this has pushed costs up again.
But you can't take on more part-time work while job hunting, so what can you do? Here are some tips for job hunting on a budget.
Saving on job hunting expenses, Tip 1: Cut transportation and accommodation costs
To reduce travel and lodging costs, we recommend scheduling in-person interviews and info sessions on the same day whenever possible. If you are job hunting far from home, each trip is expensive, so adjust your schedule to keep the number of trips down.
You can also save by choosing cheaper transport and lodging, but it's best not to push this too far.
Be careful: cheaper transport can make travel times harder to predict, and basic lodging may not let you rest properly.
Try to find a good balance so that saving money doesn't become a source of stress.
Saving on job hunting expenses, Tip 2: Lean on your network
Job-hunting bags and suits make up a large share of your spending.
One option is to borrow or accept items from older students, friends or family if they have any to spare. Secondhand marketplace apps can help too.
Another benefit of borrowing or receiving items from someone is that it gives you a chance to talk about job hunting. As the process moves along, it can become harder to share information or ask for advice. Finding someone who will listen to you talk about job hunting early on is very reassuring.
Saving on job hunting expenses, Tip 3: Save on your job-hunting photo with a good-value plan and digital data
An ID photo is essential for job hunting in Japan, and you can keep that cost down too.
If you want a high-quality photo at the lowest price, we recommend choosing a plan that includes retouching, digital data for online submission, and several printed photos, and doing your own hair and makeup and wearing your own suit.
For interviews and info sessions, you will do your own hair and makeup and wear your own suit. If your photo is taken the same way, there is less of a gap between the photo and the real you, which is reassuring.
If you are worried about doing your own hair and makeup, this kind of plan includes retouching, so you can relax.
It is also important to get the digital data for online submission.
When you register on major job-search portal sites or create an account on a company's applicant page, you often need to upload your photo as a digital file. There is a big difference in appearance between a printed photo that you scanned yourself and data made specifically for online submission.
The job-hunting photo plan at 19 Studio fits all of these needs.
Retouching, digital data for online submission and printing are all included, starting from ¥5,480. The only options are extra prints and suit compositing (adding a suit to your photo digitally).
If you're interested, please book here!
Summary
In this article, we introduced ways to save money while job hunting!
When cutting costs, choose methods that suit you and stay within a comfortable limit. With a little creativity, you can get through job hunting as economically as possible!
- I love writing and I'm currently studying copywriting. I turn the questions our guests often ask and the things I notice in the studio into easy-to-read articles about job-hunting and ID photos, so that even first-timers can understand them.
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