Job Hunting in Japan for the Class of 2025: What to Do by January and February of Your Third Year
2024 has begun!
How did you spend the New Year holiday, class of 2025 (students who will graduate in spring 2025)? Switching your mindset matters in job hunting, too. Once you have fully enjoyed your break, it's time to switch on job-hunting mode and get ready for March, when shukatsu (the official job-hunting season in Japan) officially begins.
In this article, we introduce what you should do in January and February to prepare for the start of job hunting in March!
1. Review your self-PR and your "gakuchika"
Use the results of the internship applications you have submitted so far to review your self-PR (a short statement of your strengths) and your "gakuchika" (what you put the most effort into during university, a standard question in Japanese job applications).
If you keep getting stuck at the document screening stage, check whether your selling points really show your appeal, and whether the structure of your writing is hard to follow. It is also a good idea to have someone who has never read your entry sheet (the application form most Japanese companies require, often called an "ES") read it and give you feedback.
If you struggle to answer questions about your self-PR or gakuchika in interviews, write down the questions you have been asked so far and think through your answers again. The next time you get the same question, you won't be at a loss for words, and that will boost your confidence too.
2. Check the application periods for main selection
Job hunting generally officially starts in March, but these days many companies begin their main selection process (the full-scale recruitment process, as opposed to internships) even earlier.
It really does happen: you pre-register on a major job-hunting site with companies that vaguely interest you, then check in March only to find that the main selection has already ended.
When you find a company you're interested in, check its recruitment information page first, so you avoid the disaster of not even being able to apply.
3. Get your ID photos ready
Many customers come to have their ID photos taken right before an entry sheet deadline.
When you're working hard to polish the content of your entry sheet, it's easy to forget about the photo. From March, your schedule fills up quickly with company information sessions and a rush of entry sheet deadlines. By the time you realize you don't have a photo, you may no longer have time to go to a studio.
March is a busy month, so to use your time well, have your ID photos taken beforehand.
We also recommend having them taken at a studio, where you can consult professional staff about your expression and posture.
At 19Studio, the job-hunting ID photo plan includes everything: digital data for online submission, printed photos, and retouching (corrections such as skin smoothing). It's perfect if you don't know which options to add or don't want to spend time deciding.
In this article, we summarized what to do in January and February to prepare for the start of job hunting in March! Prepare well in January and February, and head into March with time to spare!
- 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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