Job-Hunting Season Begins

March 1, 2018

Tokyo- University students in Japan who are due to graduate in spring 2019 started job-hunting activities on Thursday.

Based on employment guidelines set by the Japan Business Federation, the nation's biggest business lobby, known as Keidanren, companies across Japan were allowed to offer job seminars for students from the same day.

Many companies are believed to be active in hiring new employees on the back of serious labor shortages. Meanwhile, job-hunting students are set to shift into high gear toward June, when firms will be allowed to start specific selection activities, including job interviews.

Some 1,100 companies and 30,000-40,000 students are expected to join two-day joint seminars being held at the Makuhari Messe convention center in the city of Chiba, near Tokyo, through Friday, according to officials of Recruit Career Co., which organized the event.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to get an informal job offer although the employment market is now said to be advantageous to job seekers," a 21-year-old female student at Nihon University said, looking nervous. She said she aims to land an architecture-related job.

"I need to make full preparations, especially when I apply for a job at popular companies," said a 22-year-old male Keio University student, who hopes to work at a consumer goods maker or a financial company.

"Job-hunting students will have very busy days from now," said Hitomi Okazaki, chief of Recruit Career's research division. "We hope they will move forward with their job-hunting activities with a strong sense of purpose while taking care of their health," she said. Jiji Press