This weekend I traveled all the way to Boston to participate in the Boston Career Forum, a forum mainly for companies searching for possible employees who are at least fluent in both English and Japanese. My reason for participating was that I want to work in Tokyo after I graduate, and since I live in Korea at the moment it is not possible to follow the normal Japanese
shushoku katsudou (就職活動 -> job-hunting) system.
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| The logo of the CF Boston Career Forum |
In Japan it is quite common that one applies to a large number of companies, many of which not necessarily have any relation at all with what you studied in university. Getting a job requires around 4 rounds of interviews, which means that the students have to do quite a lot of travelling in order to go through with their interviews.
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| Some of the interview booths at the career forum |
Disco International, the company behind the career forum in Boston, thus has a vision to make the job hunting process easier for the students, and give them the opportunity to spend less time to get a job than they do in the traditional Japanese system. Many of the companies at the career forum offer the opportunity to have 2-3 interviews during the 3 days of the forum, and although most of the companies require further interviews after the forum is over there are also some companies that even hire you at the spot.
Through the
Internet page of the career forum you can prepare for the event in advance through extensive information about the different companies, and their requirements for the students. Most of the companies offer the opportunity to send in your resume along with a general application for the company in advance, and the companies will then regard you for interviews at the forum. Personally I had Skype interviews with some of the companies before the actual career forum as well, so the procedures really depend on the different companies.
At the career forum itself you have the opportunity not only to have pre-scheduled interviews, but also participate in information sessions about the different companies (so-called
setsumeikai - 説明会). Additionally some of the companies offer walk-ins based on your resume, which you can turn in while you are there.
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| Probably the most popular setsumeikai of the event was that of the gaming company Square Enix. |
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There is usually more than enough time to sit down
and read about the companies between the interviews. |
In general most of the students seemed to have quite a lot of time between their interviews. I was one of them, and I spent a lot of my time just by sitting down and preparing for interviews. Although I haven't gotten any concrete job interviews yet there are still a couple of companies that are considering me for further interviews, so right now I'm just waiting for what hopefully will be some positive answers. Anyway, it was an interesting experience (but a very tiring one considering all the hours spent travelling), and I'm really happy for the opportunities this event has given me to actually meet representatives from a lot of interesting companies. 万が一, if I don't end up with any job offers after all I suppose I'll have to attend Disco's next career forum in June as well. But at least this one will be in Tokyo, so I don't have to travel that far x).
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| Boston Convention & Exhibition Centre, where the career forum took place. |
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| Unfortunately I did not get to see much of Boston beside my hostel and the conference hall |
About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.
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