Employment & Careers in Japan

First Salary (Shoninkyu)

First salary or "Shoninkyu" means the first monthly salary recent graduates receive from their employer. The average amounts range from approximately 210,000 yen for university graduates and nearly 230,000 yen for graduate school graduates. Clerical/humanities courses are referred to as "Jimukei", while technical/science courses are referred to as "Gijutsukei".

Figure 2: Average amount of the first monthly salary in each academic qualification (Source: National Personnel Authority)

Average Salary by Age

Annual salaries in Japan generally grow steadily with seniority. The annual salary for men reaches a peak of 7,020,000 yen at the 55-59 age group, then gradually declines. For women, salaries level off after the 25-29 age group. This represents the general demographic trend in Japan where more women historically transition to part-time employment models following marriage and childbirth.

Size of Employer for International Students

Approximately 10.1% of international students are employed by large corporations with 2,000 or more employees. Most students' initial jobs after graduation are at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 50 employees.

Japanese SMEs do not only play the role of subcontractors. Many successful smaller companies hold the world's highest-ranking technologies or the number one market share in specific niches. Broadening your research to include smaller companies can significantly increase your employment opportunities. Additionally, starting paychecks between large corporations and SMEs are very similar, both hovering around 200,000 yen.

Industries Employing International Students

Just under 15.2% of international students start their careers with manufacturing companies, while 84.4% choose non-manufacturing sectors. Wholesale and retail trade sectors are the most common pathways, followed by academic research/professional services, information/communications, and lodging.

Figure 6: Industries of employment (Source: Immigration Bureau, Ministry of Justice)

Characteristics of Job Hunting in Japan

Hiring Criteria for Japanese Companies

Overseas and Japanese companies tend to hire their staff according to different hiring standards. Many overseas companies have introduced a "merit-based pay system" in which promotions and salary increases are based on a person's ability, work results, and performance, and they look for people who can make an immediate impact upon hiring. In such a selection process, the student's major at their university, as well as expertise and skills obtained during internships, etc. can make the difference between whether they are chosen for the position or not.

Meanwhile, as Japanese companies are accustomed to taking the time to provide employees with training necessary for their job, they tend to recruit promising students with good qualifications, who are likely to contribute to the company in the long-run. The chart below shows data based on employers' responses regarding key characteristics they look for when recruiting potential employees. Japanese companies regard characteristics such as potential communication ability, independence and cooperativeness as more important than academic scores, expertise in a certain field, and foreign language ability.

Potentiality-hiring

"Potentiality" originally indicates a capacity for development and future success. "Potentiality-hiring" is a way of recruiting by attaching greater value to an applicant's potential capability and future possibility of being successful, even if they may not be qualified in terms of skills and knowledge to fully contribute to the company at that particular moment. Japanese companies tend to hire people who are expected to be active in the future, rather than people who can be immediately effective, because they have a solid training system in place after joining the company.

Employment System of Japanese Companies

Japanese companies mainly conform to membership-type employment. This kind of employment does not specify any job category, work place or working hours and requires employees to be flexible so that they can deal with various kinds of tasks. The main feature of the system is to evaluate the ability to handle all duties as a generalist.

These companies hire a number of employees through a unified recruiting campaign every year, then let them get a sense of the company as well as acquire necessary knowledge during the initial "on-the-job training" period along with various training sessions for employees to gain further knowledge and skills. Because the job category and place of work are not specified, a company can reassign an employee based on the company's circumstances. As a result, an employee may not be able to be placed in their position or location of choice. This kind of working style is recorded as "Sogo-shoku" or "main career track" on recruitment campaign documents.

Job-Type Employment (Global Comparison)

Among overseas countries, job-type employment is mainstream. Job-type employment is a form of employment in which the duties and work location are limited. It is characterized by clear job requirements and primarily evaluates the specialist's ability to perform the job. Continued employment and benefits depend on the duration of work and ability to perform. Companies can secure highly specialized and talented workers, but because they contract with workers within a specific job scope, if the job is no longer needed due to changes in the company's business conditions or policies, the contract may be terminated without reassignment, meaning the worker is at risk of losing their job.

Job Hunting Procedures and Exams

Preparation for Job Hunting

Document-based Examinations

Document-based exams make up the initial phase of job hunting activities. The entry sheet is one of these documents. By submitting an entry sheet, you make a formal application to take the employment exam. The entry sheet is very unique in the following points. One is the fact that companies are adopting different test formats. Another is short Japanese writing sections where you have to appeal what you did during your school life, why you would like to enter the company, and so on. Many foreign students who experienced job hunting activities in Japan often confess the entry sheet was the toughest task. In this section, you have to answer the company's provided questions with a set number of Japanese characters (around 200 to 400).

Written Examinations

Written examinations are conducted to ascertain whether students have reached a certain level of intellectual and academic ability, and whether they possess the thinking and judgment skills, work speed, processing ability, and accuracy required for the job. When there are numerous applicants, these tests are used as efficient tools for selection. As paper exams are basically carried out in Japanese, applicants must have a high level of Japanese comprehension.

Though some companies offer original tests, most of them use ready-to-use exams developed by expert companies. Exams generally include an aptitude test, general knowledge test, and Japanese writing or short essay. Generally speaking, many companies adopt various aptitude tests. There are a variety of aptitude tests, but they include language-related questions in Japanese and English, as well as math-related questions. Although aptitude tests in Japanese and English or mathematics are not particularly difficult, time is limited. You have to train yourself in advance to answer many questions correctly in a short time.

Interviews

It is common for a company to have three rounds of interviews. Companies conduct multiple interviews because they want staff members of various positions to check the applicant's personality and way of thinking in order to ascertain if they are really suitable for the company. There are several types of job interviews in Japan. The three types commonly adopted by most companies include group discussions, group interviews, and individual interviews.