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Japan – International graduate recruitment to surge, but applicants must be prepared to conform

26 August 2014

Japanese companies are gearing up for an extensive international student recruitment campaign, a human resource strategy supporting a larger game plan to deploy their businesses more globally, reports The New York Times.

Mr Isao Ogake, Director of global career and education at job fair organiser Disco, said corporate Japan’s appetite to engage more non-Japanese graduates has been soaring, reflecting a growing desire to go global and to add diversity to the workforce.

Of more than 800 mid-size to large companies surveyed by Disco: “48% of them say they plan to recruit non-Japanese college graduates. That is up from 35% last year. The number was just over 20% a few years back. [At many large corporations now] it is common to have a 10% target quota for internationals,” he added.

Yet for all the stated goal of fostering diversity, foreign jobseekers are still expected to fit the Japanese mould.

Mr Tomoyuki Ichikawa, Executive Officer in the global business department at recruitment firm Pasona, said he encouraged internationals to embrace Japanese manners, even if they were not required to do so by corporations: “We want international students to be on the same playing field as Japanese students. It would be sad if they are rejected on the basis of etiquette.”

The dress code for men may be informal, but it is clear: Black suit, bleached white shirt and a nondescript necktie. Women are advised to wear a skirt, especially for tradition-bound financial institutions.

The fixation on form has much to do with the fact that Japanese corporations recruit a large number of new graduates each year, often numbering in the hundreds. With such large numbers to sort through, companies need some form of triage process.

“The whole process needs to be efficient and systematised,” Mr Ogake said, explaining that the dress code acts as a useful starting point, indicating a candidate’s readiness to conform to expected corporate behaviour.

The Japanese hiring approach has its advantages for entry-level candidates. Rather than recruiting to fill specific openings and vacancies, Japanese corporations hire a large number of fresh graduates annually and train them into a productive workforce.

Mr Yoshihiro Taguchi, a representative of NAP, a volunteer organisation that helps international students find jobs in Japan, commented: “Corporations don’t think universities prepare students for a job, so they have comprehensive in-house training systems.”

The Japanese approach, however, has several consequences for career development. One is that mid-career hiring is relatively rare, there is an expectation that young recruits will rise into management positions through in-house training and experience.

Another is that promotion often comes slowly in the early years; five to seven years is the minimum to reach the lowest rung in a managerial hierarchy, said Mr Ichikawa.

That can lead to defections: Foreign companies operating in Japan often hire internationals away with attractive salaries and positions: “People who worked for Japanese companies for a few years are well trained and are a prime target for poaching,” he added.