According to a survey of international students graduating in March 2019, conducted by major career support company DISCO Inc., a huge gap of tentative job offer ratios between Japanese and international students was found as of July 2018. The job offer rate of Japanese students was 81.1%, whereas that of international students sat at 42.6%.
In terms of the number of companies which international students applied to, a big difference was not found: they applied to 27.6 companies, while their Japanese counterparts applied to 30, roughly 10% more.
Furthermore, as for the average number of companies to which an international student submitted an application form called Entry Sheet (ES), it was 19.2 companies—five more than that of Japanese students. 71.8% of international students continued job-hunting even after they already obtained the tentative job offers.
According to DISCO, such a gap in the tentative job offer ratios is likely due to international students starting job-hunting later than Japanese students. In fact, when asked about when they began their hunt, around 30% of international students answered “April of senior year”, whereas a considerable amount of Japanese students stated “June of junior year” (23.2%). When one chooses to begin looking for a job clearly makes a difference.
The survey also revealed a high willingness of international students, compared to Japanese students, to change jobs and advance their career after joining a company. Almost half of international students are eager to step up in their professional lives by switching jobs not just sticking to one particular company.
Over 80% of international students consider working in Japan after graduation. As for the type of company or where international students want to get a job, approximately 60% of them are willing to work at “a Japanese-owned company “, while 22.7% prefer working at “a foreign-affiliated company.”
If you are an international student and would like to seek a job in Japan after graduation, you would do well to keep in mind that how early you start job-hunting is the key to getting a tentative job offer.
jopus Editorial Dep.
