Looking for a job in Japan after college is called Shuushoku Katsudou. The process starts during the third year of University and by the beginning or middle of the forth year, most students have already been hired. Though on the surface similar to most western countries, small differences in the way people see both education and work in Japan give way to a noticeably different system in which a majority of people follow. The thoughts going through ones head as they go through Shuushoku Katsudou are not always easy to understand from a western point of view. In an attempt to explain the job hunting process in Japan, one must start from elementary school.
Entrance Exams: Teaching for the test
Exams are part of almost every level of Japanese society. Companies often require prospective employees to take tests as a first round in the interview process. There is even a test one must take in order to pump gas, become a librarian or be a street musician; virtually everything besides working at a convenience store require some sort of certificate gained from passing an exam. School is no different. Whereas, in America for example, people often worry about their grades, Japanese students are all worried about entrance exams which start as early as elementary school. High school in Japan (and often Junior High Schools as well) are all ranked and one will have a much easier time getting into a good University if they went to a good High School and they will have a better chance at going to a good High School if their Junior High School was high ranking. Getting into high school carries the same stress for a Japanese student as getting into college does for western students. This stress causes many students to focus on nothing but the entrance exam from a very young age. At best, most students ignore their grades and instead just focus on learning what they know will be on the test. At worst students ignore class altogether and kill time by daydreaming and reading books or sleeping because they know what will help their future will be taught in Juku.
Juku
Juku can be thought of as school after school. While most public and private schools (at least in theory) aim at creating well rounded, responsible and well educated students, juku aim teaching things that will help a student get a good grade on entrance exams in order to improve their chances of getting into a good high school which in turn helps them get into a good college and then find a prestigious job. What juku usually helps students with is rote memorization. Since rote memorization is what actually will help students pass their tests, many students, especially in public schools, will fool around or space out in class making many teachers feel like glorified babysitters. Many teachers are frustrated by the system and wish students would take their classes more seriously, especially teachers who want to teach students more than just memorization but these standardized tests don’t end with education.
The Ideas and Insecurities of “working” in Japan
When Japan began to modernize, many companies tried to keep to certain uniform standards inside the business culture. They promised lifetime work for employees and many people, worrying about their financial stability favored this and worked at the same company from the time they were born until the time they were forced to retire (Japan has laws that make it difficult to work after 60 years old). This made the working situation inflexible. Loyalty from both the company and the employee, while great for most people, meant that people would not be quitting much, nor would they be getting fired much and so companies generally only looked for young new employees that could work for them with loyalty and for as much time as possible to replace old and retiring employees. In the rare case that an employee was fired, if a company went bankrupt and laid off employees or if someone was so miserable that they felt they had to quit, they often felt as if their life was over and honestly, things didn’t look good for them. This strong emphasis on stable work for one company created a pressure on college students to find work as soon as possible because once you started working you were basically set for life as long as you did your job. The way these companies chose and still choose employees is based on how they look on paper, in other words, their test scores. This pressure reverberates itself down to junior high school and elementary school, a step further than in the west where it is more often felt only in High School. As both companies and employees become less loyal for various reasons, the job market has become more flexible, and with it less stable. This may give some people who fall between the cracks and find themselves looking for work in their 30′s and 40′s a little more hope, but many in the younger generation still feel that their life will be over if they don’t succeed at their first attempt to find a job. Students who can’t find a job straight out of college are referred to with the same word as high school students who couldn’t get into college right away; Ronin, a word used for wandering samurai without a feudal lord, something that was looked down upon. They often feel the same way as someone in their 40 or 50′s who can’t find a job; hopeless. It is understandable that they would feel this as it is, by far, the best chance they will get hired by a company.
Starting Out
Once hired, many people will stop taking school seriously and some stop going all together. The schools generally accept this. Unlike in the west, where experience is preferred, Japanese companies will thoroughly train new employees, starting with occasional orientations and business etiquette while the employee is still in school. This training may continue for months after the employee starts working full time. This creates not only a prepared worker, but a loyal one, as it is much more difficult to quit a company that has taught you everything you know, especially when you know how hard it will be to find a job after gaining a reputation as a “quitter”. Starting work is one of the biggest commitments people in Japan have to make and more often then not, one that will stick with them for a large portion of their life.
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