A major Japanese company that has announced that they've switched to English as company-wide language, during the interview, once I've competed numerous other stages: oh, you only speak basic Japanese? We only say English is our company language, it's actually Japanese. Another rejection was from a foreign company in Tokyo. It was the last stage and I was about to get hired. As a final question I asked what the work-life-balance was like. The whole room just shifted and they offered me an internship trial period instead. Funny that they don't realize it's not only them picking an employee but also an employee picking an employer..
So you chose to interview for a job in Japan and asked about work/life balance...did you...not do ANY research into Japan's workforce culture? lol Not saying its right but I'm not surprised they turned you away after asking that.
@@RT22444 @RT22444 I interviewed for a job in Japan cuz I lived in Japan at the time. I knew the Japanese workforce culture too well, which is why I chose to interview at a foreign company. And I decided to ask that question as I had options and wasn't desperate for that specific position. Their reaction was definitely a red flag to me as a potential employee.
I got to the interview stage only to be told "yeah, we already filled your role with a Japanese guy" 🤪 FML If you really want a job in Japan as a foreigner, I think it's a *must* to apply through a hiring agency. DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO COMPANIES. First off, expectations of what a CV is are very different in Japan. If your CV stands out, they won't even look at it. Your CV has to follow a very specific format and list very specific details about your previous jobs. My hiring agency coached me through the CV making process and even gave me mock interviews in Japanese with feedback on how to improve my "Japan-ness". I got loads of interviews and multiple offers thanks to them. Finally, be aware that you're more likely to get hired in spring rather than autumn. Fresh graduates begin job hunting in March/April and many employers don't account for hiring outside of that window unless it's an emergency.
Excellent advice for those seeking employment in Japan. In fact, I'd say getting to know company culture by researching the company, is always a good way to go. One might find that he or she isn't suited for it, after all.
Japanese companies still have a very 1980s mindset/culture. When they say 'not energetic enough', they're not talking about your personality, they're talking about your ambition to work for 'that' company. That it's your 'dream career'.
I have one!!! Mine was, "you're a 25+ year old woman and you speak japanese so well so i think you have a japanese boyfriend so you will get married and have children soon." I didnt want to get married to anyone 😤
“NPC Energy” is what perfectly describes what so many jobs are looking for. Just come in, do your work, be happy and nice all the time and deliver perfect results all the time. It’s crazy
Never ask for a raise or time off, never get sick, take on unpaid overtime as much as possible, rat out your fellow coworkers at every opportunity for no reward or compensation other than a pat on the head, always put the company ahead of everything else (including yourself, your health, your friends and your family), and just all around be our slave :3
Bruh u just… described my first company. I literally did all that n lost a friend in that process. He told me never to treat each department’s differently because my bosses wants me to say something bad about the team.
The "no experience in a company" seems a global problem. The companies be like you should be like 20 years old but 30 to 40 years of experiences in the job. This companies will have a huge problem in the future if they everybody reject and don't let people make experience
This happens so much in Brazil too. Here every work needs you to have experience, but how would get experience if you have never been given the chance to work and gain experience? It's just ilogical, unless they want to hire old people (but no, they want young people that have both a lot of experience and degrees).
Japanese companies quite regularly hire people with no experience in a system called shuushoku katsudou (it's the primary form of recruitment). You're offered a job before you graduate. But it's complicated, way too long (14-18 months), filters out anyone who isn't in Japan for their third and fourth year of university and actively hampers your education quality as you spend more time practicing highly specific interview etiquette and job hunting than specialised skills related to your field of study. This is where a lot of her rejections come from as you learn books worth of mensetsu etiquette in university. It's admirable in offering employment to those without experience in a way many western countries don't, but the total reliance on it and how it creates graduates with much less skills in their field is has really hampered Japan's workforce and shut out the kind of skilled migrants Japan has needed for decades.
It's a worldwide problem. Companies want a senior that they can pay like a junior, 20 something year olds with years of experience and degrees, but no one is willing to give them to you when you don't have experience, you're left just lying saying you worked for a friend/family made up business or else they don't even look at your CV twice
This has been a thing for a while, I remember 10 years ago looking for work and trying for apprenticeships and they all said they want experience... So you want someone with experience to take an entry level training role where you give them experience.
If you got rejected from working at Japanese company's take it as a blessing. The world's worst working culture rejected you as a candidate for verbal abuse.
I'm working over here, and in my experience it's nothing like people think. The company discourages overtime, insists you use you PTO, often has surprise bonuses over and above the contracts. All staff are interviewed annually by the real bosses to get accurate feedback on middle management and company processes, and changes are based on these interviews. I'm from NZ and I can say I've never felt more respected or valued as an employee than I am in Japan.
worst working culture? oh dear lord. we can talk about working for pennies a day in third world corporate jobs in the actual worst living conditions on earth. we can talk about most of china. but god forbid you get a living wage in japan.
The chicken and egg thing, I struggled with that lots here in Canada. Literally everywhere wanted you to be able to drive, as apparently it shows you will show up for work. Like I can't just walk or catch a bus. Busses literally ran every 10 to 15 mins from 5am to 2am lol. I was like 15 min walking distance from literally anywhere. But nope nowhere would hire me even when I had tons experience and good references. Like how am I supposed to get a car if I can't make any money lol. Honestly what I learned though, most places didn't wanna hire me because of my experience. They would have to pay me more, they would rather hire some young kid with no experience so they can pay less. And most of those young kids were lucky to have a mom and dad in their life that could buy them their first car and first house.
My coworkers lie to help each other get better jobs 😂. They google how to do professional interviews and how to sound like they know what they are talking about and they are each others references. Its actually really bad but every time someones like "I got the job!" we just laugh.
I just answer honestly and get to the point. If they're already rubbing me the wrong way before we even get through the interview then I'll hate working for them even more.
at least they told you the reason, dumb reasons though they may be. the amount of jobs I apply to that just say "no" and move on is enraging. idk what to change to make myself a better candidate if they dont tell me why they didn't want to hire me
@@TheLordoftheDarkness what about when you’re sent a robotic, generic “sorry but good luck” email? if you’re even lucky to get that. other places have also just ignored me.
@@LiterallyAllNamesAreTaken That or " Sorry, we are currently looking at other candidates for this position. " Uh, apparently not since this job listing has been open for several days/weeks/ months, etc.
They don't want to potentially give you ammunition for a discrimination lawsuit which even they would stand little chance of winning without paying a lawyer lots of money to defend them.
If I lived in Japan I rather work for a non Japanese company, that way I can leave when my 8hrs is up unlike the Japanese where no one wants to leave if the boss is still there! No thanks!
@loualex6925...until someone calls in sick, and everyone else they called is mysteriously away from their mobile phones...oh, and don't let them upgrade you to any kind of management, because then not only will you work overtimr, they won't pay you for it because you're salaried!
It depends. I previously worked at an MNC and I always went home after the GM would leave because I had TOO MUCH work. I just recently transferred to a purely Japanese company and my Japanese manager doesn't care if I went home before he does, as long as I do my work.
At least you got an answer. As an immigrant in Japan, that’s been living here all over the country for over 20 years now in my experience if a job doesn’t reach back to you then you just didn’t get it or you might get a letter saying you weren’t chosen, but I’ve never experienced the company giving a reason
Tbh it’s the same for New York bartending. They’re really big on “New York experience” which is wild cause I bartended a few places in a very ritzy town in California…wild shit man people love making arbitrary rules.
Yep, the whole "why do you want to work for us" question is mainly "why is our company the only company for you?". Since they'd often respond with "oh other companies also do this, maybe another company is fine for you too"
Venting my experience working and living in Japan. First night boss pointing at each foreigner. "You are handsome, you are handsome, you are not, you are, you are not, you are", lady would give out omiyages(chocolates and things) to each desk in office deliberately skipping mine each time, stool samples from foreigners when dealing with food, not inviting me to work related functions and then rating zero for attendance, so unconfrontational they couldn't tell me whether contract was extended or not, only doing what they had to by rule then pretending to work, translator refusing assistance but offering extra assistance anytime to boy she was always flirting with, friends expecting to be prioritised over sudden illness and death of parent
The first two could more accurately be translated as: "Not Japanese enough" and "Work outside of Japan doesn't count as work experience". The last two are actually accurate.
For the “job experience” section, work in a company (factories would hire you even if your Japanese is broke as hell) that hires you and work there for at least 2 years. That 2 year mark is the key and they count 2 years as solid working experience. You can also take the test called “EIKEN” which is an English proficiency test. You need to pass at least “nikyuu” to be able to right it in the job resume. If English is your native tongue good for you, it’s not that they’re trying to underestimate you or anything but they just want a proof of certification. These informations may be too basic but hopefully it helps someone who will read this comment of mine. I don’t know which company rejected you and I’m sorry for their loss to not hire someone great like you.
If you don't employ straight from school, you're stuck in part-time limbo in Japan. Probably the biggest contributor to falling birthrates when young couples cant get a mortgage. Lack of a house delays the babymaking and middle-aged couples only get one child.
Well, judging from my unwed colleagues, it's more a problem of being so busy at work that you don't even have time doing anything else and thus having no opportunities to meet potential husbands in the first place. Also, even if you got married, the busyness at work keeps so tired in the evening that you don't feel like having sex at all so there is a rather high number of sexless couples. Others are sexless because the husband gets transferred each year (still super normal with public workers and many companies). And the wife doesn't want to give up her work or protects the bought home. And fertility issues are a real thing here. And I'm willing to bet money that one of the major reasons for irregular periods is the prevailing underweight of many women. And, of course, you have women and men who just don't want to give up their lifestyle or hobbies they love for something that will crave sacrifices for the next 2 decades. And children are super expensive in Japan. The amount of money they cost is incredible. 😣😵💫 And if you live in metropolitan areas, your children can't really do without cram school, which is super expensive and breaks the family budget easily. So no surprise young families don't think they can afford more than one child. And, no, I don't think not getting house loans plays any major role in child making decisions.
@@Emiko0807 Its a bit of a misconception that kids take away your hobbies for next 20 years, when in fact they only take it for around 4-5 years. When they grow older, they go to school, have their own hobbies and so on so parents will have more hobby time themselves. Japan is trying to emulate the child care services of Finland to help parents with children. Problem is Finland also has one of the lowest birthrates, so that by itself is not enough. Parents need regular jobs to pay their mortgages too. If they can't afford a mortgage and have to save money for a house, then they're getting their first child when they are in theirr late 30's. By that time parents will only have 1 child, not 2. Steady income in a steady job is the key.
@@Meitti Well, good luck with that. If you're a housewife, yes, you should have some time for yourself during the half day kindergarten. But if you work and are home at six or seven and then start cooking dinner and possibly making bentos, you either don't have time or energy or both. And the weekend is full with work you couldn't finish during the busy evenings. And when your child is in elementary school, the workload just changes. I lost quite a few friends due to them being busy with their children's onaraigoto お習い事 and / or shipping them to cram school. And don't forget about getting older. When you're out of the house for 10.5 hours or longer (Japan still believes in the concept of having to have a 40 H working week. And any working less means you do part time, which means losing salary, benefits and social protection), even if you could go dancing or take judo lessons, you're simply often just too tired. I was childless for a better year but going to Japanese once a week and doing a little extra walking or running on my way to or from work was the maximum I could manage. And judging from my colleagues, that's about what they can do, either.
@@Emiko0807 I'm sure the japanese working hours play a factor too, but universally across the globe its the lack of steady jobs that is the ultimate culprit. Birthrate in Japan started going down after the 2000's financial crisis. Coincidentally the number of part-time jobs exploded in Japan. Those working full-time in companies might have a marriage and children when they're young. But those stuck in part-time limbo won't have enough money to buy a house until they're close to being middle-aged. Middle-aged couples still have children but only 1, rarely 2 or more. One has to remember the birthrates are not 0.4, they're 1.4. Children are still being made and people still live together. Problem is they only have 1 child and no more.
@@Meitti You may not forget that the average is a horrible indicator of how many kids a woman has. If you leave Greater Tokyo, usually families with kids do have two or more. However, there are many women who don't have kids due to a variety of reasons. The most important one being not married. Being an unwed mother without a father is still quite stigmatised in Japan. And as they missed out meeting Mr. Right, they feel they have no choice but spending their life without kids.
Freelance is probably the weirdest one here. They're literally disqualifying the most valuable thing they can look for which is work experience, just because it's not a specific kind of experience. What's better experience than hands-on? Also Japanese company experience? That's why you're looking to get hired by a Japanese Company. That's like when Entry Level jobs ask for 4 years experience.
Most Japanese people recommend anyone in Japan try to get a job at a foreign owned company. Foreigners, Japanese citizens but minority, Japanese citizens and majority- everyone. It's also easier to avoid "black companies" that way (abusive workplaces, nothing to do with skin)
The last one is valid though because as soon as you get some motion you’ll be gone why waste time and resources for someone waiting to leave any day. And it’s like if you do believe in yourself it’s like why not just work a regular job till you stack enough. Save it for someone that doesn’t mind the longevity
Portfolio culture is toxic as shit. Who just magically happens to have a curated list of projects for any random job; most of which totally suck these days
I want to move to Sapporo so badly and the last reason you gave is making me see red. I'm very ambitious but I just want a simple life. Let me have my little house in Japan with my doggo and be a productive member of society. PLEASE!!! lol
Japan's model for a productive member of society makes your individualism an unfortunate casualty. You're gonna have to accept this if you want even a chance of integrating into a Japanese society bro. Or just stay wherever you are, likely living a more healthy work life balance, and take trips to Sapporo every now and then as a tourist, which is usually a better option.
“Not enough experience working for a Japanese company” when you’re a foreigner… like make it make sense. Of course you’re not going to have experience if you’re a FOREIGNER. atp, wouldn’t be surprised if they’re making excuses.
At very least in Japan, they give you feedbacks. Meanwhile in U.S., the recruiters don't even try to communicate with you because they are lazy as shit. Like, they don't even give you a single reason on why they reject you. They either ghost you or throw a generic copy pasted emails. Bonus: Recruiters even have the audacity to "call out" their candidates for using ChatGPT or other AI while recruiters themselves uses ATS. Not to mention: - Making candidates write cover letters that they don't even read. - Forcing them to create an account to fill the exact same info on resume. - Unreasonable high standary by asking for 10+ years of expereince for an entry level job. - Even if fullfill all these requirements, they will still reject you.
"If you can't be your own boss, why would you work here?" Because i currently don't have enough money to both do my own thing and survive. But the moment i get it, I'll go be my own boss in a heartbeat.
Honestly for the fourth one, from my experience once someone tasted the feeling of becoming business owner, they won't stay in your company for long, 1-3 year tops. So it's wasted resource.
I really don't understand as to why Japan is hating on China so much - under its capitalistic surface, Japan is as same totalitarian communist society as China, just with more kawaii mecha robots 😂
Well if someone from Morocco applies to a job at my company (based in Germany), I will auto decline their inquiry for this reason. So it makes sense for most companies, that aren't big corporate style, to just hire people that at least speak their language and already know the culture
I don’t get why companies come up with BS like this instead of just being straight up and say we found someone we like better or we’re not comfortable hiring someone without more experience because we don’t have time to train you.
As a foreigner one way to get experience in a Japanese company would be to work for a Japanese company in your home country where they won’t use that excuse
Ive heard its very common for people who work freelance or entrepreneurs to have trouble job searching. The thinking is if youre someone whos spent time as an independent worker, youll either struggle to adapt, or disrupt the normal operation of the business
What is the true value your employer needs to get resolved? Let it go of the checklists, you need to prove your able to get into the company, create relationships, fit in the culture, and get done whatever needs to be gotten done.
"Job hunting in Japan is pain" yet you have a list of reasons meaning that they tell you why you didn't get the job, here like most of the world if you didn't get the job you find that out because they don't contact you again
You'll get a dozen job offers in Romania before a single one in Japan. I have never considered working in Japan, but now I know that it would never happen anyway
This is exactly why so many foreigners in Japan just end up as Japan content creators.😂 the "regular" jobs are hell, especially for people who are used to a much different work culture
This can be a double edge for fresh graduate because In one hand you can re learn while working there or just learn something new and the other hand is like this video and some other reason if you ever get fired or just quit a job the reason is important why you decided to go there The safest option is to have connections especially if you are foreigner
I've been a freelancer for over 10 years now. It's a full-time job, even more so since it's never only 9-5... Vacation time? You work even then for at least 2-3 h.
At least they respond to you and let you know you weren't selected. I'd rather them send me a middle finger and say you weren't hired then being left in the dark.
You probably know this by now, but all of this is colored by how in a lot of Japanese business culture, people hire into a company for life. You're basically getting married to the company, so all of these reasons for rejection can be rephrased in terms of that.
For fresh grads, Japanese companies traditionally want the stereotypical genki person who shows they are eager to absorb the company philosophy and be whatever the company wants to mold them to be. Actual degree and skills don't really matter. This is how you end up with new hires at IT companies who have no IT background whatsoever spending their first 6 months at company training learning how to code in Java.
Perfectly said, I dated a girl out here who graduated with a computer science degree. She barely took any programming classes, now works at a software company and couldn't write a single line of code when she got there so was assigned online courses to learn. She said this is extremely normal. 😐
Japanese work culture is like a neutron star: the people at the top are incomprehensibly dense, and the whole thing is just waiting to collapse on itself
@@concon9107 Most likely. I just present myself as I actually am in an interview and if they hate it then, they'll definitely hate it when stuck in an office with me 5 days a week.
@@CaptainTodger69 unfortunately so - just because nothing mildly interesting (and to be fair, mildly interesting is a stretch) has happened in your life doesn't mean it never does
@@trophyscene5015How bout south east asia for a change ? Malaysia, singapore and Indonesia is a good place, plus there's other gem in Asia aside from Korea and Japan
The moment I realised how fucked up thr japanese job market is in Japan was when I found out that the goverment was implementing laws to help employees rest and not die due to exhaustion (a very real thing in Japan) and big companies were trying to find any loopholes to not respect those laws. They were actively trying not to follow rules that help people NOT DIE.
@samarafujioma6588 Yeah people point at Japan a lot when U.S labor laws and corporations are just as bad, if not, even worse. I mean, idk. Here in america at least the companies you work for are at least open and honest about how they really feel about you.
“You don’t want to die for this company? Hmm… That doesn’t really fit into our corporate ethos here everyone will sacrifice their entire bloodline for the future of the company”
@@voraxumbra1that’s really not accurate at all… are you an uneducated weeb or something? Like okay first of all Japan didn’t have a labor struggle the same way American did, American may not be #1 at labor laws but we are certainly much better than Japan by any objective international standard…look it up man… I mean our national labor struggle pioneered a lot of the essential concepts of workers rights for the globe. Japanese corporate management is essentially in a state of fallout from feudalism (not even 200 yrs ago a daimyo could chop your family into pieces in the public square for it working hard enough in his rice fields and then have his way with your wife and daughter and that would be all very well and good and legal) the older japanese often view labor laws as an outside thing imposed on them by post war necessity not a part of Japanese society but an evil outside force that drains Japan of its historic culture - which again is one in which the “average worker” is a peasant serf whose life and death belongs to his lord. That’s the corporate relationship - if anything the idea of being an individual worker is an American idea that they imported for its value. It’s not really even comparable to America where we value individuality and freedom above many other important things…
Ah, karoshi. I remember when the US used to report on that. The concept of "death by overwork" was just something we thought whiny people said. But then we found out it was a thing, and we were suddenly terrified.
I once read a book on how to write a job application in Japanese, and one of the common examples was I was in the baseball club/other sports team, so I am energetic and have great endurance ... or something
The moment you realise Anime industry especially the Slice of Life and Romcom genre is just a huge coping mechanism by Japan to escape the horrendous reality that plagues there dying society. And rhey find solace in their imaginations. And it starts from creating characters with big round eyes.
I’m white Japanese but got rejected from a service job because “if customers saw you they would get nervous” lol I’m born and raised in Japan and can speak fluent Japanese. But I guess people still get nervous when around me thinking I’m a foreigner. lol
@@chivemonkey1991 Damn. That’s crazy. I heard from my friends that it’s really easy for white people to get English teaching jobs in Japan. I’ve never applied but ya. It’s harder for black people though
Reasons why I’ve been rejected from jobs in the USA: 1. I have no idea because they always send back a pre written rejection, or just ghost me entirely
If you want to really know - it's not about being "rejected" it's about the competitive part. Companies in USA do not "reject" that much usually, they just PICK who's better. You are probably not "rejected" in a meaning that something was wrong, it's just that other people were better therefore you were not needed.
If you're looking for jobs through a hiring agency, the agency will generally follow up with the companies and get that post-interview data so they can coach you. That's prob how she is getting this feedback.
@@twothreeoneoneseventwoonefour5 it's not that necessarily the chosen ones are better than you, they just got in the best interest of the responsible HR, so you need to optimize you CV as much as possible to go through that, and then use an ellaborate CV for the interview.
One I got was "you're a woman and making noodled is too physical (heavy lifting of noodles 😅) for women" despite telling the hiring agent to tell them I grew up working on a dairy farm and that I'm used to lifting heavy things. That was in fall last year (2023) in Japan. Edit: And for eikaiwa, I didn't get the job as I looked East Asian (I was adopted and grew up in Canada). I didn't match the typical white foreigner they were looking for. Otger Asian descent foreigners I knew there also encountered the same problem.
Hold up…. They actually sent you the reasons they didn’t hire you instead of just ghosting you like all the companies in the US do? I’m kinda impressed ngl
They actually give you feedback especially if you have an agent! I got rejected from a job last because I was "too energetic and strong language" haha.... :(
Yeah, I'm sure some of the reasons here would also look mad unreasonable so that may be why companies don't do it. "Too... marginalized" Not at all saying these sound like good reasons, I just imagine places that don't tell you have... interesting reasons. Especially since I started getting jobs after choosing "prefer not to answer" for questions on disability on applications, I stopped asking for accommodations until I got the job bc I got turned down everywhere, turns out after you meet a person, you might decide they're good workers whether or not they're disabled! Despicable 😭
birthrate is dropping across all developed countries, it doesn't seem linked to specific cultural issues so much as the means of production and the way of life
Like the poster above said, world wide birthrates are down. Irony is nations that we usually think of poverty stricken and/or war torn are the ones with the highest birthrates.
@@2007Shockwave that’s cause those governments have no separation of church and state. The government is a religious party. And religion is an epic tool to control the poor. Been used for centuries at this point.
Re: 3 - I heard that being used in Europe as well. One of my buddies was working in UK (5 yrs exp) and looking for a new job in Switzerland. Recruiters tried to tell him he has "no experience in a Swiss company" therefore he has to start at entry level job. He was an engineer and told them something along the lines of "the laws of physics are same everywhere".
Unfortunately for him the laws of physics do not determine in group out group preference. The vast majority of the world prefers their own to outsiders, even Europe, as interconnected as it has become and as much as they’ve gone into western values (the only ones in the world that mitigate or even reverse the in-out preference). You’ll see it often in many government policies and cultural basically anywhere outside of America, Canada, Britain (not the whole of it but certainly the government) and Australia. Pretty much every other country in the entire world is focused more on themselves and the people who have ethnic ties to the country over any “outsiders”.
In reality the real reason is “because she’s a foreigner” and “can’t be molded to fit the company’s ideals.” The reasons they gave were just so they didn’t have to put it so bluntly.
@@ebifried that’s an oof… i guess they were looking either for a certain type of foreigner or are only offering it to fulfill a requirement set by either the company or govt. It really does suck and I hope you’re able to land something! The anti-foreigner attitude is a nightmare to overcome
Or looking for a non-asian foreigner? The stereotype in their head of a black or white or brown foreigner applying, but then they see "but you aren't foreign enough for our ideal of diverse hire". America in the 90s was doing affirmative actions and diverse hires, but for all the normal experiences, some were simply cringe attempts at public virtue signaling... Live long enough, and you realize every culture is very similar but with different positions of the same priorities. We all value virtues, but the perception of virtues means more in cultures that care about the facade more than the truth. We all value peace, but some cultures value liberty more, some value profit more, and some value conformity more, but all those cultures have value in the traits they aren't prioritizing, and better cultures grow better, and worse cultures have boom-bust cycles and massive swings in normality. The 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s were very different from each other as America swung around with growing. That's both a good and bad thing. Japan (Asian countries in general) seem to favor stability at the expense of true understanding, compassion, and empathy (obviously they have that, but they get defensive/dismissive about when their expectations of conformity are provoked in a complexity or contradiction, having to use their understanding in newer situations, resulting in a rules mentality or a polite mentality, but not an actual honest mentality). But Asians seem to favor tribalism more than Europeans... Europeans seem to favor idealisms but with a lack of maturity, resulting in vain efforts. Obviously, Europeans will declare an outwardness of valuing maturity, but looking at history, they value idealisms more than actual adherence to the idealisms... hence vanity. But that's a vast oversimplification of the world.
@@ebifriedSometimes they look just for a "foreign looking" stereotype person to show off how open they are - and who even doesn't get any real work to do. 🙄
I don't even know what the correct answer to that question would be. Do I say that I never want to be my own boss and then I want to unquestionably follow orders? Do I say that I wish I could be My own Boss but that's not in the cards for me? What on Earth do they want?
well it sounds like she brought up working for herself maybe it came off as if she would just leave them at a moments notice to work for herself. a lot of companies want long term commitment
Very true. They hate that I don’t have a permanent place to live right now. So they know I don’t have a $1500+ rent bill on my shoulders every month that keeps me desperate for money. They prefer someone they can control
I've spent the last 10 years working for a Japanese company in Asia. There's so many issues with Japanese business culture in the modern world that they don't want to address. 1. Managers from the 1990s who don't even know how to use a computer are still running the show. This is the equivalent of a war general from the late 1800s running the military campaign in ww2. 2. They fill the day with so many pointless activities that staff can be spending 50% of their day writing up processes on why you should make sure your shoes are tied up so you don't fall over or a 7 hour meeting on if water should be allowed on desks, so that no one ever has time to develop at their actual job. 3. They put loyalty over salary. Meanwhile, Chinese and western companies are offering 2-3x the salaries and poaching all their good staff. 4. Everything is compartmentalized within departments/divisions and those groups have to have targets. So there's groups constantly setting the same targets, not telling the other groups and then both groups failing when the other groups won't collaborate with them on their project because they're too busy working on their own project with the same goal but a different methodology to achieve it. 5. The culture makes you feel difficult for questioning anything with management. Younger Japanese are aware of these issues. But given the opportunity to move into management, a lot of them will tow the line and join the club of inefficiency in order to maintain power and the better pay. So I don't see it changing in the future either. It's like a self perpetuating system of pure inefficiency. And they're self aware that the Chinese companies will destroy them. But they can't change their culture to survive. Its like Japanese people saw a Panda in the mid 90s and said "yeah, that's how we should do things too".
Yeah Japanese work culture is like working as a servant to a aristocratic house, except they act like a combination of the workplace in Office Space or Dilbert, plus a sweatshop. Good to know about Chinese companies paying better. That speaks to good change happening in China. I remember growing up that pay in China was in the bottom 10 in the world (among industrialized countries.) I guess now that Chinese corporations are big enough to hire overseas, they are trying to establish a good foothold. I'm sure like other companies they will eventually stop trying to lure new employees, same with the westerners, it's already happening domestically in the US with the tech industry after all... but still, good for the Chinese people that their companies are paying somewhat better.
This is sad but very true... There are very few Japanese companies that are efficient in their business considering the amount of effort and resources they pour in to make things happen (or just stay afloat).
@@_Merovingio because Im giving my kids everything they could ever want. I take my daughter to a different Disneyland for every birthday she has. I've already bought my kids 4 houses each. And, importantly, I can afford for them to get a good education. It's not about me anymore. It's about them.
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A major Japanese company that has announced that they've switched to English as company-wide language, during the interview, once I've competed numerous other stages: oh, you only speak basic Japanese? We only say English is our company language, it's actually Japanese.
Another rejection was from a foreign company in Tokyo. It was the last stage and I was about to get hired. As a final question I asked what the work-life-balance was like. The whole room just shifted and they offered me an internship trial period instead. Funny that they don't realize it's not only them picking an employee but also an employee picking an employer..
You dodged a bullet there
So you chose to interview for a job in Japan and asked about work/life balance...did you...not do ANY research into Japan's workforce culture? lol Not saying its right but I'm not surprised they turned you away after asking that.
@@RT22444 @RT22444 I interviewed for a job in Japan cuz I lived in Japan at the time. I knew the Japanese workforce culture too well, which is why I chose to interview at a foreign company. And I decided to ask that question as I had options and wasn't desperate for that specific position. Their reaction was definitely a red flag to me as a potential employee.
@@einom1236 ahh I see. They def expected you to follow suit with the work culture! Tsk!
Japanese company dodged a bullet there😂😂
I got to the interview stage only to be told "yeah, we already filled your role with a Japanese guy" 🤪 FML
If you really want a job in Japan as a foreigner, I think it's a *must* to apply through a hiring agency.
DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO COMPANIES.
First off, expectations of what a CV is are very different in Japan. If your CV stands out, they won't even look at it. Your CV has to follow a very specific format and list very specific details about your previous jobs.
My hiring agency coached me through the CV making process and even gave me mock interviews in Japanese with feedback on how to improve my "Japan-ness".
I got loads of interviews and multiple offers thanks to them.
Finally, be aware that you're more likely to get hired in spring rather than autumn. Fresh graduates begin job hunting in March/April and many employers don't account for hiring outside of that window unless it's an emergency.
Excellent advice for those seeking employment in Japan. In fact, I'd say getting to know company culture by researching the company, is always a good way to go. One might find that he or she isn't suited for it, after all.
thank you!
It seems that they don't have a pattern, I know some content creators who have applied directly and have been hired
Japan-ness 😆
Oh man, that sounds like a recipe for epic disaster once you're hired... Not a fan of this process or work culture.
Japanese companies still have a very 1980s mindset/culture.
When they say 'not energetic enough', they're not talking about your personality, they're talking about your ambition to work for 'that' company.
That it's your 'dream career'.
Your ambition to be a slave for the company
I have one!!! Mine was, "you're a 25+ year old woman and you speak japanese so well so i think you have a japanese boyfriend so you will get married and have children soon." I didnt want to get married to anyone 😤
ughh hate that
From their POV, it's valid.
@@rubies200 you could say that about any idea. just because they rationalize it with their "POV" doesnt make it okay and doesnt make it valid.
@@massivel She's applying for a job at a Japanese company. Obviously, their questions and POV are valid.
Bro what, that doesn't mean it's valid it means they're wrong (and probably looking for excuses)
“NPC Energy” is what perfectly describes what so many jobs are looking for. Just come in, do your work, be happy and nice all the time and deliver perfect results all the time. It’s crazy
Never ask for a raise or time off, never get sick, take on unpaid overtime as much as possible, rat out your fellow coworkers at every opportunity for no reward or compensation other than a pat on the head, always put the company ahead of everything else (including yourself, your health, your friends and your family), and just all around be our slave :3
It’s so wild for real. And still lowball your pay for extra work. FOH
@@juliagoetiaTake unpaid extra hours is the Meta in Latinamerica
Be boring Larry vibe and your a good worker.
Bruh u just… described my first company. I literally did all that n lost a friend in that process. He told me never to treat each department’s differently because my bosses wants me to say something bad about the team.
The "no experience in a company" seems a global problem. The companies be like you should be like 20 years old but 30 to 40 years of experiences in the job. This companies will have a huge problem in the future if they everybody reject and don't let people make experience
This happens so much in Brazil too. Here every work needs you to have experience, but how would get experience if you have never been given the chance to work and gain experience? It's just ilogical, unless they want to hire old people (but no, they want young people that have both a lot of experience and degrees).
Japanese companies quite regularly hire people with no experience in a system called shuushoku katsudou (it's the primary form of recruitment). You're offered a job before you graduate. But it's complicated, way too long (14-18 months), filters out anyone who isn't in Japan for their third and fourth year of university and actively hampers your education quality as you spend more time practicing highly specific interview etiquette and job hunting than specialised skills related to your field of study. This is where a lot of her rejections come from as you learn books worth of mensetsu etiquette in university. It's admirable in offering employment to those without experience in a way many western countries don't, but the total reliance on it and how it creates graduates with much less skills in their field is has really hampered Japan's workforce and shut out the kind of skilled migrants Japan has needed for decades.
Acquaintances and family are hired
It's a worldwide problem. Companies want a senior that they can pay like a junior, 20 something year olds with years of experience and degrees, but no one is willing to give them to you when you don't have experience, you're left just lying saying you worked for a friend/family made up business or else they don't even look at your CV twice
This has been a thing for a while, I remember 10 years ago looking for work and trying for apprenticeships and they all said they want experience... So you want someone with experience to take an entry level training role where you give them experience.
If you got rejected from working at Japanese company's take it as a blessing. The world's worst working culture rejected you as a candidate for verbal abuse.
every rejection is a blessing!
Rejected for not being a slave.
I'm working over here, and in my experience it's nothing like people think. The company discourages overtime, insists you use you PTO, often has surprise bonuses over and above the contracts. All staff are interviewed annually by the real bosses to get accurate feedback on middle management and company processes, and changes are based on these interviews. I'm from NZ and I can say I've never felt more respected or valued as an employee than I am in Japan.
worst working culture? oh dear lord. we can talk about working for pennies a day in third world corporate jobs in the actual worst living conditions on earth. we can talk about most of china. but god forbid you get a living wage in japan.
@@lamhamzzzzzzlol you want to compare China? What is considered bad in China is literally standard in Japan
Japan is SO different if you're visiting as a tourist vs. trying to live and work there
japan is a deeply conservative country ( though it doesn't appear at a first glance) and it shows.
Yes, like every other country.
@@시청용계정-c1ctechnically you are correct but... thats not what they meant obviously
@@subratadhar7698 No shit. Japan also xenophobic and nationalist country - nightmire of Westerner, lol
Note that she didn't apply for normal jobs, she applied to youtube channels and social media stuff.
The chicken and egg thing, I struggled with that lots here in Canada. Literally everywhere wanted you to be able to drive, as apparently it shows you will show up for work. Like I can't just walk or catch a bus. Busses literally ran every 10 to 15 mins from 5am to 2am lol. I was like 15 min walking distance from literally anywhere. But nope nowhere would hire me even when I had tons experience and good references. Like how am I supposed to get a car if I can't make any money lol. Honestly what I learned though, most places didn't wanna hire me because of my experience. They would have to pay me more, they would rather hire some young kid with no experience so they can pay less. And most of those young kids were lucky to have a mom and dad in their life that could buy them their first car and first house.
Jeez I hope you finally got that job 🙏
As a Canadian I can confirm that this is true…what I find hard to believe is that buses actually run in your area every 10 to 15 minutes 😂
My coworkers lie to help each other get better jobs 😂.
They google how to do professional interviews and how to sound like they know what they are talking about and they are each others references.
Its actually really bad but every time someones like "I got the job!" we just laugh.
I just answer honestly and get to the point. If they're already rubbing me the wrong way before we even get through the interview then I'll hate working for them even more.
at least they told you the reason, dumb reasons though they may be. the amount of jobs I apply to that just say "no" and move on is enraging. idk what to change to make myself a better candidate if they dont tell me why they didn't want to hire me
THIS. There is a special place in hell for HR people for this single reason.
@@TheLordoftheDarkness what about when you’re sent a robotic, generic “sorry but good luck” email? if you’re even lucky to get that. other places have also just ignored me.
@@LiterallyAllNamesAreTaken That or " Sorry, we are currently looking at other candidates for this position. " Uh, apparently not since this job listing has been open for several days/weeks/ months, etc.
They don't want to potentially give you ammunition for a discrimination lawsuit which even they would stand little chance of winning without paying a lawyer lots of money to defend them.
@@shannonhill5676 They probably send rejection notices because they can tell we can see through the bull💩, and we refuse to be controlled.
1) Didn't suck up enough.
2) Freelance & Contractor = less worker rights.
3) Age old story. Plus Xenophobia.
4) Trying to break your self confidence.
I see freelancers are screwed as default everywhere, not only in Spain
@JackM-ek2ut interesting take. I always thought you _had_ to state *where* you’ve worked.
@JackM-ek2utit's still lying by omission.
Esa ha dolido 😂
@@Cristina-dv5ij lo que es verdad no es mentira 😅
De verdad? Porque en México es bastante normal ver gente que en algún momento tuvo que hacer Freelance y te cuenta como experiencia laboral.
Sometimes it feels like the old and the powerful just like to make society worse for the giggles.
They want to fuck all our futures before they die
If I lived in Japan I rather work for a non Japanese company, that way I can leave when my 8hrs is up unlike the Japanese where no one wants to leave if the boss is still there! No thanks!
@loualex6925...until someone calls in sick, and everyone else they called is mysteriously away from their mobile phones...oh, and don't let them upgrade you to any kind of management, because then not only will you work overtimr, they won't pay you for it because you're salaried!
It depends.
I previously worked at an MNC and I always went home after the GM would leave because I had TOO MUCH work.
I just recently transferred to a purely Japanese company and my Japanese manager doesn't care if I went home before he does, as long as I do my work.
I don’t understand why they stay regardless. Like if your hours say till 8, leave.
Part of being an NPC is trying to force yourself, your beliefs, and your wants into another foreign nation that doesn't want you.
At least you got an answer. As an immigrant in Japan, that’s been living here all over the country for over 20 years now in my experience if a job doesn’t reach back to you then you just didn’t get it or you might get a letter saying you weren’t chosen, but I’ve never experienced the company giving a reason
Tbh it’s the same for New York bartending. They’re really big on “New York experience” which is wild cause I bartended a few places in a very ritzy town in California…wild shit man people love making arbitrary rules.
For legal reasons the company has to post a job offer, however, that job is meant for a specific person, often a friend of a friend.
Yep, the whole "why do you want to work for us" question is mainly "why is our company the only company for you?". Since they'd often respond with "oh other companies also do this, maybe another company is fine for you too"
Venting my experience working and living in Japan.
First night boss pointing at each foreigner. "You are handsome, you are handsome, you are not, you are, you are not, you are", lady would give out omiyages(chocolates and things) to each desk in office deliberately skipping mine each time, stool samples from foreigners when dealing with food, not inviting me to work related functions and then rating zero for attendance, so unconfrontational they couldn't tell me whether contract was extended or not, only doing what they had to by rule then pretending to work, translator refusing assistance but offering extra assistance anytime to boy she was always flirting with, friends expecting to be prioritised over sudden illness and death of parent
what kind of job is this ;-; sounds like a nightmare ..
@@ebifried It was just an Assistant Language Teacher for the JET programme so I would hate to think what less regulated jobs are like
The first two could more accurately be translated as: "Not Japanese enough" and "Work outside of Japan doesn't count as work experience". The last two are actually accurate.
For the “job experience” section, work in a company (factories would hire you even if your Japanese is broke as hell) that hires you and work there for at least 2 years. That 2 year mark is the key and they count 2 years as solid working experience. You can also take the test called “EIKEN” which is an English proficiency test. You need to pass at least “nikyuu” to be able to right it in the job resume. If English is your native tongue good for you, it’s not that they’re trying to underestimate you or anything but they just want a proof of certification.
These informations may be too basic but hopefully it helps someone who will read this comment of mine.
I don’t know which company rejected you and I’m sorry for their loss to not hire someone great like you.
I feel your pain, I’m the polar opposite of a genki person and basically “cheerful and outgoing” is the first requirement on most job postings.
If you don't employ straight from school, you're stuck in part-time limbo in Japan. Probably the biggest contributor to falling birthrates when young couples cant get a mortgage. Lack of a house delays the babymaking and middle-aged couples only get one child.
Well, judging from my unwed colleagues, it's more a problem of being so busy at work that you don't even have time doing anything else and thus having no opportunities to meet potential husbands in the first place. Also, even if you got married, the busyness at work keeps so tired in the evening that you don't feel like having sex at all so there is a rather high number of sexless couples. Others are sexless because the husband gets transferred each year (still super normal with public workers and many companies). And the wife doesn't want to give up her work or protects the bought home.
And fertility issues are a real thing here. And I'm willing to bet money that one of the major reasons for irregular periods is the prevailing underweight of many women. And, of course, you have women and men who just don't want to give up their lifestyle or hobbies they love for something that will crave sacrifices for the next 2 decades.
And children are super expensive in Japan. The amount of money they cost is incredible. 😣😵💫 And if you live in metropolitan areas, your children can't really do without cram school, which is super expensive and breaks the family budget easily. So no surprise young families don't think they can afford more than one child.
And, no, I don't think not getting house loans plays any major role in child making decisions.
@@Emiko0807 Its a bit of a misconception that kids take away your hobbies for next 20 years, when in fact they only take it for around 4-5 years. When they grow older, they go to school, have their own hobbies and so on so parents will have more hobby time themselves.
Japan is trying to emulate the child care services of Finland to help parents with children. Problem is Finland also has one of the lowest birthrates, so that by itself is not enough. Parents need regular jobs to pay their mortgages too. If they can't afford a mortgage and have to save money for a house, then they're getting their first child when they are in theirr late 30's. By that time parents will only have 1 child, not 2. Steady income in a steady job is the key.
@@Meitti Well, good luck with that. If you're a housewife, yes, you should have some time for yourself during the half day kindergarten. But if you work and are home at six or seven and then start cooking dinner and possibly making bentos, you either don't have time or energy or both. And the weekend is full with work you couldn't finish during the busy evenings.
And when your child is in elementary school, the workload just changes. I lost quite a few friends due to them being busy with their children's onaraigoto お習い事 and / or shipping them to cram school.
And don't forget about getting older. When you're out of the house for 10.5 hours or longer (Japan still believes in the concept of having to have a 40 H working week. And any working less means you do part time, which means losing salary, benefits and social protection), even if you could go dancing or take judo lessons, you're simply often just too tired. I was childless for a better year but going to Japanese once a week and doing a little extra walking or running on my way to or from work was the maximum I could manage. And judging from my colleagues, that's about what they can do, either.
@@Emiko0807 I'm sure the japanese working hours play a factor too, but universally across the globe its the lack of steady jobs that is the ultimate culprit. Birthrate in Japan started going down after the 2000's financial crisis. Coincidentally the number of part-time jobs exploded in Japan. Those working full-time in companies might have a marriage and children when they're young. But those stuck in part-time limbo won't have enough money to buy a house until they're close to being middle-aged. Middle-aged couples still have children but only 1, rarely 2 or more.
One has to remember the birthrates are not 0.4, they're 1.4. Children are still being made and people still live together. Problem is they only have 1 child and no more.
@@Meitti You may not forget that the average is a horrible indicator of how many kids a woman has. If you leave Greater Tokyo, usually families with kids do have two or more. However, there are many women who don't have kids due to a variety of reasons. The most important one being not married. Being an unwed mother without a father is still quite stigmatised in Japan. And as they missed out meeting Mr. Right, they feel they have no choice but spending their life without kids.
Freelance is probably the weirdest one here. They're literally disqualifying the most valuable thing they can look for which is work experience, just because it's not a specific kind of experience. What's better experience than hands-on?
Also Japanese company experience? That's why you're looking to get hired by a Japanese Company. That's like when Entry Level jobs ask for 4 years experience.
Most Japanese people recommend anyone in Japan try to get a job at a foreign owned company. Foreigners, Japanese citizens but minority, Japanese citizens and majority- everyone. It's also easier to avoid "black companies" that way (abusive workplaces, nothing to do with skin)
For the last question just be honest, ya it’s tough earning money as an entrepreneur or a low paying job but that’s why I’m here
I'm surprised you got reasons. I'm used to rejections with no reason given, even if we ask for a reason.
Work culture in japan sounds like hell, but on fire.
The last one is valid though because as soon as you get some motion you’ll be gone why waste time and resources for someone waiting to leave any day. And it’s like if you do believe in yourself it’s like why not just work a regular job till you stack enough. Save it for someone that doesn’t mind the longevity
Right. U should only prey on the week and seek to hire people you cold bind forever like slaves. HR people must be really good humans.
You would have had to bring all of that to the table only to end up fetching coffee and tea. You dodged a bullet.
This is nothing.
You can be rejected from a job in USA for not being a colour/gender that they are patronising at that moment.
This could easily be “4 reasons why Japanese companies will continue to the most inefficient business conglomerates”
Portfolio culture is toxic as shit. Who just magically happens to have a curated list of projects for any random job; most of which totally suck these days
I want to move to Sapporo so badly and the last reason you gave is making me see red. I'm very ambitious but I just want a simple life. Let me have my little house in Japan with my doggo and be a productive member of society. PLEASE!!! lol
Japan's model for a productive member of society makes your individualism an unfortunate casualty. You're gonna have to accept this if you want even a chance of integrating into a Japanese society bro. Or just stay wherever you are, likely living a more healthy work life balance, and take trips to Sapporo every now and then as a tourist, which is usually a better option.
“Not enough experience working for a Japanese company” when you’re a foreigner… like make it make sense. Of course you’re not going to have experience if you’re a FOREIGNER. atp, wouldn’t be surprised if they’re making excuses.
this whole vid is just excuses bahahha
At very least in Japan, they give you feedbacks.
Meanwhile in U.S., the recruiters don't even try to communicate with you because they are lazy as shit. Like, they don't even give you a single reason on why they reject you. They either ghost you or throw a generic copy pasted emails.
Bonus: Recruiters even have the audacity to "call out" their candidates for using ChatGPT or other AI while recruiters themselves uses ATS.
Not to mention:
- Making candidates write cover letters that they don't even read.
- Forcing them to create an account to fill the exact same info on resume.
- Unreasonable high standary by asking for 10+ years of expereince for an entry level job.
- Even if fullfill all these requirements, they will still reject you.
The NPC energy is the best way to explain what companies in Japan are looking for
"If you can't be your own boss, why would you work here?"
Because i currently don't have enough money to both do my own thing and survive. But the moment i get it, I'll go be my own boss in a heartbeat.
Damn would be nice to actually get reasons for job rejection. Even though they are dumb reasons
Honestly for the fourth one, from my experience once someone tasted the feeling of becoming business owner, they won't stay in your company for long, 1-3 year tops. So it's wasted resource.
i wouldn’t call myself a business owner, more like “learnt how to freelance to survive bc covid” which should be understandable 😓
That's basically every job requirements in any countries
I really don't understand as to why Japan is hating on China so much - under its capitalistic surface, Japan is as same totalitarian communist society as China, just with more kawaii mecha robots 😂
Lol so freelancing doesnt count either, jesus christ.
Well if someone from Morocco applies to a job at my company (based in Germany), I will auto decline their inquiry for this reason. So it makes sense for most companies, that aren't big corporate style, to just hire people that at least speak their language and already know the culture
I don’t get why companies come up with BS like this instead of just being straight up and say we found someone we like better or we’re not comfortable hiring someone without more experience because we don’t have time to train you.
As a foreigner one way to get experience in a Japanese company would be to work for a Japanese company in your home country where they won’t use that excuse
Man, they gave you some detailed feedback.
Why, usually a lot of companies either ghost you or just say "you don't fit the company".
This country sounds like an absolute nightmare
Answer to 4.
"Because I decided I valued stability over independence"
Ive heard its very common for people who work freelance or entrepreneurs to have trouble job searching.
The thinking is if youre someone whos spent time as an independent worker, youll either struggle to adapt, or disrupt the normal operation of the business
Most companies don't want to deal with someone who's going to cry on social media for attention when things don't go their way.
nothing to hide, nothing to fear
@@JohnGrandline and no money for rent
At least they gave you reasons. In The United States they just say “We will call you “
What is the true value your employer needs to get resolved? Let it go of the checklists, you need to prove your able to get into the company, create relationships, fit in the culture, and get done whatever needs to be gotten done.
Not having enough “NPC energy” is wild 😂😂😂😂 good one.
Years ago I interviewed for Chipotle and her first reason, "not being energetic enough," is why I was rejected 😂
"Not enough NPC energy" I'm stealing that
"Job hunting in Japan is pain" yet you have a list of reasons meaning that they tell you why you didn't get the job, here like most of the world if you didn't get the job you find that out because they don't contact you again
You'll get a dozen job offers in Romania before a single one in Japan.
I have never considered working in Japan, but now I know that it would never happen anyway
Japanese work culture is great but company culture is so bad. Like damn, no matter how good you are they will always prioritize seniority.
These sound like reasons you can be rejected anywhere else though
i swr when they say no experience it really gets me angry, like where do you expect me to get experience from then
This is exactly why so many foreigners in Japan just end up as Japan content creators.😂 the "regular" jobs are hell, especially for people who are used to a much different work culture
I’ll never complain about living in Europe. We’re so privileged.
This can be a double edge for fresh graduate because
In one hand you can re learn while working there or just learn something new and the other hand is like this video and some other reason if you ever get fired or just quit a job the reason is important why you decided to go there
The safest option is to have connections especially if you are foreigner
If someone had said "no experience at a Japanese company", I would tell them that I would not hold that against them!
The "chicken and egg" approach also happens in a lot of other countries. It's so dumb.
all 4 and it checks out, even i wouldn't want to hire this girl
I've been a freelancer for over 10 years now. It's a full-time job, even more so since it's never only 9-5... Vacation time? You work even then for at least 2-3 h.
Basically Japan's work culture is still stuck in the feudal era.
#4 is very valid 😂
They need serfs, not independent thinkers
I also got “Not willing to be the last one to leave the office everyday.” 😂 Like f**k off I also have a life outside the office.
All those feedback seem legitimate. Just because you dont like the criticism doesnt make it wrong
It sounds like they just didn’t want to hire someone they consider a foreigner and didn’t want to be up front about it 🙄🙄
At least they respond to you and let you know you weren't selected. I'd rather them send me a middle finger and say you weren't hired then being left in the dark.
You probably know this by now, but all of this is colored by how in a lot of Japanese business culture, people hire into a company for life. You're basically getting married to the company, so all of these reasons for rejection can be rephrased in terms of that.
Currently living in Japan and it's so hard to get a job here! I ended up getting a job working freelance from a company overseas.
For fresh grads, Japanese companies traditionally want the stereotypical genki person who shows they are eager to absorb the company philosophy and be whatever the company wants to mold them to be. Actual degree and skills don't really matter. This is how you end up with new hires at IT companies who have no IT background whatsoever spending their first 6 months at company training learning how to code in Java.
AAAAGH
Perfectly said, I dated a girl out here who graduated with a computer science degree. She barely took any programming classes, now works at a software company and couldn't write a single line of code when she got there so was assigned online courses to learn. She said this is extremely normal. 😐
I learned Java at university but none of the companies I worked for in Japan wanted me to code anything in Java 😅
On one hand, I think it's great that companies train their employees. On the other hand, this is some Japanese bullshit
What? So they can beat the vitality and youth out of them over the years themselves?
Japanese work culture is like a neutron star: the people at the top are incomprehensibly dense, and the whole thing is just waiting to collapse on itself
honestly i feel like this applies to work culture everywhere lmaooo
EXCELLENT way to describe it!
I love this description
I hope so
In fact it already is
To be fair, in the UK I got rejected from a job for being "too confident". One week later, I got rejected from another for not being confident enough.
WTFFFFFF "too confident?"
My guess is its code for "you are qualified for the job but the interviewer didn't like you."
@@concon9107 Most likely. I just present myself as I actually am in an interview and if they hate it then, they'll definitely hate it when stuck in an office with me 5 days a week.
I'll take 'Things that never happened' for 100, Barry
@@CaptainTodger69 unfortunately so - just because nothing mildly interesting (and to be fair, mildly interesting is a stretch) has happened in your life doesn't mean it never does
I love Japan but I could never tollerate the work culture over there.
Same unfortunately
Work culture. School culture. Possibly even the dating culture. Social interaction. The concept of 'saving face'.
@@cherrycordiaIyeah. Great culture imo besides these things I take issue with. But that’s every culture in existence. Everyone has their problems.
Yeah, like a robots
@@trophyscene5015How bout south east asia for a change ? Malaysia, singapore and Indonesia is a good place, plus there's other gem in Asia aside from Korea and Japan
The moment I realised how fucked up thr japanese job market is in Japan was when I found out that the goverment was implementing laws to help employees rest and not die due to exhaustion (a very real thing in Japan) and big companies were trying to find any loopholes to not respect those laws. They were actively trying not to follow rules that help people NOT DIE.
Sounds like something Amazon and Tesla tend to do too
@samarafujioma6588 Yeah people point at Japan a lot when U.S labor laws and corporations are just as bad, if not, even worse.
I mean, idk. Here in america at least the companies you work for are at least open and honest about how they really feel about you.
“You don’t want to die for this company? Hmm… That doesn’t really fit into our corporate ethos here everyone will sacrifice their entire bloodline for the future of the company”
@@voraxumbra1that’s really not accurate at all… are you an uneducated weeb or something? Like okay first of all Japan didn’t have a labor struggle the same way American did, American may not be #1 at labor laws but we are certainly much better than Japan by any objective international standard…look it up man… I mean our national labor struggle pioneered a lot of the essential concepts of workers rights for the globe.
Japanese corporate management is essentially in a state of fallout from feudalism (not even 200 yrs ago a daimyo could chop your family into pieces in the public square for it working hard enough in his rice fields and then have his way with your wife and daughter and that would be all very well and good and legal)
the older japanese often view labor laws as an outside thing imposed on them by post war necessity not a part of Japanese society but an evil outside force that drains Japan of its historic culture - which again is one in which the “average worker” is a peasant serf whose life and death belongs to his lord. That’s the corporate relationship - if anything the idea of being an individual worker is an American idea that they imported for its value. It’s not really even comparable to America where we value individuality and freedom above many other important things…
Ah, karoshi. I remember when the US used to report on that. The concept of "death by overwork" was just something we thought whiny people said. But then we found out it was a thing, and we were suddenly terrified.
Energetic is not the first adjective that springs to mind when describing the general Japanese populace...
Yes but at jobs people always have to smile and be energetic. Even at some part time jobs.
Exactly
Idk... They look like NPCs when they work... 🤷♀️
I once read a book on how to write a job application in Japanese, and one of the common examples was I was in the baseball club/other sports team, so I am energetic and have great endurance ... or something
Well, there's the porn...
not energetic enough? ill never survive in japan-
I'm considered not genki enough for US. Imagine Japan...
With a name like “Random Gamez Jacob”? Yeah, you won’t.
imagine going to work and having to behave like a fucking cheerleader
Customer service me can do that but I have to channel my anime self and she's exhausting. 😂
Probably more energy from overwork needed
The moment you realise Anime industry especially the Slice of Life and Romcom genre is just a huge coping mechanism by Japan to escape the horrendous reality that plagues there dying society. And rhey find solace in their imaginations. And it starts from creating characters with big round eyes.
It gets even bleaker when you realize why there are so many isekais
@@СухарьРжаной-б9иand why many of them start with mc dying 😢
It also doubles as a propaganda tactic. Fun!
And why there’s such a thing known as suicide forest
@@yasmineh.1333
Everything is propaganda if you're cynical enough! Including this comment by definition, I think.
I’m white Japanese but got rejected from a service job because “if customers saw you they would get nervous” lol
I’m born and raised in Japan and can speak fluent Japanese.
But I guess people still get nervous when around me thinking I’m a foreigner. lol
Thats crazy lol i got my current job because i was white thats it... japan for work is fucking crazy
@@chivemonkey1991 Damn. That’s crazy.
I heard from my friends that it’s really easy for white people to get English teaching jobs in Japan.
I’ve never applied but ya. It’s harder for black people though
I feel like this only applies to men or very tall women. I haven't seen white women struggle to get a job here (for that reason, at least)
@@marialuz7301 I’m a woman and I’m not tall. 162cm
@@marialuz7301 It definitely depends on the job. If it’s English teaching, you’re right. It’s very very easy
Reasons why I’ve been rejected from jobs in the USA:
1. I have no idea because they always send back a pre written rejection, or just ghost me entirely
If you want to really know - it's not about being "rejected" it's about the competitive part. Companies in USA do not "reject" that much usually, they just PICK who's better. You are probably not "rejected" in a meaning that something was wrong, it's just that other people were better therefore you were not needed.
If you're looking for jobs through a hiring agency, the agency will generally follow up with the companies and get that post-interview data so they can coach you. That's prob how she is getting this feedback.
@@twothreeoneoneseventwoonefour5 it's not that necessarily the chosen ones are better than you, they just got in the best interest of the responsible HR, so you need to optimize you CV as much as possible to go through that, and then use an ellaborate CV for the interview.
@@namieblinker5922 well that also counts at being "better" - being better at communication.
@@twothreeoneoneseventwoonefour5 Okay, you got me with that one ngl.
One I got was "you're a woman and making noodled is too physical (heavy lifting of noodles 😅) for women" despite telling the hiring agent to tell them I grew up working on a dairy farm and that I'm used to lifting heavy things. That was in fall last year (2023) in Japan.
Edit: And for eikaiwa, I didn't get the job as I looked East Asian (I was adopted and grew up in Canada). I didn't match the typical white foreigner they were looking for. Otger Asian descent foreigners I knew there also encountered the same problem.
WOW what the fuck
Those are ridiculous things for them to say. Bunch of 🤡
wtheck isnt it racism or xenophobic whatever u wanna call them?
@@gracewood6768 Sexism
That would be grounds for a lawsuit here.
All of those mean "you're not Japanese".
Besides the last one, which means "We want a slave, not a human"
@@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500So, "you are not enough japanese in spirit"?
@@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500 "You're not Japanese"
Based
Japanese work culture is the last thing I would want for myself
Hold up…. They actually sent you the reasons they didn’t hire you instead of just ghosting you like all the companies in the US do? I’m kinda impressed ngl
They actually give you feedback especially if you have an agent! I got rejected from a job last because I was "too energetic and strong language" haha.... :(
@@naarwhalsWhat do you do?
@@raimarulightning not be energetic and take a fat L
Yeah, I'm sure some of the reasons here would also look mad unreasonable so that may be why companies don't do it. "Too... marginalized"
Not at all saying these sound like good reasons, I just imagine places that don't tell you have... interesting reasons. Especially since I started getting jobs after choosing "prefer not to answer" for questions on disability on applications, I stopped asking for accommodations until I got the job bc I got turned down everywhere, turns out after you meet a person, you might decide they're good workers whether or not they're disabled! Despicable 😭
its braindead is what it is.
They want conformity on another level. No wonder why everyone is miserable and the birthrate keeps dropping.
birthrate is dropping across all developed countries, it doesn't seem linked to specific cultural issues so much as the means of production and the way of life
Like the poster above said, world wide birthrates are down. Irony is nations that we usually think of poverty stricken and/or war torn are the ones with the highest birthrates.
@@2007Shockwave that’s cause those governments have no separation of church and state. The government is a religious party. And religion is an epic tool to control the poor. Been used for centuries at this point.
@justinhowe3878 but for Japan and South Korea it's much lower than normal
@@despacitojr2206Japan isn’t that much lower
"Didn't give enough NPC energy" is going to be my new line lol
you are an NPC
Re: 3 - I heard that being used in Europe as well. One of my buddies was working in UK (5 yrs exp) and looking for a new job in Switzerland. Recruiters tried to tell him he has "no experience in a Swiss company" therefore he has to start at entry level job. He was an engineer and told them something along the lines of "the laws of physics are same everywhere".
okay legend
"Ah cannae change the laws of Physics!" - Montgomery Scott
Bullet dodged, he would've worked with mongoloids.
Unfortunately for him the laws of physics do not determine in group out group preference. The vast majority of the world prefers their own to outsiders, even Europe, as interconnected as it has become and as much as they’ve gone into western values (the only ones in the world that mitigate or even reverse the in-out preference). You’ll see it often in many government policies and cultural basically anywhere outside of America, Canada, Britain (not the whole of it but certainly the government) and Australia. Pretty much every other country in the entire world is focused more on themselves and the people who have ethnic ties to the country over any “outsiders”.
nah switzerland totally has different physics
In reality the real reason is “because she’s a foreigner” and “can’t be molded to fit the company’s ideals.” The reasons they gave were just so they didn’t have to put it so bluntly.
righttt but worse bc all these companies knew i was a foreigner / were looking for foreigners 😂
@@ebifried that’s an oof… i guess they were looking either for a certain type of foreigner or are only offering it to fulfill a requirement set by either the company or govt. It really does suck and I hope you’re able to land something! The anti-foreigner attitude is a nightmare to overcome
Or looking for a non-asian foreigner?
The stereotype in their head of a black or white or brown foreigner applying, but then they see "but you aren't foreign enough for our ideal of diverse hire".
America in the 90s was doing affirmative actions and diverse hires, but for all the normal experiences, some were simply cringe attempts at public virtue signaling...
Live long enough, and you realize every culture is very similar but with different positions of the same priorities. We all value virtues, but the perception of virtues means more in cultures that care about the facade more than the truth. We all value peace, but some cultures value liberty more, some value profit more, and some value conformity more, but all those cultures have value in the traits they aren't prioritizing, and better cultures grow better, and worse cultures have boom-bust cycles and massive swings in normality. The 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s were very different from each other as America swung around with growing. That's both a good and bad thing.
Japan (Asian countries in general) seem to favor stability at the expense of true understanding, compassion, and empathy (obviously they have that, but they get defensive/dismissive about when their expectations of conformity are provoked in a complexity or contradiction, having to use their understanding in newer situations, resulting in a rules mentality or a polite mentality, but not an actual honest mentality). But Asians seem to favor tribalism more than Europeans... Europeans seem to favor idealisms but with a lack of maturity, resulting in vain efforts. Obviously, Europeans will declare an outwardness of valuing maturity, but looking at history, they value idealisms more than actual adherence to the idealisms... hence vanity.
But that's a vast oversimplification of the world.
@@ebifriedSometimes they look just for a "foreign looking" stereotype person to show off how open they are - and who even doesn't get any real work to do. 🙄
🤷🏾♂️
The why would you want a job when you can be your own boss hits so hard. Companies love having you be dependant on them and borderline desperate.
I've freelanced (mainly for Japanese companies) for 40 years and have made a very good living.
I don't even know what the correct answer to that question would be. Do I say that I never want to be my own boss and then I want to unquestionably follow orders? Do I say that I wish I could be My own Boss but that's not in the cards for me? What on Earth do they want?
well it sounds like she brought up working for herself maybe it came off as if she would just leave them at a moments notice to work for herself. a lot of companies want long term commitment
Very true. They hate that I don’t have a permanent place to live right now. So they know I don’t have a $1500+ rent bill on my shoulders every month that keeps me desperate for money. They prefer someone they can control
@@Kenny2k08Nah they hate that you're a homeless bbum
At least the work-experience paradox also exists in Japan... I love that such a conundrum seems to be universal.
The work-experience is a corpo tactic to either block you or get what they really want, a veteran who they can underpay.
Everyone prefers experience, less work to train.
@@kevinmac6508 exactly, that's common sense 😂
This is why internship are important and everyone should take in
“Must have 10+ years writing production code in a language that had it’s first stable release 5 years ago.”
Me: Well, f*ck me then I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I've spent the last 10 years working for a Japanese company in Asia. There's so many issues with Japanese business culture in the modern world that they don't want to address.
1. Managers from the 1990s who don't even know how to use a computer are still running the show. This is the equivalent of a war general from the late 1800s running the military campaign in ww2.
2. They fill the day with so many pointless activities that staff can be spending 50% of their day writing up processes on why you should make sure your shoes are tied up so you don't fall over or a 7 hour meeting on if water should be allowed on desks, so that no one ever has time to develop at their actual job.
3. They put loyalty over salary. Meanwhile, Chinese and western companies are offering 2-3x the salaries and poaching all their good staff.
4. Everything is compartmentalized within departments/divisions and those groups have to have targets. So there's groups constantly setting the same targets, not telling the other groups and then both groups failing when the other groups won't collaborate with them on their project because they're too busy working on their own project with the same goal but a different methodology to achieve it.
5. The culture makes you feel difficult for questioning anything with management.
Younger Japanese are aware of these issues. But given the opportunity to move into management, a lot of them will tow the line and join the club of inefficiency in order to maintain power and the better pay. So I don't see it changing in the future either. It's like a self perpetuating system of pure inefficiency. And they're self aware that the Chinese companies will destroy them. But they can't change their culture to survive. Its like Japanese people saw a Panda in the mid 90s and said "yeah, that's how we should do things too".
thanks for the vivid description :D
Yeah Japanese work culture is like working as a servant to a aristocratic house, except they act like a combination of the workplace in Office Space or Dilbert, plus a sweatshop. Good to know about Chinese companies paying better. That speaks to good change happening in China. I remember growing up that pay in China was in the bottom 10 in the world (among industrialized countries.) I guess now that Chinese corporations are big enough to hire overseas, they are trying to establish a good foothold. I'm sure like other companies they will eventually stop trying to lure new employees, same with the westerners, it's already happening domestically in the US with the tech industry after all... but still, good for the Chinese people that their companies are paying somewhat better.
This is sad but very true... There are very few Japanese companies that are efficient in their business considering the amount of effort and resources they pour in to make things happen (or just stay afloat).
I'd you're so unhappy why are you there? It's time to move on
@@_Merovingio because Im giving my kids everything they could ever want. I take my daughter to a different Disneyland for every birthday she has. I've already bought my kids 4 houses each. And, importantly, I can afford for them to get a good education. It's not about me anymore. It's about them.