Job hunting

As I've mentioned, I currently work at a university. Some of my female third-year students are in the process of 'job hunting'. This seems like a full-time job in itself. The following information is what my students told me, so bear in mind it may not be true for all universities.

The third-year students (in a four-year degree), have fewer classes because of the time demands created by their job hunting. Basically, job hunting involves attending constant 'job explanations' by different companies, and also various job expos and job fairs. Many students have travelled the country to attend particular 'explanations', some going as far as Fukuoka, and many to Osaka or Tokyo.

All this requires a lot of filling out forms, getting pictures taken, and even getting a video of yourself presenting yourself. One student said she has applied for about 40 different companies this year.

It's not quite like 'okay, I studied economics, so I will apply for this bank and this financial planning institution, because they are looking for people with my particular knowledge set'. It seems like any student can apply for these companies, because the job is not necessarily a specialised role for a particular major, just a 'company employee'. In general, some universities' students might get a slightly higher consideration than others, based on the prestige of the university.

Because the economic situation is still not good, competition for people entering the job market is strong, and it's difficult to get just what you want.

Job hunters also have to attend practice interviews and 'group discussion' sessions, where they practise answering the kind of questions interviewers ask, especially those designed to test creative thinking, problem solving, and your general composure under pressure.

Even for these practice interviews, students must wear suits. The uniform of the job hunter is a suit - invariably, a black suit, with white shirt - and conventional, black hair (no colour). My job-hunting students appear in suits more days than not; it's astonishing how many 'job hunting'-related duties they have to fulfill.

It all looks rather stressful and when I see a hallway full of nervously waiting, black-suited students, I always feel glad that my early job-hunting days are behind me.