Hot Enough?
Good afternoon international students and other foreigners in Japan!
With highs forecasted in the mid-30's for the rest of the week, it looks like the intense summer heat isn't going anywhere. And with nationwide efforts to save energy (節電), finding sanctuary amidst the "steam bunning" (yes, I just made that up) heat may not be as easy as walking into your nearest convenient store and collapsing on the magazine rack (OK, maybe it is...). Still, there are ways to enjoy the summer without agonizing over the unrelenting heat.
I recommend finding green space to relax in or taking the train out of the city to the beach on weekends. Instead of dreading the summer months, just sweat it out - enjoy and embrace the heat. Eat ice cream or a cold cucumber, wear a yukata, buy a kiddie pool and annoy your neighbors with a balcony pool party, hold an impromptu invasion of the kamogawa, or work on your "yanki" look and let yourself bake in the sun for the rest of summer. Ok, enough about the heat.
Job Support Osaka held its third job fair of the year yesterday. Although much smaller, with only 5 companies, it provided a great opportunity to get up close and personal with HR staff members. Tsurumi Pump was by far the star of the show, as only one of two companies hiring non-science related majors.
In all about 60 people came out. Less than what we expected, but hopefully someone from the group finds a home at one of the five companies that participated.
Massive Job Fair Next Year
It has been confirmed: In January of next year Job Support Osaka and The Global Recruiting Support Project (Osaka Prefecture/Pasona) will host a job fair featuring 100 companies. I have yet to thoroughly research this fact, but 100 companies may constitute the largest job fair for international students/foreigners in Japanese history! Expect a lot of the same companies as last time (Sharp, Panasonic, USJ, Best Life) as well as many new companies looking to beef up their global departments.
This job fair will be open to students graduating in 2012/2013 as well as recent graduates (*those whom have graduated within 3 or less years). Of course you could still come if you do not fall into one of those categories, however there may be only a few companies that are hiring outside of those guidelines.
Additionally, we will be offering half-day internships for roughly 110 students. Each company booth will have one student intern, with the remaining 10 students working as event staff. Unlike last time, students will be informed of their respective company before the day of the event and may even be required to visit the company beforehand. We hope that increased interaction with the company will provide a smoother, more rewarding experience, as well as increase the company's interest in the intern.
I'll keep you up informed and up-to-date on when the recruiting process for interns will begin. You can expect the first meetings to be held early next month.
Until then, good luck and good hunting.
