How's your job search coming? At this point, you're probably busy filling through hundreds of company profiles on rikunabi trying to find a company that suits your needs.
Finding the right company for you online can be a real challenge. Why not meet several companies at once and speak directly with their HR representatives?
Next January our project will hold a Job Fair for International Students featuring 100 companies that seek to hire international students. We will also offer a one-day internship opportunity to 100 students who wish to polish their business Japanese skills by working directly with HR representatives from one of the 100 companies participating in the Job Fair.
Below you'll find an informative and thoughtful reflection written by one of the interns from our last job fair in June. He is currently finishing up his last year in school and has already accepted a position with a Japanese company. Here's what he had to say:
●○Report of My Internship at Tiger Corporation at the Job Fair for International Students○●
For this event, I participated as an intern at “Tiger Corporation.” The company I would be interning at was announced on the day of the event and I was excited as I wondered which company I’d be assigned to.
However, the company I was appointed to was not one in which I had much interest.
It was then that I realized that the most important thing is not whether or not I’m interested in the company, but rather how I’d make the most of the opportunity. I thought, “Here’s a company that works hard to make a profit and secures employment for many people - does it really matter how we students evaluate the company based on its name or reputation? I thought it rude toward the company to think such a way when we students were the ones seeking employment.
Being assigned a company to which I didn’t want to be assigned I had a big realization.
It became a catalyst which changed the way I would approach job hunting.
During the internship, I did everything from help prepare the company booth to going out and inviting students to come visit Tiger Corporation’s booth. The most fun part for me was inviting students to our booth after receiving a lot of information about the company.
The students walking around the event hall, choosing which company booths to attend, looked exactly like me.
Because of this I thought about what kind of approach would be best for someone like me and invited students to visit the booth I was working at. As I expected I felt joy when students gathered.
In truth, for this internship I was looking for the opportunity to have a long conversation with the HR representative; however he was completely swamped with dealing with other students.
During this internship I was unable to talk to the HR representative about what kind of qualities companies are looking for or what kind of job hunting is the most effective.
However, I realized that the students walking around were just like me and I was able to think profoundly about the concept of a company.
I was also able to see and hear the opinions of students who visited the booth from a different perspective.
To sum it up briefly：
1. For this internship I was appointed a company in which I had no interest.（This was my prejudice at the time.）
2. However, my thoughts about the company, its industry, and even myself changed.
3. I was able to hear the concerns of other students like myself. This was very beneficial for me.
4. Riding home on the train I felt an incredible excitement as a result of having experienced something that changed me.
Many international students are worried as they struggled to put everything into order. I was the same. Like me, I think that this kind of internship will be a good catalyst for others as well. Everyone, please continue this kind of wonderful activity.
I’d like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart at the Global Recruiting Support Project.
Thanks for sharing. If anyone else would like to opportunity to be an intern at the upcoming Job Fair for International Students next January, please contact us at: grs_rookies@spice.ocn.ne.jp
