Hello, how are you doing?
This article will cover a necessity for those who will do job hunting in Japan; “Self-Analysis”. It may sound complicated and difficult, but it is simply understanding who you are.

Self-analysis is finding out “what you want to do”, “your strengths”, and “your aptitude” from your past experience. This will determine how you will proceed with your job hunting.

In Japan, each and every student have a different job hunting experience. This is because academic achievement is less valued compared to other countries when the company hires new graduates. For instance, a student with a law degree may be hired in the IT industry, and a student who studied agriculture may work in the real estate industry.

International students may wonder why Japanese companies accept students from a completely irrelevant field of study. This is a custom in Japan, and it has been this way for a long time.

Let’s find what you want to do by doing a self-analysis!

Let’s try self-analysis

If companies do not care about your academic background, then what do they want to know?

They want to know

and will ask you these questions during the screening process.

In order to answer these three questions, first, write down everything you have done in the past. Writing it down will bring back memories. Also, try to be precise. For each action, include why you did such a thing and how you felt about it. Keep asking yourself “why” until you reach a conclusion. By doing this, vague memories will be expressed in explicit words.

Answering these questions will enable you to have a better understanding of your past actions. Summarize the outcome of the event, what you acquired, how it influences you to this day.

Understanding Your Strong Points

In order to understand what you are good at, take a look at your successes. Do you see anything in common? That is your strong point.

Your strong point can be anything. For example, it can be your experience as a leader or the fact that you have many friends. Your strong point does not have to be anything big, it can be trivial. The strong point you discovered will be what you appeal to the company; your strength (“self-promotion- 自己PR”). Some of you may be surprised at your own strength.

Link Your Strong Points with Your “Self Promotion”

Now, let’s link your strong point with your “self-promotion”.
You can make a “self-promotion” by filling in your strength and experience in the ○○ below.

“My strong point is ○○. I succeeded in ○○ by using this strong point. I wish to contribute to your company by achieving ○○ using my strong point.”

After you completed this “self-promotion”, it will enable you to clarify why you wish to work in the company. For instance, you can say “I wish to do ○○ at your company. Since my strength is ○○, I can use my skill to achieve that.”

Lastly

What do you think?
Self-analysis is the first step of job hunting. It will take you a step closer to finding the job of your dreams.