Users Guide to JOBS IN JAPAN (Employers)

To access the Employers area click on the ‘Employers’ link located in the top-right corner of the JOBS IN JAPAN homepage. (If you’re a first-time user, click the ‘Register’ tab).

Select the posting package which best meets your needs and budget.

After creating your job description, a preview of the job will be displayed to show you how the job will look online. Please check the approval box and submit tab at the bottom of this page to publish your job online or it will remain in the “DRAFT” stage.

JobsinJapan.com accepts payment via Bank Transfer, Credit Card (Visa or MasterCard) or PayPal.

Note: In principle, Employers are expected to make pre-payment for job listings. As there is a time delay when confirming payments made by bank transfer, it is advisable to use an electronic payment method if listing the position is urgent.

On the Manage Applications page, there are many features to help you sort, rank and communicate with the job seekers who have applied to your positions.

a) Rank and Sort Applicants – one can sort applicants by job applied to, stars, status as well as make changes to applicants in bulk.

b) Quick view of profile information – if you hover over the name, a window will appear showing the applicant’s basic profile information (Ex. Current Location, Nationality, Visa Status, Language Ability)

c) Corresponding with Applicants – Communicate with the job seeker efficiently. The templates for “Send Invitation” and “Send Rejection Letter” can be customized and saved for quick use.
Action Tabs: Send Invitation, Send Rejection Letter, Send Message, Delete Application

Sample: Send Invitation Letter – Use the sample message or customize your message.

Sample: Rejection letter

My Notes – Interview Status

Rank applicants by Interview Status, Star Ranking and add any internal notes allowing you to stay organized.

The Screening Questionnaire function will help you streamline your hiring process. Sometimes there is information you would like to know which may not be included in the resume.  With the Screening Questionnaire, you can ask a number of questions for the applicant to answer which will be displayed with the application.

A) Types of questions – You can ask for a written response (Text Box), Multiple Choice with one answer only (Single Answer), or Multiple Choice with many answers acceptable (Multiple Answers).

B) Questionnaire Failure – Please let the Acceptable Answer box un-checked if that response is not acceptable and denotes a Failing Score.

* Applicants do not know they pass or fail the questionnaire.
* Maximum of five questions.

C) View of Questionnaire in Application Folder – Under the Cover Letter and Message tab, you can see the results of the questionnaire.  Green denotes a “passing” grade and red denotes a “failing” grade.

D) Questionnaire Results – Clicking on the Questionnaire tab will show the responses by applicant. In the below example, the “failing” reply is shown in red.

Why use the First Round Video Interview?

Many of our employers love and rely on the first round interview because:

1. It saves a lot of time Scheduling interviews
   When you try to schedule face-to-face interviews, it can be difficult to find a time that suits everyone. Now multiply that by five, ten, or even twenty candidates, some of whom might be overseas, and you have a scheduling nightmare.Using the First Round Video Interview, scheduling isn’t an issue because the candidate can complete the interview on their own time, and you can watch them anytime as well.
2. Structured and Easier to Judge
   Because each candidate gets the same questions and the same amount of time to answer, this makes it much easier to see who is a good fit for your position and eliminates hiring bias.
3. Share with team members
   Owners, managers and hiring staff can all review the same videos and give their input, so you can each assess candidates in your own time. This greatly speeds up the hiring process.Instead of wasting your time talking to people who aren’t even close to what you’re looking for, use video interviewing software to quickly sort through and decide who’s a yes, who’s a no, and who’s a maybe. How many times have you held an interview where you know that the applicant is not a good fit almost immediately, but you had to waste everyone’s time being polite? Now you no longer have to have those awkward dead end interviews.
4. Hidden Gems
   Sometimes an applicant’s resume or cover letter is not that impressive, but when you see the person their personality shines and you realize they would be a perfect match. We hear so many times “We found a great employee. If it was not for the video interview, we would not have even invited them for a live interview!”

How it works

On the Manage Applications page, you will see a video icon next to the job seekers’ application as follows:

We encourage all job seekers to take the First Round Video Interview in advance of applying to jobs; however, many do not do this.  In this case, the icon will be gray. 

There are three different video interviews: General Video Interview, Certified Teacher Interview and Japanese speaking interview. 

Certified Teacher Interview: If a job seeker’s profile lists that they have a teaching degree or other kinds of teaching qualifications, the job seeker will have the choice of taking the General or Certified Teacher Interview.

Japanese Speaking Interview: If a job seeker’s profile lists that they have listed a Japanese ability of Business Level or above, the job seeker will have the choice of taking the Japanese Speaking Interview.

Interview Questions

General Questions

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?
2. Why did you come to Japan? / Why do you want to come to Japan?
3. What would you say are your strengths?
4. What are you passionate about?
5. What do you like to do outside of work?
6. Can you speak Japanese? Please demonstrate if able.

Qualified Teacher Questions

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?
2. Why did you come to Japan / Why do you want to come to Japan?
3. What professional development classes, workshops, training, etc. have you recently attended? What are you learning right now?
4. How would you engage a reluctant student?
5. What do you like to do outside of work?
6. Can you speak Japanese? If you can, could you please demonstrate your speaking ability.

Japanese Speaking Ability Questions

1. 簡単に自己紹介をお願いします。(Please introduce yourself)
2. 日本に来た理由を教えてください。もしくは日本に来て働きたい理由を教えてください。(Why did you come to Japan? Why do you want to work in Japan?)
3. 今まで経験した仕事について、またはその仕事で得たスキルについて教えてください。(Please tell me about your work experience or work-related skills that you may have?)
4. 趣味など何か好きな事についておしえてください。(What are your hobbies and/or interests? )
5. 英語で簡単な自己紹介をお願いします。(Please introduce yourself in English )

Viewing the Interview Results

Employers can either click on the video icon in the applications listing or in the one-page view

Video Interview Report

Each video interview report comes with video response to the question along with a Fluency Score, graded against various rubrics, along with the Fluency and Pronunciation Assessment.

The Japanese Speaking Interview does not currently have a Fluency Assessment; however, we are working on this now.

Reminder messages to Applicants
If the employer clicks on the Gray video icon, a customized video interview invitation email will be sent to the applicant asking them to take the First Round Video Interview. After being invited, the icon will turn green denoting that an invitation has been sent but not completed. If the Green video icon is clicked again, a reminder email will be sent to the applicant.

JobsinJapan.com has a resume bank allowing you to search for job seekers by industry, education, title and location.

a) Online Resume Information – Sample
In addition to the applicant’s Professional and Educational information, you have the ability to contact the person via a number of various ways. Depending on the job seeker’s privacy settings, you may or may not have access to the name and email address. If the person applies to your job, all information is disclosed.

Employers sometimes ask us about how to increase the response to their job listings. While there can be any number or reasons (i.e., compensation, location, requirements, etc.), the issue is often a poorly written job description.

Just as employers only skim the first part of a resume or cover letter, job seekers do the same with job postings. If it does not attract their attention, they move to the next opportunity advertised.

Tone of the job description

Employers often make the mistake of only including their requirements instead of appealing to what would motivate a candidate to apply for the job. In addition to your needs, you will need to write your job description, which is an advertisement, to include items that would relate to their personal and professional goals, interests or other items which may motivate them.

Just remember to “think like an applicant” and write what would make you apply for the job.

Job Title

Specific job titles are better than general ones. One should describe the role accurately.
Bad Title: Teacher
Good Title: Certified Children’s English Teacher

Bad Title: Programmer
Good Title: Senior Computer Programmer with C++ proficiency

Job Description

Here are some items that can be found in an effective job description:

• Attention-grabbing opening: Open with a strong, attention-grabbing summary which provides an overview of your company and expectations and responsibilities for the position.
• Why is your company and position special? There is a lot of competition for the best candidates and explaining why your company and job are great will get you candidates that want your job, not any job, even at a lower salary.
• Highlight the day-to-day activities of the position. This will help candidates understand the work environment and the activities they will be expected to perform on a daily basis.
• List of skills required (hard and soft) – make sure the job description explains the level of required education, language ability, experience necessary, certifications and technical skills for the role. You may also include soft skills, like communication and problem solving, as well as personality traits that you envision for a successful hire.
• Make your list of requirements concise. You are not making a shopping list or a wish list! Only list the absolute requirements, not a list of everything the ideal candidate possesses. Keep your list concise. It is rare for you to find a candidate that possesses everything you are looking for. If you give a huge list of required skills, you will scare potential applicants away and may miss out on applications from great candidates who would make fantastic employees with just a little extra training.
• Peace of Mind. Especially for smaller and newer companies, you will want to explain why the job seeker should feel comfortable joining your company.

Salary

Listings that do not include a salary (or salary range) get far fewer applications than those that do. Even if the salary range is very wide, it is good to list what this is and what must be done to achieve the hiring listed salary.

Terms like: competitive pay, salary negotiable, compensation commensurate with experience, market rates and uncapped bonuses scare away potential candidates. It tells the job seekers little and is one of the “red flags” for avoiding a bad company. While your intention may be to pay qualified candidates a higher salary, it gives the impression that you will try to negotiate them into a lower salary.

Benefits

Be sure to list both the monetary and non-monetary benefits of the job. If you offer company housing, be sure to mention it along with the market rate for the apartment in your area.

Other benefits can include training, opportunities for advancement, location, flexible working hours, health insurance, professional development, etc.

Company Profile Page

All postings on Jobsinjapan.com include a Company Profile page (update the Company Profile at the My Profile folder).

While it is informative to state the facts about your company, be sure to use this page to give the job seeker some information that they cannot find on your company’s website. For example, you can write about: 1) Why is your company a great place to work, 2) Company culture, 3) Employee benefits, etc.

Reducing the number of unqualified applications

Applying to jobs online is too easy, just a few clicks is all it takes. While convenient for the job seeker, it also encourages them to apply for jobs which they are quite qualified for. This is not just with Jobsinjapan.com but with all online job resources.

To address this problem, jobsinjapan.com has a Screening Questionnaire function where you can filter out only relevant applicants, saving you time, by “testing” them when they apply for your job.

Job Posting Guidelines

The following guidelines will help you develop job content and recruiting practices that are consistent with Jobsinjapan.com’s standards for an optimal job seeker experience. JobsinJapan.com reserves all editorial rights to edit job postings and may refuse to post a job that does not adhere to the guidelines herewith. 

General Recruitment

• Use JOBS IN JAPAN to fill an actual job, not a pipeline or resume mill. Each posting should represent a real and currently available job. Listings that prove misleading, compromise the job seeker experience or those which we are not convinced represent a “real” job may be removed from the site altogether. 
• If a position is filled during the posting period, the employer is to de-activate the listing to avoid damaging the reputation of the employer and JobsinJapan.com
• Job postings must not contain multiple positions (must be created as separate job postings). One cannot mix full time and part time, prefectures, etc. unless given prior approval.  
• In principle, jobs must be listed by prefecture and not have area (i.e. Kanto Jobs) or multiple areas (Position in Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya)
• Maintain dignity and respect for all people, and do not post ads that may be insulting or offensive, e.g., “Caucasian teacher wanted, “Japanese only,” “female secretary wanted,” etc.  Keep the focus on qualifications, e.g., “native English speaker” or “native Japanese speaker.” If there is an age, gender, nationality or other specification due to a unique circumstance, include a reasonable explanation if not already clear, e.g., “black female extra, early 20’s, for TV show,” “American citizen for job on U.S. military base” or “ABC Church seeking Christian teacher.” 
• Pay reliably and fairly. Jobs that people find on JobsinJapan.com should have hourly or salaried wages and should not cost the candidate anything to apply, interview and begin work. 
• Job postings must not require the user to “email for more details”; position details are to be listed in the job posting.
• Make application accessible and transparent. Job seekers should not have to set up or navigate through complicated steps to begin the application process. 
• Respect candidate privacy. Information gathered in the application process should be shared carefully within your company and never made available to third parties.

Job Titles and Descriptions

• Leave clickbait out of titles. Job titles should be the name of the particular job as it might appear on a business card, with no extra information. This point is particularly important when ads may be fed out to affiliated sites. The job description is where work location, required degrees, company perks and other specifics should be detailed. 
• Do not use job content that is not yours. Each job that appears on JobsinJapan.com must be offered by an authorized representative of the company seeking to fill a position. Agents taking fees to introduce employees to other companies are not permitted unless the agent has a dispatch or introduction license issued by the Japanese government and that license number is displayed in the posting. 
• Offer a real job. JobsinJapan.com is a search engine for jobs. Nonjob content–including spam, scams and other offers–will be taken off the site. 
• Job titles should not contain odd characters (e.g., xxxxx), symbols (e.g., stars, asterisks), ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, or information that belongs in the job description such as location, wage, benefits, etc. Avoid phrases such as “URGENT” or ****ENGLISH TEACHER NEEDED HURRY !!!!!!!!. It is acceptable to explain the position start time:  Marketing Manager – Immediate Start. Provide the true details of your job, including its location, duties and whether the job is `being offered by the hiring company or by a recruiter on the company’s behalf.
• JobsinJapan.com reserves all editorial rights to edit job postings, decline a posting, or remove a posting at any time. 

All postings have to be in accordance with our Terms of Service 

Listings that prove misleading, compromise the job seeker experience or those which we are not convinced represent a “real” job may be removed from the site altogether.