How to Apply for Japan's HR Industry: Salaries, Top Firms and More!

Author: Claire Liu│ Published date: 20th January 2020

About Japan's Human Resource and Recruiting Industry

No matter which industry, it is important to have a good understanding about the context, specially when it comes to industries that deal with people. This is why the way HR industries work in Japan may be different from other regions. In Japan, the HR industry can be broken down into 4 main areas.

Staffing and Recruitment / 人材紹介事業

Staffing Agencies act as a matchmaker between job-hunters and companies. Companies provide information on certain job requisitions and people looking for jobs file in their information. The staffing agency then finds the candidates best suited for these job openings. Staffing Agencies work with both companies and individuals, thus a career there mainly would be as a recruiting adviser or a career adviser. 

Temporary and Freelance Staffing / 人材派遣事業

Similar to staffing agencies, freelance staffing agencies match people searching for jobs with companies looking for workers. The only difference is with the employment status, as the people hired are only for a temporary one-off job and not for full time employment. As a result, this sector’s emphasis is placed on the skills of the people rather than personality and potential for growth.

Human Resource Creative Industry / 求人広告事業

This is the sector that makes use of media to gather a large amount of people searching for work and match them up with jobs. This method of matching job-hunters to companies is probably the most familiar to us, with websites like マイナビ (Mainabi), リクナビ (Rikunabi), Linkedin and more. These companies are not just limited to the internet, but expand to magazines, newspapers, television and much more. The HR creative industry is suitable for those with an interest in advertising and marketing.

Human Resource Consulting / 人材活用事業

HR Consulting companies focuses less on matching potential employees to company, but on the staffing status within a company itself. In other words, HR Consulting is closer to a consulting company as opposed to a recruiting company.

HR Consulting companies act as consultants to their client companies and provide solutions for interior employee problems they may be facing, or just simply provide advice on how to improve efficiency and well-being for the staff. They may even provide advice on the company's recruitment method.

Background of the HR Industry and Future Prospects

The Human Resource and Recruitment Industry is actually a relatively young industry in Japan and it’s important to understand the background of the industry as well as its future potential before you decide it as your career path.

1997 marked the birth of the recruitment industry in Japan due to the revision of the Employment Security Enforcement Law, which allowed much more flexible movement between industries for people. Within 7 years from 2000, the industry’s market size tripled from 86.7 billion to 277 billion yen.

Unfortunately, 2007 proved to be the peak and the market started to falter because of the declining birth-rates. The industry is experiencing a big change, where only the very best recruitment companies remain. From a different perspective however, this serves as a big opportunity for them.

Domestic companies are unable to afford employing the wrong people and will rely on professional services more. On top of that, recruitment companies dealing international human resources will also be in higher demand as Japan is currently not only seeking for a larger workforce, but also securing global talents and resources.

Skills You Need to Apply for HR Jobs

The HR industry focuses a lot more on soft skills as opposed to technical knowledge, and it goes without saying that you need ‘people skills’ if you want to work in the HR industry. Let’s take a look at the most desired assets people look for in the HR industry:

Sales Skills

At the end of the day, recruitment companies are trying to ‘sell’ job position to prospective employees, or ‘selling’ talents to companies. You need to be very persuasive and have excellent negotiation skills.

Communication Skills

Communication is the lifeline to a recruitment company, with the company as the middleman between a variety of clients. Not only do you have to be good at communicating between your clients, but you also need to be on the same page with your own colleagues and team members. Good presentation skills are also a must.

Organization Skills

In a recruiting firm, most of the time you will be juggling between a number of clients. This is why time management and being organized is a skill that is absolutely necessary.

Adaptability

When working with people, a lot of the time you will face unpredictable situations. This is especially true for the recruiting industry, as it is not uncommon for potential workers to opt out for a different job at the last minute. This is why the ability to adapt and problem solve is something that his highly desirable. 

Language Skills

Regarding language skills, it really depends on what company and what position you apply for. However, most companies look for people who are bilingual at a business level, this means that having a qualification of JLPT N2 can be extremely beneficial. 

Top HR and Recruiting Companies in Japan

If you are interested in the recruitment industry, then your best bet is to aim for well-established companies that currently dominate the market. Currently in Japan JAC recruitment and Recruit Holdings are the two biggest Japanese recruitment companies.

There are also many multinational recruitment companies that dominate the market which is especially beneficial for international students.

Hays

Hays is one of the largest foreign recruitment company in Japan and works with permanent positions, temporary assignment and contract roles.

Hays has connections with a diverse field of industries, including Accountancy & Finance, Banking & Financial Services, Digital Technology, Finance Technology, Human Resources, Information Technology, Insurance, Legal, Life Sciences, Manufacturing & Operations, Marketing & Digital, Office Professionals, Property, Supply Chain and Sales.

Average Salary: 5.5 million yen/year

Recruitment Process: The recruitment process at Hays is very different to that of the typical Japanese Job-hunting scene. They do not have an exclusive recruitment process for new-graduates and you apply directly through their website by providing your CV. All-in-all, the recruitment process is not as open compared to other companies.

Michael Page

Robert Walters

Adecco Group

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Final thoughts on the HR Industry in Japan

The recruitment industry has a lot of potential in the future with a mix of ambiguity. What is certain is that multilingual talents are in high demand among the most renowned recruiting companies. On top of that, Asia is also the biggest focus for recruitment industries, thus offering a huge opportunity for those of you that want to make the most of your assets here in Japan.