Job hunting for university students graduating next spring began in earnest on the 1st, with joint information sessions attended by companies being held in various locations.
table of contents
Joint company information session held in Yokohama with approximately 280 companies participating and over 3,000 students attending
What is the job hunting schedule for university students graduating next spring?
“Meeting student needs” Some companies are bringing forward interviews to March
Expert: “Job hunting rules need to change to a more flexible framework”
Reconsidering the use of student internships in corporate recruitment activities
Increasingly competitive competition to acquire human resources has forced small and medium-sized enterprises to respond
Open table of contents
table of contents
table of contents
Joint company information session held in Yokohama with approximately 280 companies participating and over 3,000 students attending
What is the job hunting schedule for university students graduating next spring?
“Meeting student needs” Some companies are bringing forward interviews to March
Expert: “Job hunting rules need to change to a more flexible framework”
Reconsidering the use of student internships in corporate recruitment activities
Increasingly competitive competition to acquire human resources has forced small and medium-sized enterprises to respond
Joint company information session held in Yokohama with approximately 280 companies participating and over 3,000 students attending
Approximately 280 companies will participate in the joint company information session held in Yokohama on the 1st and 2nd, and over 3,000 students are expected to visit the venue.
At the machine manufacturer's booth, a human resources representative explained about the workplace atmosphere and systems that encourage young employees to thrive, such as work-from-home systems, and visiting students listened intently, taking notes.
In a survey of over 1,800 companies conducted by the job information site Mynavi last month, 76.6% of companies answered that the hiring environment for students who will graduate next spring will be difficult, indicating that many companies are hiring students due to labor shortages. This means that competition to acquire human resources is intensifying due to the increasing number of employees.
A human resources manager at a machinery manufacturer said, ``It's a seller's market, so we're having a hard time securing human resources.We want to highlight our company's social contribution and lead to hiring.''
One of the students who attended the information session said, ``I want to look at a wide variety of companies and see which company I can work for and grow.''
Another student said, ``The most important thing when looking for a job is the company's culture. I would like to talk to the employees at information sessions like this and get to know them as I move forward with my activities.''
As of February 1st, 23.9% of university students had “official offers”, an increase from the same period last year.
According to a survey conducted by Recruit of approximately 1,700 university students who will graduate next spring, as of February 1st this year, 23.9% had received a job offer from a company, which was higher than the same period last year. Increased by 4 points.
Among students who received offers, 48.3% received offers from two or more companies, a significant increase compared to 26.1% at the same time last year.
The companies surveyed analyzed that there is a growing trend of companies with labor shortages starting recruitment activities earlier.
What is the job hunting schedule for university students graduating next spring?
The schedule and rules for job hunting are currently being discussed, including revisions, at government meetings.
The schedule and rules for job hunting are determined each year through discussions with people from the business world and universities at government meetings.
The job hunting schedule for current university third-year students who will graduate next spring is as follows:
▽ Company information sessions for students will start from March 1st
▽ Recruitment interviews will start from June 1st
▽ Official offer date
is
from October 1st .
This schedule has not changed from previous years.
“Meeting student needs” Some companies are bringing forward interviews to March
In order to make it easier for university students and others to participate, some companies are not only holding job interviews in June in accordance with government rules, but also moving them forward to this month.
Mitsubishi Corporation, a major trading company, will be conducting recruitment interviews this June in accordance with government rules, but in addition to that, interviews will also be held from mid-to-late this month during the spring break period for students.
For this reason, we started accepting entries in the middle of last month, and this week we held an information session that was distributed online to students who wanted to participate.
The briefing sessions had themes such as ``empowerment of women'' and ``independent career development,'' and were held in the form of employees answering questions submitted by students via chat.
There are a variety of reasons why job interviews are being moved forward to March, such as graduate students who want to finish job hunting during spring break and concentrate on their studies, and students who have extracurricular activities that make it difficult to interview in June. It is said that it will be easier for students to participate by being able to respond to their needs.
Additionally, it is assumed that the selection process, including the number of interviews and the method of interviews, will be the same for the March and June interviews, and that there will be no significant difference in the offer rate for applications.
Human Resources Manager: ``Consider selection timing that does not interfere with schoolwork''
Mitsubishi Corporation's Human Resources Manager Reiko Kashihara said, ``June selection alone cannot meet the needs of students.Students' first priority is their studies, and the company should consider the timing of selection in a way that does not interfere with that. .There are great benefits for both the students and our company."
Expert: “Job hunting rules need to change to a more flexible framework”
Regarding the current state of job hunting, Takayoshi Kurita, director of Recruit's research institute, Employment Future Research Institute, said, ``Even for students, job hunting is happening earlier than expected, which is having a considerable impact on their studies. "I have heard that there are cases where a company offers a job offer to a company before they have fully deepened their self-understanding, so it is possible that there is an increased possibility of mismatches occurring after joining the company."
He added, ``It's good for both students and companies to be able to work efficiently by using a schedule as a guide.However, as the world's environment has changed so much, individuals' values and ways of working have become more diverse. Looking at the current situation, I feel it is necessary to change the rules for job hunting to a more flexible framework."
Reconsidering the use of student internships in corporate recruitment activities
On the other hand, the way internships are used for job hunting has been reviewed.
Specifically, participation is subject to conditions such as the internship period being five days or more, with more than half of the days devoted to on-the-job experience, and employees providing guidance to students and providing feedback after completion. It is said that companies can use the information of students who have completed the recruitment process as a basis for making decisions in recruitment activities.
In addition, for current second-year university students who will graduate in the spring of the following year, if a company determines that the students who participated through an internship of two weeks or more have a high level of expertise, they will be able to start job interviews from June to March. We have decided to move forward about a month and plan to do it after spring break.
It has been pointed out that job hunting schedules and rules are not enforceable, and that there is a discrepancy with the actual situation due to the early start of job hunting activities, and a government meeting is proceeding with discussions including revisions.
There is a movement among companies to enhance work experience and lead to recruitment.
In response to the government's review of internship rules, there is a movement among companies to enhance the content of work experience, etc., and to link it to recruitment.
According to rules decided by the government, information on internships for university students who will graduate next spring can be used as decision-making material for recruitment activities if certain conditions are met. Masu.
In response to this, major department store Mitsukoshi Isetan held a five-day internship between December last year and January this year for about 30 people, including third-year university students, to gain work experience at their workplace.
The company continues to provide individual support to participating students even after the internship ends.
In addition to providing feedback from the human resources staff about what can be evaluated from a human resources perspective based on the internship, the students also receive consultations to help students analyze themselves for job hunting and think about career plans. .
The company plans to use the information of participating students for recruitment activities in accordance with government rules, as well as for post-employment training if students decide to join the company after screening.
Female student: “I was praised for my planning ability. It gives me confidence.”
A third-year female university student who participated in the internship said, ``I was praised for my ideas and planning abilities, which I thought were my strengths, so it gave me confidence that I should get a job where I can put those strengths to use.'' ” he says.
Person in charge: ``I want to know the background of the students, so I want to conduct a selection process like an arranged match.''
Dai Sasaki from the Human Resources and Career Department at Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings says, ``We want them to know the true nature of the company, and we also want to know the background of the students, so we would like to proceed with the selection process in a way that would be like a matchmaking arrangement.''
Increasingly competitive competition to acquire human resources has forced small and medium-sized enterprises to respond
As competition for human resources becomes more intense among companies, some small and medium-sized enterprises are unable to secure human resources as originally planned and are being forced to take measures.
A construction company with more than 70 employees headquartered in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture, was aiming to hire three people through a recruitment campaign targeting students graduating this spring, but the number of students applying for the screening was In addition to the small number of applicants, some students declined offers, so only two were able to hire them.
We contacted the students who had been offered offers, inviting them to participate in roundtable meetings and local festivals, but in the end two of them declined their offers.
The company aims to hire four people in its recruitment campaign for students who will graduate next spring.
Under these circumstances, this time, in addition to the employment event for science students that we have traditionally participated in, we will also be participating in an event where companies related to architecture and civil engineering gather, providing points of contact with students who are highly interested in our industry. I'm trying to increase it.
In addition, we have updated our recruitment website and introduced videos of interviews with employees, and we have also started using an official account on the communication app LINE to communicate more smoothly with students.
Because messages can be exchanged more easily than by email, the company hopes that through this initiative, it will not only help recruit students but also prevent them from declining job offers.
President: “We are struggling with recruitment activities and want to respond to current student trends.”
Hideki Hirayama, president of Hirayama Construction, said, ``The reality is that we are really having trouble recruiting due to the lack of manpower.Up until now, there have been almost no rejections of job offers, but the situation has changed dramatically over the past year or two, and there is a sense of crisis.'' I remember this.We make personnel plans over a long period of time, so it would be difficult for us to have a job offer declined.We want to carry out recruitment activities that are responsive to the current trends of students.''