Sakura Mentor
Best Tool for Japanese Job-hunting – Shikiho
Lai Hung Wei
Updated in December 2022
Konnichiwa and salam sejahtera! It is almost winter and job-hunting session is starting again soon. One of the most iconic book for Japanese during selection of companies are through the usage of 四季報(Shikiho) which includes a collection of information on listed companies in Japan. It is important to note that there are two types of quarterly reports: "Company Shikiho" and "Job hunting Shikiho", so don’t mess up! Job hunting Shikiho is being released once every year with 3 different editions: one for enterprise jobseekers, one specially targeted for women job-seekers and another one for internship seekers.
Company Shikiho (Kaisha Shikiho)
Shikiho for Job Hunters (Shushoku Shikiho)Today we will be focusing on enterprise edition, which gives us a general overview on the company, recruitment status, achievements and performance statistics. It is important to note that Shikiho also provides information on paid leaves, monthly overtime hours and recruitment statistics. Overtime hours are one of the most concerned issues of most jobseekers. Some look for a balanced working life while there are some who look for more overtime work to earn more money. Shikiho allows you to understand “how many hours you will work” and “how much you will be paid for overtime”. In general, the Japanese Labour Law required special mutual agreement once the working hours exceed 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. Even so, in order to protect the welfare of the working class, the upper limit for overtime work is set at 45 hours a month and 360 hours a year.
One of the most important information in the Shikiho is the annual recruitment number. Knowing who and how many people were being hired is crucial in aiding job hunting. The composition of art stream graduates and science stream graduates in the company provide important information on where and who they are looking for. Some companies which put heavy emphasis on research and development might hire more postgraduate students compared to generalist companies. There is also some other information such as gender ratio, which school/university the worker graduated from and also the ratio of foreigners in the company. All these information act as important markers which allow you to understand the company better and thus to help you know them better.
Last but not least, Shikiho provide financial statistics on the company performance up to the latest 3 months. This is an important marker whether the company is financially stable or not. Financial performance of a company is continuous, therefore checking on their financials will enable one to understand how stable and how well they are doing. However, it is important to check further details on their company website as the data might not be conclusive. Shikiho serves to provide a fundamental understanding on most companies in Japan and we hope they will help you in your job hunt in the future! Good luck!
Photo AC: craftbeermania