Firstly, the title reads “How To Get a Job in Japan” in the title, but in my experience, this job-seeking advice will work anywhere in the world.

Some brief background on myself. My name is Jason Winder, and I have been running businesses in Japan since 2003.

In that time, I’ve interviewed several hundreds of people, and hired probably just below 100 people in various capacities, ranging from freelancers, to part-timers, to contractors, to consultants, to full time employees.

We also receive daily job applications from a very wide range of candidates, so I’ve seen the full gamut of job applications, and job applicants.

Before starting business, I got 4 jobs in Japan myself. So I’ve been on both sides of the table, and I have some degree of insight into how the general process works.

Getting a Job is Sales
Sales is the process of finding out as much as possible about your potential customer’s problems, and proposing a solution to help or resolve these problems.

In this situation, your customer’s problem is the job description, and the solution is you.

The Shotgun Resume Method
This is why the shotgun method so rarely works. A common method of job hunting involves sending your resume to hundreds of companies, and waiting for a reply.

“I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs, and I’ve been for loads of interviews and I haven’t gotten a single offer!” is a sadly common story among job seekers who copy and paste their resumes and cover letters, and send them out to every company with a jobs email address on their website.

If the job seeker doesn’t take time to understand the company, and personalise their written and spoken message to the hiring manager at that company, it’s easy to see why the business might pass them over for candidates that offer more personalized communication.

How Do I...