ToTAL alumnus Mierzati Maierwufu and ToTAL student Kabir Shahriar spoke at Seminar for Job-hunting and Job Interview in Japan

On February 3, 2023, Innovator and Inventor Development Platform (IIDP) of Tokyo Tech hosted an online seminar for job-hunting and job Interview in Japan. At the seminar, Mierzati Maierwufu, a ToTAL alumnus (ToTAL 1^st cohort student), and Kabir Shahriar, a current ToTAL student, (3^rd year Ph. D. student and ToTAL 2^nd cohort student, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering) spoke about their own job-hunting activities in Japan.

Mierzati Maierwufu completed his studies at Tokyo Tech and ToTAL in September 2022, and is currently working as a chemical engineer at The Dow Chemical Company in Japan. Kabir Shahriar is scheduled to complete his studies at Tokyo Tech and ToTAL this March, and plans to join the R&D team at Ricoh Company, Ltd.

This seminar was held for international students in the doctoral degree program to deepen the understanding of the current situation and trends of job hunting, what is important to find a job and the job-hunting process in Japan.

The seminar started with a presentation by the Japan Association for Promotion of Internationalization (JAPI) on the job-hunting structure, trends and activities for international students in Japan.

After their presentation, Mierzati Maierwufu and Kabir Shahriar spoke mainly on the following points based on their own experiences.

-Timeline of job hunting (Both of them started gathering information around 1 year and 9 months to 2 years prior to completion of their studies.)
-How to choose a company (Japanese-affiliated or foreign-affiliated company, etc.)
-Japanese level required in interviews
-How to gather information on job hunting on campus (IIDP, JAPI, Career Consultation Service, Dr’s K-meet, Innovative HR Development Matching System (IDM), etc.)
-Preparation for job hunting and skills to polish
-Internships
-Actual job-hunting process (Submission of entry sheet, interview with recruiter, web test, interview, hiring, etc.)
-Reasons for deciding to work in Japan and at the company they chose
-Important aspects of job hunting in Japan (Structure and timing, attending information sessions, Japanese language skills, connections, etc.)

More information on the event (Tokyo Tech news):
Job hunting and mock interview event held for international doctoral students

We wish both of them the best of luck in your future endeavors!