She finally was able to work in finance, as she wanted – but two years behind other students in her academic year who were already pursuing their own careers.

Just eight months after starting her studies, in December 2019, she had learned that most of her peers had already found jobs after graduation. She hurried to apply to about 80 companies, but none was able to hire her.

She barely managed to get a job at a startup company, but after starting there last spring could not give up on her dream to work in finance and eventually decided to quit.

“If I’d started looking for work sooner …” she said. She still has complicated feelings about the matter.

Some have noted that a lag in starting job hunting is one of the reasons the employment rate for international students has not increased.

“In many countries other than Japan, job hunting starts after students graduate from university,” said Shiyou Naka, head of Tokyo-based Linc, which provides job-hunting support for foreign nationals.

“It is common for people to be hired after they have completed an internship or some other experience.”

“If a foreign student plans to go to (two-year) graduate school in Japan, he or she has to start job hunting immediately after coming to Japan,” she said, pointing to her own experience as a foreign student who came to Japan from China.

“And while you are still trying to decide whether to stay in Japan or not, you miss the timing.”

According to a survey conducted by DISCO, a major employment information provider, 31% of international students start their job searches between April and June of their senior year, the largest share.

That is notably later than the 53% of Japanese students who start job hunting between April and June of their junior year. As of July this year, the job offer rate was 39.0% for international students, compared to 80.1% for Japanese students.

“I’m from Fujian Province. It’s famous for its oolong tea.” In early October, Tokyo Mode Gakuen, a fashion school in Tokyo, held a lecture offering tips on finding jobs. A male student from China struggled to make himself appealing during a mock interview.

Companies “value not only Japanese conversation skills, but overall communication ability, like answering questions to make a good impression”, said the person overseeing the event.

A female student from Sri Lanka continued to practice selling herself, saying, “I want to improve my own ability so I can get a job at a high-end brand.”

In a 2020 survey of international students, Tokyo-based Persol Research Institute found that 73% of about 400 respondents hoped to work for well-known companies.

That is significantly higher than the 54% of about 1,000 Japanese university students surveyed the previous year.

“International students tend to want to join large companies to reassure their relatives back home,” said Yuji Kobayashi, senior researcher at Persol.

“Because they narrow down their applications, time passes without them getting any offers, and they have to go on to higher education or return home.”

To help eliminate the gap between job offers and job seekers, Gunma University since fiscal 2018 has been working with neighbouring universities and other organisations to create a programme that helps international students find jobs.

Classes include Japanese language instruction, career education to help students learn about choosing jobs, and internships at local companies.

The employment rate for international students who completed the entire curriculum from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2020 was 97%.

“Active support from universities, including information on employment, is essential for international students to prepare for the unique recruitment system in Japan,” said Megumi Yuki, a professor of sociology and education at Gunma University.

“In that system, the majority of new graduates enter the workforce in April, and job offers are made in the two years prior to employment.”

On top of that, “many international students enter school or graduate in the fall”, she added. “It is time for companies to consider flexible timing for interviews, job offers and entry into the workforce to make the best use of talent from overseas.”