Hello everyone, I have a question about a job offer I received recently and what would be the smartest way to proceed with my job hunting. Sorry in advance for the long post.
After half a year of living in Japan as an exchange student, I destroyed my physical and mental health with a long, traditional Japanese-style fresh graduate job search. I was ultimately rejected from every company except one, and it was my absolute last wish.
It's the sales department of a Japanese company, and I have zero interest in both sales and their industry/product. However, the alternative is sleeping on my parents' couch at 24 in a very poor country, where I'm not sure I could even get a job. That's why I decided to take the offer, save up for grad school, then try again after I get some skills and certificates necessary for my actual dream job. (I don't know how realistic changing industries in Japan even is, so any insights on this plan are also appreciated.)
This is where the shady part comes.
When they first told me about the offer, it was over the phone, morning after the last interview. I asked how much time I had to think about it, and instead of answering, HR said "We'll send you some documents" and hung up. Few days later, I get an envelope with only three papers.
One is the formal promise of employing me (内定通知書). The other one, I'm supposed to sign, and it's basically just a pledge that I will continuously work on myself and will not cause problems to the company. The third is a "Personal Guarantor Form", which my parents need to sign so they can also be responsible if I "cause trouble to the company". No contract, no information about salary, working conditions, visa or anything of substance. As for when I need to submit it by, it only says "urgently".
I sent an e-mail asking about the guarantor form, since my parents obviously aren't in Japan and can't write Japanese. Instead of replying, they called me again, to say: "Leave that aside, but first tell me if you've decided definitely that you're going to come to our company or not". (I'd already told them in the e-mail that I did.)
I repeated that I did, and the response was: "Okay, thank you, we'll contact you later."
It's been a week since then, and I'm honestly just very confused. I'm very well aware the signs point to a "black" company (even though the product is very well-known in Japan, it's not some kind of newly established small business), but with my financial situation, beggars can't be choosers.
I haven't signed the "pledge" or anything yet, but I did get a formal offer and say in the e-mail I would take it. I'm still going to some interviews, so on the off chance that I get another offer, am I still legally allowed to cancel this one? Any experience about the employment process after the Employment Notification is very welcome!
Thanks!
by momotarooshi