JPT is only held twice a year where I live, and one of them is in April.
I’m considering taking the JPT next month but also considering JLPT N1 in July and it’ll be expensive for me to pay for both although I can afford it.
How useful is JPT for job hunting? I have JLPT N2 if that matters and I’ll be entering the job market in October I guess. I think the chances of passing JLPT N1 in July is also slim.
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Do job postings in your field ask for it?
I work in programming, in full Japanese, and have never been asked for my JLPT results. I just talked to people and it was enough.
Both JPT and JLPT are completely irrelevant for job hunting, assuming you can actually speak Japanese. I’ve never been asked about it and have interviewed with many big domestic and gaishikei companies. I only very occasionally see it mentioned in a job posting and consider it a red flag that whoever wrote that job posting has no clue what they’re doing.
I guess they’re mostly useful if you don’t actually speak Japanese (as neither test speaking) and want to pretend that you do, but that also assumes the interview won’t be conducted in Japanese.
Even many translation agencies have never heard of JPT/JLPT. I have 1-kyu but have never been asked for it.
I’m gonna chime in and say it can help somewhat. Most Japanese people have never heard of it, but when I whipped out my certificate in my interview and explained that it’s Eiken for Japanese it’s definitely gotten a good response because Japanese businesses LOVE official certifications. Especially my boss, who was impressed by it (and hired me).
However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating of it; if you can’t conduct the interview in Japanese it doesn’t matter what level of test you passed.
From my experience, it can get you in the door but that’s it. I never have JLPT but in the end if they want Japanese, most of the time they will have a specific session for that, either be interviewing in Japanese for the specific topic/role, not just HR intro. At this stage even if you have JLPT but could not hold your conversation/argument you’ll fail.
Out of interest, why are you considering the JPT? Anecdotally, I’ve got the impression that it’s mainly aimed at foreigners for whom JLPT N1 is too easy (a score of 660 is [supposedly equivalent to N1](https://www.jptest.jp/en/about/jlpt.php), and the top mark is 990).
Neither are important. Proficiency test are useful in that they give the person conducting the interview a frame of reference into what level you are at, but in most cases they can easily gain the same information through a simple conversation with you. It’s also kind of useless in a way because there are many people who have passed N1 and can’t even carry on a simple conversation.
I don’t think I have ever seen JPT mentioned in a job listing, but JLPT sure.
Most listings are never mentioning this, but if they care to talk about “extra” requirements for foreigners they will mention it. However for the majority of listings it will not be there. Basically if you aren’t proficient enough to be looking at their listings or communicating to recruiters in Japanese in the first place, you wouldn’t be viable candidate in the first place.
Considering how getting through resume filtering is the common first obstacle, there is nothing wrong with having either, but if it is weighted against a financial situation, my suggestion is to consider taking whatever one is on the same line of progression for your studies and not much more than that.
I passed JLPT 2kyuu (the old levels) over a decade ago and never cared to take it again after I started working here.
with the rise of people who have N2 but struggle with interviews, my team has basically dropped any points for JLPT/JPT certifications
When I did shuukatsu not a single company cared about the actual “certificate”. But basically they stated that “we want an N2/N1 or equivalent level of Japanese” . It doesnt hurt obviously but I didnt bother taking N1 but I could show it during the interview so.
>How useful is JPT for job hunting? I have JLPT N2 if that matters and I’ll be entering the job market in October I guess. I think the chances of passing JLPT N1 in July is also slim.
It can’t hurt. But JLPT is by far the most well-known, and even if you take the JPT now, all you will receive is an N2-equivalent rating, in a less understandable form.
If you want to take it for fun, and have 6,600 yen to spare, go for it. Or just wait until you are ready for N1.
While you are in the test-taking mood, you might also want to look at the BJT and J.TEST.
If you already have a JLPT cert, then I don’t think it would be helpful?
Most people here say that certificates aren’t needed, but this sub has a certain leaning towards a few career paths as there are only certain jobs for English speakers on working visa.
For career paths were certificates matter…. if you were on that career path you would already know that it was needed. For my career path, there is a certain certificate that I 100% need.
It does help to have it on your CV, but I don’t think they’d ask for the actual certificate. Maybe because I’m in translation but most positions do require someone with N1.