Why do so many Japanese job ads accept applications only by post?

11 comments

1. Japan got to the year 2000 in the 80’s and decided that was good.

   Then they stayed there.

2. I got a letter from tv company that connected to my apato and they want to do some maintenance . It was “call us or send your date by FAX.” I thought about it all evening and couldn’t figure a place where I can send a fax. Except for my company fax. Haven’t seen it working for a few years but it’s still on the counter…

   three days later I got a new letter. It said by phone or qr code. Kicks and ignorance did the job.

3. It’s a super easy way to check who can follow directions, customize for that specific company, etc.

   When looking for a job this past time around, the only places that replied to me were the ones I mailed an application to (or knew someone there)

4. No, there is no rational. Japan lives in the past sometimes.

5. Being an aging society, most heavy hitters and decision makers in many companies are old people who refuse to conform to the modern way of life. Add in the cultural norm of conformity and not wanting to “rock the boat” and you essentially get a modern still stuck in old ways since not enough people are willing to go against the flow

6. As one of my Japanese coworkers used to say “Japanese people love paper!”

7. I’ve never done a Japanese job app but do you have to hanko them? The rational I was given when I asked why paperwork had to be hand delivered across town instead of emailed (or even faxed) was that the hankos on the paperwork would become invalid if copied

8. It limits the applications to the people who are really interested in the job. It takes effort to print/write out a resume, get a stamp, and post it. It takes far less time and effort to just click a button.

   As someone who has directly hired people as well as takes part in the hiring process at my site I can tell you I wish we did this sometimes as I sort through dozens of resumes by people not even remotely qualified or hoping for a visa for every qualified resume I find.

   Then it’s sort through those with a phone call for the people serious or just fishing.

9. I have had the experience posting a job on like LinkedIn and workable and getting like a thousand applications which are totally unqualified like “must be bilingual japanese English speaker in person in Tokyo” and like half the applicants are non Japanese speakers from like Mumbai or Manila.

   I could see how this works to screen applicants.

10. When I was applying to smaller companies this was expected.

    I haven’t actually printed out my resume and mailed it off in 10+ years though….

    I agree with others – this is about putting in the effort and making sure you can follow instructions.

11. Sometimes paper is easier to deal with than a bunch of files