Job Spotlight: High School ALT Spots Across Nagano Ken

For the last two years, the Nagano Board of Education has listed direct hire ALT positions at high schools across the prefecture. These are cream-of-the-crop jobs, on par with the JET Program in terms of salary and support.

The jobs were first created as Nagano began to pull away from the JET Program, and they are often occupied by 5-year JETs who weren't quite ready to go home. But, the positions are open for anyone to apply.

However, because the package is nice and there is no shortage of applicants each year, the qualifications are steep. For starters, you need to be in Japan and have a valid landing permission for work.


Job Title: 外国語指導助手 (Assistant Language Teacher)
Type: 12-month contract employee, renewable
Qualifications: Living in or near Nagano prefecture, English teaching experience, valid work "visa" (landing permission)
Working Hours: Same as JET (Approximately 8 to 9 hours per day, Monday to Friday)
Remuneration: Monthly, 300,000 yen
Insurance: Yes, Japanese national insurance deducted from salary

To apply, you'll need a Japanese and English resume, a 1-page essay, and results of a health check.

The contract period is also unusual and deserves mention: The job runs from August to July, on the same timeline as JETs. Nagano appears to be keen on retaining experienced ALTs in their high schools, so contract renewal seems likely here.

The site to watch is the ALT Hiring Page of the Nagano Board of Education website. In previous years, the notice has been posted late in April, and the deadline for applications is in mid-May.

Job Spotlight: www.top-us.com

TOP is a recruitment consultant that specializes in Japanese-English bilingual job positions with (usually large) Japanese firms. They advertise positions both within Japan and across the U.S., and they have branches in Tokyo as well as 5 major U.S. cities. Their listings also include some English- or Japanese-language-only jobs.



If you are looking for a job where you can use your Japanese skills, and particularly a job outside of the English teaching industry, TOP is a good place to start. (In regards to Japanese skill, expect to need at least JLPT-2/N-2 to be considered for bilingual spots. An equivalent or higher BJT score is better.) You can search and inquire about job listings through their website, but if possible, I would recommend contacting them by phone or arranging a visit to their office. Recruiting agencies need to get a full picture of who you are and your available skillset in order to pair you with jobs where you are likely to pass the initial screening and proceed to interviews.

I am a big fan of recruiting agencies and the services they provide to job-seekers. Agencies take a cut whenever they match an applicant to a job opening; that cut is paid by the hiring company, not the applicant. So, use of an agency is free for the job-seeker. (If you encounter a recruiting agency that doesn't offer you its services for free, something's up. It might be better to look elsewhere.) You need only invest time to speak with the agency and demonstrate your eagerness to find a new job. Have a good handle on your strengths and weaknesses and fields of interest.

A good agent will not only introduce jobs to you but guide you through the application process, offering you opinions on how to strengthen your resume and coaching you on how to handle interview questions. I found this kind of help indispensable in my own search.

And, the caliber of jobs you can apply for through an agency is, in my opinion, usually greater than that of jobs you can find on your own. Big name companies often entrust their initial applicant search to recruiting agencies; this makes it the agency's job to weed out inappropriate applicants, saving the company time. Because of this, some of the highest quality openings may only be advertised through the safe annals of an agency, meaning people only looking in newspapers and online miss out on them.
By the way, the listings on an agency's website often don't cover all the positions the agency has to fill. This is, again, why I recommend calling an office or asking them if you can visit in person. By just having a conversation with an agent, he or she may remember some other open position that could work for you.

Finally, TOP specifically is an interesting find because of their offices outside of Japan. Even if you're in the U.S., their numbers and offices are available to introduce job-seekers to positions within Japan. TOP's listings are maintained in English, and the company appears just as interested in finding native-English speakers with fluent Japanese as they are in finding native-Japanese speakers with study abroad experience. If you are interested, be sure to check them out.

Job Spotlight: ALT Spot in Houfu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Last year around this time, Houfu City in Yamaguchi Prefecture advertised two direct-hire ALT positions with a competitive remuneration package.


If you're looking for specific figures about ALT working conditions, or if you're looking for a direct-hire gig around Yamaguchi to apply for, here's the lowdown and the link to watch over the next couple weeks:

These are the details from last year's posting.


Job Title: 外国語（英語）指導助手 (Assistant Language Teacher--English)
Type: 12-month contract employee
Qualifications: Native of an English-speaking country, etc. [sic], and meets one of the following requirements: 1) English teaching certificate, 2) Early childhood teaching certificate, 3) Experience teaching English
Working Hours: At longest, 9:00 - 15:35, Monday through Friday; open for discussion
Remuneration: Hourly, 4,000 yen
Insurance: No


The site you'll want to check on is the Houfu City Homepage. The site's news feed is in the top center of this page, and all past ALT hiring notifications (usually titled 外国語（英語）指導助手の募集について) have appeared in this feed. The link to old posts (以前の新着情報（履歴）一覧) is at the bottom-right of the feed box.

Job Spotlight: Gifu City CIR Position

Gifu City is hiring for a contract Coordinator of International Relations (CIR, 国際交流員) position beginning April, 2011. The application window begins soon. Judging by the compensation package, this job is tailored for someone who is already in the Gifu area and looking for part time work. If that sounds like you, take a gander:

Application Deadline: Feb. 28, 2011

You can download the official notice from Gifu City as a PDF here.

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Job Title: 国際交流員 (Coordinator of International Relations)
Type: 12-month contract employee, starting April 1, 2011.
Qualifications: Native speaker of English or English ability equivalent to that of a native speaker. Advanced Japanese ability (at least equivalent to JLPT-2級/N2). Born before April 1, 1993. Proficient in Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. If not a Japanese national, must possess a valid working visa (landing permission) or be able to change current visa into a working visa.
Duties: Assisting foreigners living in the community through translation and interpretation at city hall, communication with sister cities, translation of community information (notices or pamphlets issued by the city), assist in organizing community international events, general office duties, etc.
Working Hours: 9:00 - 15:45, Monday to Friday. May be asked to work on holidays or after hours as community events demand.
Remuneration: Monthly, 152,200 yen. Travel expenses reimbursed. 10 paid holidays per annum, up to six can be used as sick days.
Insurance: No shakai hoken.

Application Deadline: Entries will be accepted from Feb. 15, 2011 until Feb. 28, 2011.

Apply by filling out the resume and the application to take an interview test, both included in the PDF linked above. Take the application in person to the International Department on the first floor of the Gifu City Hall Minami Chousha.

Or, mail the application by registered mail to:
〒500-8720
岐阜市神田町1丁目11番地
岐阜市市民参画部国際課
(Applications sent by mail must arrive by Feb. 28.)

Interview and Aptitude Test: Applicants who proceed to the interview phase will be interviewed and asked to take an aptitude test on March 2, 2011.
The interview and test will be held at the same address as above, and applicants must bring a 1200 character essay (Japanese) on "what characterizes a Japanese town that's easy for foreigners to live in."
All interviewees will be informed of the results of their application.

Job Spotlight: Kanuma City ALT Position

Kanuma City in Tochigi Prefecture is currently accepting applications for an ALT Position. This is an elementary-level position with remuneration comparable to JET, and it is open to people who are not currently living in the Kanuma area but are willing to relocate there. The deadline on this one is coming up fast, so if you're interested, take a look below then get cracking!

Application Deadline: Feb. 7, 2011

The official notice is available at the Kanuma City homepage. The links at the bottom of the page expand on the listing, including an English explanation and application form. (The English explanation lets out crucial details, like salary, that the Japanese explanation politely avoids.)

Job Title: 外国語指導助手 (Assistant Language Teacher)
Number of Positions: 1
Type: 12-month contract, beginning April 1, 2011
Qualifications: Born in a country that uses English as its primary language. At least a Bachelor's Degree. Experience teaching English at a school in Japan or TEFL/TESOL certificaiton. Conversational Japanese ability (enough to handle daily communication and lesson planning with school faculty). Interest in Japan. Living in Kanuma City or intent to live in Kanuma City. Able to commute to any location in the city. Ability to maintain own lifestyle in Japan without any serious impairment.
Duties: Standard ALT job, spread across 4 elementary schools.
Working Hours: 8:15 - 16:00, Monday to Friday.
Remuneration: Monthly, 300,000 yen. If you choose to live in their provided apartment, they will pay half of its rent.
Insurance: Shakai hoken. (健康保険、厚生年金保険、雇用保険, Enrollment is mandatory.)

Application Deadline: Feb. 7, 2011
To apply, send in their application form, filled out, a copy of your passport (including your current landing permit), a copy of your Alien Registration Card, a copy of your diploma, and a recommendation from a previous employer, if possible.

Applications may be delivered by hand to the Kanuma City Board of Education (located at City Hall, on the second floor of the East building). Or they may be mailed to:

School Education Division
Kanuma Board of Education 
1688-1 Imamiya-cho
Kanuma City, Tochigi Prefecture 322-8601

Interview: Applicants will be informed of interview time and place if shortlisted.

The interview will include a mock class demonstration.

Job Spotlight: Maebashi City ALT Position

'Tis the season for hiring, in the world of April-start contract jobs, anyway. We got a heads up today on an ALT position in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture. Unfortunately, the deadline for the job is today. However, the package on this one is pretty nice: Maebashi might be worth looking into next year if you're in the market.


Application Deadline: Jan. 27, 2011

Info is on the Maebashi City Homepage.
The details are:


Job Title: 外国語指導助手 (Assistant Language Teacher)
Number of Positions: 16
Type: 12-month contract employee
Qualifications: Bachelor's degree. 1 year ALT experience. A native speaker of English, person from a country where English is spoken as a common language, or TEFL/TESOL certificate holder. Conversational Japanese ability. Located near Maebashi City and able to commute. Valid working visa.
Duties: Standard ALT job in junior high or high school, with potential visits to elementary schools or kindergartens. Assist in summer school courses for junior high students.
Working Hours: 8:30 - 16:15, Monday to Friday. (8:45 - 16:30 in case of elementary school).
Remuneration: Monthly, 300,000 yen. Some travel expenses reimbursed if commuting by automobile or public transportation.

Application Deadline: Jan. 27, 2011
Application requires direct submission of:

•  a resume
• copy of diploma
• copy of passport
• copy of Alien Registration Card
• health report issued by a hospital (健康診断書)
• copy of TEFL/TESOL certification (if not a native speaker/from a country using English)
• a self-addressed, stamped envelope (80 yen stamp)

to the Maebashi City BoE. Applicants are briefly interviewed on submission of application.


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Sorry to not get the word on this job sooner; it made for an unusual Thursday post from us.
It would be difficult to apply in time today, but again, this looks like a good one to keep in mind for future opportunities. The salary is on par with JET, and this listing may indicate a recent move by Maebashi City away from the JET Program in favor of annual direct hires.


Anyway, stay tuned for more Job Spotlight goodies throughout the upcoming week!

Job Spotlight: Tsukuba City CIR Position

Tsukuba City has posted a hiring notice for a Coordinator of International Relations (国際交流員) position on their home page. CIR jobs are generally positions within a city hall or other municipal office arranging community events and international awareness. Some CIR positions include teaching community classes or visiting public schools as a guest teacher. Here's the scoop:

Application Deadline: Jan. 22, 2011
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Job Title: 国際交流員 (Coordinator of International Relations)
Type: 12-month contract employee
Qualifications: An individual of any nationality who graduated high school and university courses of study in a region where English is the native or an official language. High-level Japanese ability. (CIR positions usually expect about a JLPT-2 [or N-2, in the new format]). Must have a valid working visa.
Duties: Translating documents, interpreting for foreign residents, making and receiving telephone calls (in Japanese or English), participating in or interpreting for local international pursuits.
Working Hours: 8:30 - 17:15, three days per week, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays.
Remuneration: Monthly, 150,000 yen, before taxes. Travel expenses reimbursed. 12 paid holidays per annum.
Insurance: No shakai hoken.


Application Deadline: Jan. 22, 2011
If your application is accepted, you will be asked to attend an on-site interview and interpretation test on February 2.


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The pay of this position gears it more towards individuals nearby or with preexisting ties in Tsukuba. 
By the way, this is the second or third January in a row that I have seen Tsukuba advertising for a CIR; it may be worth checking this one out again in subsequent years.

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Job Spotlight: How to Get a Gaijinpot Job

Although I think there are other, better resources available for job searching, the well-trodden sites of the Internet are still worth a look; they are often well designed and because of their popularity, new jobs appear on them almost every day.

Today we're going to take a look at Gaijinpot Jobs.

(But, this advice is just as effective at other big job-listing sites, too.)

Most readers have already heard of Gaijinpot Jobs, so I'll keep the site description short: You create a profile on the site, write and save resumes, browse jobs, and send resumes with cover letters. Most of the jobs listed on the site are ESL teaching gigs, from small local schools to corporate giants like Interac. And Gaijinpot's ability to store your resumes means you can apply for a load of jobs with very little effort.

And that right there is what I want to focus on.

Think about it: If you can save one resume and one cover letter and send those off to a dozen companies in five minutes, so can everyone else. So, if you want to get in for an interview, the name of the game at Gaijinpot is quality and speed. Read on...

There are a lot of jobs with similar requirements here (visa, native speaker, TEFL certificate, driver's license, pulse). And there's a glut of people on the site who all fit those same credentials. Within 24 hours of a new job listing at Gaijinpot, it's not uncommon for dozens or even hundreds of people to one-click submit their resume to that company.

Unfortunately, many of the employers aren't so picky. They need to get onto the interviewing phase ASAP and there isn't a lot of time to dredge through two hundred resumes. Instead of waiting around for every resume that comes in before the ad expires, usually they just look at the first resumes to arrive. Once five, or ten, or twenty people who meet the initial requirements are identified, the company proceeds to interviews with this group and ignores all further resume submissions.

(Unless, of course, all five or ten or twenty people interviewed turn out to be duds.)

The point is, there's a very short window of time for you to get your application in. It's much shorter than the actual run time of the ad. You are more likely to get a callback from a company if you can get your resume in fast.

In order to do this, it's best to skim the site itself every day, as you'll see new jobs the instant they've been listed. Next best is to sign up for the daily job e-mail that Gaijinpot offers. I say next best because actually everything in the daily e-mail is going to be about 24 hours old; it's a compilation of yesterday's newest listings. Anyway, check it in your inbox every morning, and immediately apply for any jobs that look interesting. If you wait until the weekend, consider your chance already gone.

But, speed isn't everything. Recruiters know that on sites like these, any doofus with an "Enter" key can instantly submit a resume and a generic cover letter he wrote six months ago.

This means you need to keep your resume up to date, and you need to target it. Gaijinpot's even built a system for you to save multiple versions of your resume, for Pete's sake. Use it! Don't send the same thing to every company. Pick and choose the skills you'll highlight according to the type of job you're applying for! If it's a teaching job, your introductory lines should be about your degree in education and your past experience. If it's for an IT job, talk about your programming language proficiencies and certifications.

Most importantly, for non-teaching jobs, get rid of the teaching related talk! Unless you've worded it to show how your teaching experience has prepared you for the job you're applying for, your statements about "great lesson plans" and "getting along with students" will leave recruiters rolling their eyes as they reach for the delete key.

And finally, in the same vein, you need to write a cover letter for every job you apply for. Generic cover letters are really obvious: "I'm a 27 year old graduate from America. I'm really interested in everything about Japan and I've lived here for three years. In school, I studied..."

This is a bad cover letter because it talks about you. But the company doesn't want to hear about you! You're already attaching a resume full of that information! Your cover letter should talk about the company and position you're applying for. Mention what you know about the field and the company. Use the company's name in the letter. Talk about an experience you've had in the past and why you think it prepared you for this job.

Armed with this mentality, your likelihood of a callback will skyrocket. So get out there, and start customizing your next application. :)

Job Spotlight: Shigaku.or.jp

For those of you who are interested in teaching English, but just want to escape the yearly-contract, no-bonus, no-pay-raise ALT quagmire, here's a site to keep an eye on.



Shigaku.or.jp maintains a daily updated page of private school positions up for grabs around the nation. The job advertisements are for teachers of all subjects, but many English teaching positions are advertised in each update,  and among them are listings (usually one every few weeks) for which only a native speaker is wanted.

Because the schools are private, some rules about teaching certification can be bent: A well-written resume and application coming from a foreigner will draw interest, and if you impress a school during an interview, you can bet they will find a way to hire you.

I highly recommend this site, as the positions are at prestigious, competitive schools, but they often go unadvertised among most of the foreign community. This is a chance to directly appeal to schools and get hired as a full member of staff, rather than as a dispatch or contract worker.

However, the leads on Shigaku's page are written in Japanese only, and many of the jobs themselves (even those intended for native English speakers) are often written in Japanese on the schools' websites. Conversational Japanese is a must here, and applicants with JLPT-2 or greater equivalency, coupled with teaching experience, are the ones who will have their pick of jobs.

Job Spotlight: Careerforum.net

One of the best places for foreign nationals to look for jobs in Japan are career forums. Career forums strip out a lot of the traditional Japanese hiring practices of attending compulsory seminars, filling out entry sheets, and attending up to eight rounds of interviews before a job offer finally arrives. They concentrate employers in one convenient location, so you can gather information and talk with recruiters at a dozen companies all in one afternoon.



The company that organizes the largest Japanese-English bilingual career forums in the world is Disco International. They run a fully bilingual website promoting all of their events at Careerforum.net (CFN).

The largest of these events is the Boston Career Forum, held annually around the end of October. Some 150 companies attend this event, all big names like Panasonic, Goldman Sachs, Mitsubishi, and NTT, and they are looking for candidates with Japanese and English language skills to employ their English skills in Japan or Japanese skills abroad.

Lists of attending companies tend to come out as early as six months before the actual event is held, and if you create an account at the CFN website, you can gather information on and send resumes to companies months before the event takes place--which I'd recommend, since companies schedule most of their interview sessions beforehand, leaving very little space for walk-in candidates.

Some readers are probably wondering if it is worth it to fly all the way out to Boston for the event. If you have prepared well beforehand and scheduled perhaps six to ten interviews online beforehand, I say yes. 

There is potential here for foreign nationals if your Japanese is up to snuff. JLPT-1 or a high BJT score is a must if you are not a native speaker. But with that qualification, and a well-written English and Japanese resume, it is possible to line up interviews for jobs in Tokyo with major companies who are looking for native English-speakers.

(I promise. Two companies flew me to Tokyo and back for 1-day interviews thanks to the Boston Career Forum.)

On the other hand, if you've never interviewed in Japanese before in your life, or if you've spent no time researching companies and practicing how you'll sell yourself to their recruiters, these events probably aren't worth the cost of a plane ticket for you. More than a few Western college students walk away from these forums with sour grapes because they thought walking unprepared into a Konami booth would land them a programming job. You need printed resumes, rehearsed interview answers, and, for any technical field, examples of your work to get anywhere.

If you're just interested in seeing what a Japanese career forum is like, CFN hosts other events around the world, including London, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. If one of these locations happens to be nearby for you, it's completely free to register for and attend CFN events.

But, for the big jobs, Boston is where it's at.

By the way, all of CFN's career forums (and, really, almost all 就職活動 events in Japan) are formal-attire affairs. Dress up with a nice suit, including a white, long-sleeve button-down shirt, jacket, and tie. For ladies, a pantsuit is acceptable, but most Japanese women wear a jacket, blouse, skirt, and heels.

The CFN website itself is a great source of further information on how to prepare for and participate in a career forum, and an awesome point of the site is that they translate everything across the site, word-for-word into both Japanese and English. Members (it's free to be one) can opt in to a newsletter about job-seeking tips and also access every back issue of that same newsletter (there's hundreds, if not thousands of them) on the CFN website.

11 Useful Vocabulary in Your Job Search (Part 2 of 2)

Knowing just a few particular terms can double your readiness to tackle a professional job search in Japan.

Continuing from our last post about job-search vocabulary, here are six more words that you ought to know as you embark to find work outside of ESL:

履歴書（りれきしょ）

The Japanese equivalent for "resume." Japanese resumes have a standard format, including your contact information, full educational history, a photo, and sometimes things Westerners find surprising, like a list of relatives, their birth dates, and their current occupations. Traditionally, a 履歴書 is supposed to be handwritten.

自己PR（じこPR）

This is your "self promotion," or a 60-second blurb about what you want to do in the workplace and why your background makes you qualified for this job. You'll write it on your resumes, and you should know it by heart so you can say it (naturally) as your self-introduction at the beginning of interviews. This should be re-written and tailored for every job you apply to.

志望動機（しぼうどうき）

Closely tied to the above, your "motivation for working" should establish that you understand what this job/company is all about and you're excited by the idea of working there. There is a lot of crossover between the 自己PR and 志望動機 of job-seekers, but in principle, your "self promotion" should be telling about your skills and how they match the job, and your "motivation for working" should show that you know about the company and that your goals are in line with its. This should also be re-written and tailored for every job you apply to.

適性試験（てきせいしけん）

"Aptitude tests" are common among Japanese recruiters to weed out some of the hundreds or thousands of applications they may receive each year. The idea is that if you didn't bother studying for an aptitude test about kanji and math encountered in the business world, they're not going to bother considering you for a job. As a foreign applicant, you may be exempted from some of these; companies considering you for employment usually have a special project in mind for you, which they'll find out if you're capable of through resumes and interviews. However, you may still be asked to take a truncated version of an aptitude test or a personality test. Bookstores in Japan carry shelves of books about what kind of vocab you should know for these tests, what kind of story problems are commonly encountered on the math sections, and what kind of trip-up questions companies throw into the personality test to make sure you're not lying. (It's not always as simple as "T/F: I have never told a lie before.")

面接（めんせつ）

The Japanese word for "interview." If you made it past the resume screening and aptitude testing, you'll go in for one of these. They can take any of several forms, including group interviews (three or four applicants against a panel of interviewers), one-on-one, or you alone against a handful or a roomful of your future superiors. Japanese interviews tend to come in multiples, with each interview being numbered in succession: 1次面接, 2次面接, etc. Each level of interview will be with someone higher up in the organization, the final often being with the president. Two to four interviews for a job were my most common numbers, but I've heard stories of companies having up to 8次面接 for Japanese applicants.

内定（ないてい）

Roughly equivalent to "job offer," this is the payoff for all your hard work. After the final interview, a letter is issued to you stating that the company is extending 内定 to you. You'll need to reply with a letter of thanks, and accept the 内定 by completing some final procedures, such as taking a health exam (健康診断) and signing commitment (誓約書) and guarantor (身元保証書) forms. It is not uncommon for a Japanese company to conclude their hiring process and notify successful applicants six months or even a year before the starting date of the job. Which means: start your job search early, way before you intend to move into a new job.

We hope this series of articles has been useful for job seekers. If you have any other job hunting terms you'd like to add or ask about, please leave a comment below.

11 Useful Vocabulary in Your Job Search (Part 1 of 2)

If you're determined to find a job outside of the English teaching industry, it helps to familiarize yourself with the Japanese job-seeking world: A whole subculture exists for university juniors and seniors in which they identify the companies they want to pursue, attend seminars for those companies, climb a pyramid of four or more progressively more demanding interviews, and finally get hold of an offer for a job that won't start for another year.

Accompanying this subculture is its own special vocabulary. Here are the first five of eleven words you ought to know when venturing into the Japanese job market, and what they mean:

就職活動 （しゅうしょくかつどう）
Often abbreviated as 就活, this is the word epitomizing the subculture described above. Literally "activities for finding employment," when you are on the cusp of graduating from university (or for some, high school), 就活 is your full-time job. All you do, night and day, is schedule seminars, handwrite resumes, practice interviewing, and study for company entrance exams. It's a portal Japanese are accustomed to, akin to the 受験生 feeling of junior high school students progressing on to high school, or high school students progressing on to university.

大手企業（おおてきぎょう）

A "large enterprise," these are the massive brand names in Japan, like Sony or Toyota, and for most Japanese, the dream job that everyone wants to get a hold of. For the most part, 大手企業 still uphold traditional Japanese practices of lifetime employment, and a job-seeker who gets accepted at one of these companies will be set for life: Banks, creditors, realtors, car dealers, and future in-laws will welcome you with outstretched arms if the second line on your business card bears an 大手企業 name. (All this does come in exchange for long working hours and unwavering devotion to the company).

募集・応募（ぼしゅう・おうぼ）

Meaning "hiring" and "applying" respectively, 募集 is the term Japanese firms use to indicate they're offering jobs and 応募 is the term job-seekers use to say they'd like to apply for jobs. A polite phrase to add to your resume and interviews, after stating the reason for your application, is 「是非応募させていただきたいと思います」.

自己分析（じこぶんせき）

Means "self analysis." Before you start applying for jobs, have a good handle on who you are and what your aims are in your job search and beyond. In a competitive job market, with many, many more college graduates than available positions at large companies, recruiters place a lot of emphasis on finding all-star applicants who have done plenty of "self analysis" and provide substance in their resume and interviews, rather than parroting the same "I'm a hard worker, and my weakness is that I'm a perfectionist" fluff everyone else already says.

御社・貴社（おんしゃ・きしゃ）

When addressing a company in a message or interview, use these words: Not 「あなたの会社」, nor 「Name of Company」, but one of these. (Either is fine, but I hear 御社 more often in interviews and 貴社 more often in written correspondence.) It makes you sound professional, and a foreign face equipped with these words will garner surprised smiles and nods of approval from interviewers.

Stay tuned for the six remaining words in our next post. :)