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Shūkatsu: how graduates find jobs in Japan

Japanese companies hire new graduates on a shared calendar: company information in spring, selection in summer, job offers in fall, the first working day in April. This cycle is called shūkatsu (就活), short for shūshoku katsudō (就職活動), “job hunting”. An international student goes through it alongside Japanese students — with one extra task: changing the status of residence in time.

The calendar

All ways to find a job

Checked against the websites of the Cabinet Secretariat, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Immigration Services Agency on October 7, 2026 · Change of status · Job-hunting status

Information stage for March 2028 university graduates opens (2027)March 1

Selection — interviews and tests — starts (2027)June 1

Formal job offers (内定) from (2027)October 1

Apply for the change of status to start work in AprilDec 1 – Jan 31

In short

The essentials of shūkatsu

  • Start a year before you graduate. For university graduates of March 2028, companies share information from March 1, 2027, select from June 1 and make formal offers from October 1, 2027.
  • Your status is your job. The work must fit a work status (most often Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services) and your major; for an April start you apply to change status from December 1 to the end of January.
  • University and vocational school (専門学校, senmon gakkō) graduates who run out of time can get a job-hunting status for up to a year after graduating.
  • Language school — that status only if you hold a bachelor’s degree from abroad; otherwise you need your next status before you graduate.
  • Japanese decides. Shūkatsu runs in Japanese: entry sheets, tests, interviews. Companies usually expect N2 or higher.

The calendar

The schedule for March 2028 graduates

Every year the government (the Cabinet Secretariat with the ministries of education, labor and economy) asks companies to keep to common hiring dates. For students graduating in the 2027 academic year — that is, in March 2028 — the request was published on March 24, 2026.

Stage When What happens
Information stage (広報活動, kōhō katsudō) from March 1, 2027 Company websites and information sessions (説明会, setsumeikai), registration (エントリー, entorī)
Selection (採用選考活動, saiyō senkō katsudō) from June 1, 2027 Entry sheets, tests, interviews
Formal job offer (正式な内定) from October 1, 2027 A written job offer
Change of status: Student → work status December 1, 2027 – January 31, 2028 Application to the Immigration Services Agency
Graduation March 2028 Diploma or graduation certificate — you collect the new residence card
First working day (入社, nyūsha) April 2028 Training for new hires
  • This is a government request (要請, yōsei), not a law: individual companies may use other dates.
  • The request covers students of universities, graduate schools, junior colleges (短大) and colleges of technology (高専). It does not formally cover vocational schools — ask your school about their hiring dates.
  • The exception: if a specialist internship (専門活用型インターンシップ) of 2 weeks or more held from the spring break has shown that a student has high professional knowledge, the company may start selecting that student before June 1.
  • So that international students are not at a disadvantage, the universities’ council on employment (就職問題懇談会), in a request the government publishes alongside its own, asks companies to hire year-round (通年採用, tsūnen saiyō) as well and, where needed, to run a separate selection for international students only.
  • Companies are asked to hold interviews and tests on weekends, in the evening and in the holidays, so as not to disrupt studies.
  • The schedule for students graduating in March 2029 (the 2028 academic year) is published separately — watch the Cabinet Secretariat’s website.

The job offer

内定 and 内々定: what they mean

Term When What it is legally
内々定 (nainaitei) before October 1 An informal promise to hire you. As a rule it is not a contract, but if both sides are closely bound a court may treat it as a naitei, and an unjustified withdrawal as a breach of your expectations
内定 (naitei) from October 1 In most cases already a labor contract with a later start date. The company can withdraw it only for a reason that would justify a dismissal
  • If your naitei is withdrawn, ask for the reason in writing and go to a labor consultation center.
  • You may decline a naitei, but do it honestly and early: a clearly bad-faith refusal could in theory lead to a claim for damages.
  • The universities’ council on employment (就職問題懇談会) has agreed to tell students that a nainaitei before September 30 does not bind them, and the government asks companies not to demand that students stop job hunting in exchange for a nainaitei: you may keep looking even if an agency or a company pushes you to end your shūkatsu.
  • Before you sign, check the conditions: position, pay, place of work — they must fit your visa. What the document must contain: your employment contract.

Selection

The stages: from registration to naitei

  1. Registration (エントリー, entorī)On the company’s website or on job sites for graduates. Students usually register with many companies at once.
  2. Entry sheet (エントリーシート, entorī shīto)The company’s questionnaire: why you chose it, what you did during your studies, your strengths. Written in Japanese, often online.
  3. Tests — 適性検査 (tekisei kensa)Often SPI: according to its developer, an “ability test” (general intellectual skills) and a “personality test”. The format and practice materials are on the test’s website.
  4. Group discussion and interviewsUsually several interviews: with HR, with a manager, and a final one. How to prepare: job interviews in Japan.
  5. 内々定 → 内定An informal promise, then from October 1 the formal offer and the paperwork.

How to write the Japanese resume (履歴書, rirekisho) and the career history document (職務経歴書): Japanese resume. International students can get free help from the Employment Service Centers for Foreigners (外国人雇用サービスセンター) — Hello Work in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka.

Starting pay of new graduates (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, June 2025, without overtime and bonuses): university ¥262,300 a month, graduate school ¥299,000, college of technology or junior college ¥235,500, vocational school ¥230,700. For a work visa your pay must be at least what a Japanese worker gets in the same position.

Your path

The graduate’s path: university, vocational school or language school

You graduate from What work you can do Job-hunting status after graduation
University (bachelor’s, master’s) Engineer/Specialist: the link between your major and the job is judged broadly — a university gives broad knowledge. With JLPT N1 or BJT 480+ — the special Designated Activities (No. 46) status for work in Japanese Yes: Designated Activities for 6 months + 1 renewal (up to 1 year), with your university’s recommendation
Vocational school (専門学校) with the title 専門士 (senmonshi) Engineer/Specialist: the work must be related to what you studied — stricter than for a university. No. 46 — only with the title 高度専門士 from an approved program Yes: the same, up to 1 year, with your school’s recommendation
Japanese language school Gives no work visa on its own: you need a university degree (a foreign one is fine) or experience that fits the job Only with a bachelor’s degree from abroad and if the school meets the conditions of immigration; otherwise — your next status before you graduate

Graduates of a Japanese university, college of technology or vocational school do not need separate proof of Japanese at B2 for language-based Engineer/Specialist jobs — the degree counts as Japanese B2. If the job is in English or another language, B2 in that language still has to be proved. If you are at a language school and want to work in Japan, think about going on to a vocational school or a university: that gives you a major that fits a work visa and the right to a year of job hunting. See schools and long-term programs.

Visa

Changing from Student to Engineer/Specialist

Once you have a naitei, the rest is up to immigration. You apply at the regional immigration bureau for your address, or online.

  • When to apply: to start work in April — from December 1 to the end of January. The Immigration Services Agency warns that if you apply late or with incomplete documents, you may not make your start date.
  • After graduation: when you get the notice, you bring your diploma or graduation certificate (卒業証明書, sotsugyō shōmeisho) and receive a residence card with the new status.
  • Processing of a change of status usually takes 1–2 months.
  • The fee from October 1, 2026 depends on the period granted: 1 year — ¥33,000 at the counter or ¥27,000 + ¥330 online; 3 years — ¥64,000 or ¥56,000 + ¥550 online. You pay after approval.
  • What they check: that the work is related to your major, pay at least equal to a Japanese worker’s, and whether you kept the rules of your student status, including the 28 hours of part-time work. Documents: change of status.

Example

Graduating from a university in March 2028

You study computer science at a Japanese university; graduation is on March 15, 2028.

  1. March 2027 — informationFrom March 1: company presentations, registration, entry sheets.
  2. June 2027 — selectionFrom June 1: SPI, interviews. In summer — nainaitei.
  3. October 1, 2027 — naiteiThe formal offer: a developer position related to your major.
  4. December 1, 2027 – January 31, 2028 — applicationChange of status to Engineer/Specialist.
  5. March 2028 — graduationWith your graduation certificate you receive the new residence card.
  6. April 1, 2028 — first working dayTraining for new hires. What to arrange in your first month: your first 30 days.

If you have no offer by graduation: before your student status ends, you change it to Designated Activities for job hunting, with your university’s recommendation. Granted on April 1, 2028, it is valid until September 30, 2028, and after a renewal until March 31, 2029 (the fee for 6 months from October 1, 2026 is ¥18,000 at the counter or ¥15,000 + ¥330 online). You get a naitei on November 10, 2028 — to stay in a status until work starts, you must be hired no later than September 15, 2029 (18 months after graduation comes before one year after the naitei).

If it did not work out

What to do without an offer

  • The job-hunting status (graduates of a university, or of a vocational school with the title 専門士): 6 months + 1 renewal. Part-time work up to 28 hours a week with permission; for an internship as part of job hunting you can get permission for more. Details: job hunting after graduation.
  • A second year of job hunting — only if you take part in a prefectural or city employment program approved by immigration.
  • A status until work starts. You have a naitei, but the job starts later — Designated Activities until the hiring date, if you are hired within one year of the naitei and no later than 1 year 6 months after graduation.
  • Keep studying — a master’s, a university or a vocational school — and go through shūkatsu again.
  • Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能, tokutei ginō) — an industry skills test plus the JFT-Basic or JLPT N4; the job has no requirement for a related major. Details: Specified Skilled Worker.
  • Look from home after you leave — the company applies for a Certificate of Eligibility for your entry: finding a job in Japan from abroad.
  • Free help: the Employment Service Centers for Foreigners (外国人雇用サービスセンター) work with international students and graduates — Hello Work.

Deadlines

Deadlines, and what happens if you miss them

What When If you miss it
Information stage and registration from March 1, a year before graduation fewer companies and places left for selection
Selection from June 1, a year before graduation (earlier after a specialist internship) fall and year-round hiring remain
Change of status for April December 1 – end of January you may miss April 1; you may not work before the change of status
Job-hunting status apply while your student status is still valid once your status has expired you cannot stay in Japan
Status until work starts after a naitei work within 1 year of the naitei and 1 year 6 months of graduation no status — you must leave before your current status expires

Linked to your visa

Shūkatsu and your status of residence

Linked to your visa.

  • While you are a student, part-time work only with permission and no more than 28 hours a week; violations count against you when you change status.
  • You may not work at the company before your status is changed to a work status — even with a naitei.
  • The position must fit Engineer/Specialist and your major; simple work on a shop floor or in a warehouse does not.
  • Language-school graduates without a degree from abroad do not get the job-hunting status.
  • Graduates of Japanese universities with JLPT N1 or BJT 480+ can work in Japanese under the special No. 46 status — including jobs where Engineer/Specialist does not fit.

Change of status · Job hunting after graduation · Designated Activities No. 46

FAQ

Questions about shūkatsu

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When should an international student start shūkatsu?

About a year before graduation. For students graduating in March 2028, companies may start sharing information from March 1, 2027, selection from June 1, 2027 and formal job offers from October 1, 2027. Many students register with companies and prepare their entry sheets during the winter before.

Formally, no. The government request covers students of Japanese universities, graduate schools, junior colleges and colleges of technology. Vocational schools (senmon gakkō) often follow their own hiring calendar, so ask your school’s career office for the dates.

Yes, if you graduate from a Japanese university or earn the specialist title at a vocational school and your school recommends you. You change to Designated Activities for job hunting: 6 months, renewable once, so up to 1 year. A second year is possible only through an approved local government employment program.

Only in limited cases: if you already hold a bachelor’s degree from abroad and your language school meets the conditions set by immigration. Otherwise you need your next status, for example a work status or a student status at a university or vocational school, before your current one ends.

Usually yes. Courts treat a formal job offer as a labor contract with a later start date and a reserved right of cancellation, so the company may cancel it only for an objective and reasonable cause. An informal offer (nainaitei) is usually not yet a contract.

Shūkatsu runs in Japanese: entry sheets, aptitude tests and interviews. Companies usually expect N2 or higher, and many expect fluent business Japanese. Graduates of Japanese universities and vocational schools do not need separate proof of Japanese at B2 for language-based Engineer/Specialist jobs, because the degree counts as Japanese B2; if the job is in English or another language, B2 in that language must still be proved.

To start work in April, the Immigration Services Agency asks you to apply between December 1 and the end of January. Processing usually takes 1–2 months. You collect the new residence card after graduation, with your diploma or graduation certificate.

Study → Find a job → Work → Taxes → PR or leave

From student to working in Japan — and where you are on the way

  1. Studylanguage school · part-time up to 28 h a week
  2. Find a jobresume, interviews, shūkatsuYou are here
  3. Workcontract, pay, your first 30 days
  4. Taxestaxes, insurance and pension
  5. PR or leavea clean record for PR — or the pension refund

Sources

Where this information comes from

Rates, limits and deadlines on this page were checked against the official websites of the Cabinet Secretariat, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Immigration Services Agency on October 7, 2026. Amounts are in Japanese yen. When a rule changes we update the page and the date above.

This page is general information. The hiring schedule is a government request to companies, and each company’s dates can differ. Questions about your status of residence are decided by the Immigration Services Agency.

Want to go through shūkatsu in Japan? It starts with studying here.

A language school first, then a vocational school or a university — and a major that fits a work visa. Our help choosing a school and preparing the visa documents is free — the school pays us, not you.

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