Vol.68 – Social New Graduate Recruiting to Take Root in Japan?

The previous article Vol.51 – How Internet and Social Media is Changing Recruiting in Japan mentioned that a few Japanese companies started to leverage social media in their recruiting. And now from recent articles it is prominent that more companies are to start leveraging social media, primarily Facebook, in recruiting new graduates.




1. What is the background of more companies implementing social media in recruiting new graduates in Japan?



It is the difference in the environment of recruiting new graduates this year from previous years.



1) New rule of recruiting set by Japan Federation of Economic Organizations



In previous years companies could start recruiting new graduates who are to join them 18 months ahead, such as accepting applications and holding seminars introducing their company and opportunities from October 1. However, Japan Federation of Economic Organizations reviewed their Ethics Charter and set the rule that allow companies to start such recruiting activities after December 1 from this year.



Such review was made because companies have been moving up their recruiting schedule; 20 years ago they would start recruiting new graduates who are to join the company 10 – 12 months ahead. This usually means longer time for students forced to be engaged in job hunting, sacrificing studying.



The new rule allows companies to communicate to the general public. What the companies cannot do is open recruiting website/web pages targeting new graduates who are to start working from April 2013, hold recruiting seminars, and obtaining personal information for recruiting.



2) Social media becoming popular in Japan



As in previous articles such as Vol.48 – 2011 Japan’s First Year of Social Media / SNS social media such as Facebook and Twitter truly started to become popular this year. In such a situation, some innovative Japanese companies have been opening up their Facebook pages and starting to leverage social media in recruiting, as explained in previous articles including Vol.63 – Social Recruiting: Cases and Future of Recruiting in Japan.



2. How some leaders in recruiting industry in Japan are to adapt to the new rule?



They plan to adapt to the new rule by communicating to the general public new graduates. They plan to do so by hosting seminars with the objectives of motivating new graduates for job hunting. They also plan to leverage the Internet to achieve the same objective.



Similarly to companies, companies in recruiting industry also need to postpone opening website for new graduates who are to start working from April 2013 from October to December; therefore, they plan to enrich online information services regarding job hunting. For example, they plan to post movies free of charge to provide information regarding industry trends to the general public new graduates.



3. How are companies likely to communicate to the general public new graduates?



They most likely to leverage Facebook from October to communicate to the general public new graduates.



A HRM and recruiting consultant established a new company in September with the objective of supporting companies who would like to leverage Facebook in their social recruiting. As of September 29, 25 companies asked him to support their social recruiting. For this reason, the consultant assumed that many Japanese companies are to start opening up their Facebook Pages on October 1, which seems to be quite true.



4. Why Facebook Page is ideal in adapting to the new rule?



It is because Facebook users are asked to make registration using their real name. This means that unlike providing information on their website, companies will be able to analyze and understand what kind of new graduates have been accessing their Facebook Pages even if they do not collect personal information.



In addition, if managed appropriately, new graduates are likely to share information they find on Facebook Pages about the company, employees and what it is like working in the company, which is beneficial for companies managing Facebook Pages.



5. The author’s final thoughts



Both the companies and the new graduates would need to take actions immediately from December and for both of them October and November will an important phase, preparing and planning phase for official recruiting and job hunting from December 1. The success in recruiting and job hunting would attribute to strategic use of the Internet, especially social media, in October and November. This means increase in importance and necessity in social literacy.



Optimization of social media use leads optimization and efficiency in recruiting and job hunting. The companies would better understand their audience thus they would know who to target in recruiting. And new graduates would be able to better understand the company and their culture beforehand meaning minimization of mismatch.





Resources:-

A new rule of new graduate recruiting attributing to changes in environment is likely to drive social recruiting in Japan at last. The prominent trend is likely to be companies start opening up Facebook Pages from October 1. From this year, the success in recruiting and job hunting would attribute to strategic use of the Internet, especially social media, in October and November. This means importance and necessity in social literacy. Optimization of social media use leads optimization and efficiency in recruiting and job hunting. The companies would better understand their audience thus they would know who to target in recruiting. And new graduates would be able to better understand the company and their culture beforehand meaning minimization of mismatch.