What do you need to do to start your job hunt?
Is it research the company you want to apply to?
Or create a new resume for the position?
Or buy a new suit for interviews?
Let's ask our recruiters and consultants.
Look back into your past and discover who you are. "What do I want to do?", "What can I do?", "What am I interested in?"
Thinking deep into your inner thoughts is the route to self-assessment.
Self-assessment is an important tool not only for new graduates, but also for those who are looking for career advancement.
Having a few years of experience does not mean that you know yourself. Sometimes more experienced people will overlook the importance of self-assessment.
Find Out What You Want To Do By Conducting A Self-Assessment
Self-assessment helps you to understand your strengths, weaknesses, what you want to do and how to sell yourself at job interviews. You will be able to explain why you are interested in the job and why you think you are suitable for the industry. Often at job interviews, you will be asked questions such as “What kind of activities did you spend most of your time on at school?", “What is your strength?" By conducting this self-assessment, you should be able to answer these kinds of questions with confidence.
Tips For Self-Assessment
Opinions from your family, friends and teachers are often objective and effective. Try to ask as many people as possible, what they think of you! Their answers can be eye opening to you and you may discover strengths and weaknesses in areas that you have never considered.
Checklist
Start Self-Assessment With The Following Items:
Start writing about what really interested you in the past and now
List all of your strengths and weaknesses
List activities that you were heavily involved in during your school days
List jobs that you held during your school days and what you learned from those experiences
Ask your friends and family what type of person you are
Look at yourself objectively after gathering all of this information. You will be able to see the true nature of who you are. Looking at what you have done and what you liked to do in the past, will show you where your interests lay and what type of career you may want to pursue.
You may think that you already know yourself, but you may discover a new you from the objective opinions of others.
Now that you know what you want to do, let's move on to “Industry and Company Analysis", to discover where you want to work.
What comes after your self-assessment?
Let's ask a recruiting expert
"After you complete your self-assessment, you need to analyze the industry and company that you would like to work for".
"People who are successful job hunters, have done in depth self-assessment and company analysis."
Let's think about the following questions:
At which company do you think you can do what you like to do?
What industries are you interested in?
Which industry and company do you think can most utilize your skills?
Do Internet Research And Talk To Professional Recruiters
Gather Important Company Information!
If you have a specific industry or company that you are interested in, let’s do some research. Be careful not to narrow down your industry or company search too much at this early stage of the job hunt. Don't restrict yourself and keep all options open when you start your research. You can generally obtain company size, location and financial data from their website. You may also be able to find company information through other job search websites.
<Industry Reference Site for Japanese Companies>
Quarterly Employment Reports On The Web (by Toyo Keizai Inc.)
Talk to your Pasona recruiter. Pasona deals with more than 2000 companies and our professional recruiters can keep you up to date on what types of positions are available and which companies are currently recruiting.