APU INFORMATION/ENGLISH/Vol.14 Career and Job Hunting

"On-Campus Recruiting" is one of the main ways that APU helps support students in job-hunting. Through this unique program companies are invited to come to APU directly to hold company seminars, recruitment interviews and examinations. Interest in on-campus recruiting has been growing year by year, with the 2005 Academic Year (AY) seeing more than 260 companies and organizations participate in the program. Reflecting this boom is the number of students receiving job offers through on-campus recruiting which increased from 125 in AY 2004 to 180 in AY 2005. Since last year, with the introduction of video conferencing, on-campus recruitment is able to match students with a wider range of companies within Japan and even with companies overseas.

Many companies come to participate in on-campus recruiting after hearing from other companies of the opportunity that it provides to meet good students. Other participant companies are those who have previously employed APU graduates. On-campus recruiting is currently one of the major contributors to expanding the APU Network. It also enables students to receive information directly from companies, assists them in getting a feel about a company's work environment, and motivates them to put even more efforts into job-hunting activities.

We talked to some of the participating companies about APU's unique job-hunting program that drastically increases the mutual benefits to students and employers.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. participated in on-campus recruiting for the first time this year. The person in charge of human resources came to APU in April 2006 and conducted a briefing session and individual interviews. In the briefing session, an outline of the company was explained using PowerPoint followed by a Q&A session. After these sessions, there were individual interviews with those students who had already submitted their curriculum vitae. Several students were selected for final consideration and as of May 25, 2006 one student had already been given an informal offer.

Mr. KAKIHANA Kentaro
Manager, Corporate Recruiting Center
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

On-campus recruiting is an effective way for companies to discover firsthand the kind of environment that APU students study in. To APU students, who are exposed to languages and culture that they would not have exposure to in their home countries, viewing things from a broader perspective comes naturally. Studying in a multicultural and multilingual environment provides students with skills that will be essential in their future working lives. I have found the APU students we have recruited to be bright and forward-thinking individuals who approach everything they do with a positive attitude. APU students, who don't flinch from anything, are integral in globalizing a company like ours and I'd like to support APU in its future efforts to produce such graduates.

Through recruitment activities conducted in 2005, INFOCOM CORPORATION learned about APU and made an informal offer to BAMUNUARACHCHIGE Arosha Umali (APM, Sri Lanka - September 2005 graduate), and this year took part in on-campus recruiting. In December, 2005 INFOCOM held a company seminar at APU and in March, 2006 held first-round screening, which consisted of written examinations and interviews.

Ms. HISAGO Maki
Recruitment Staff, Personnel Planning Team
Human Resources Department
INFOCOM CORPORATION (Teijin Group)

"Our expectations are great for human resources who are self-disciplined and internationally minded."

We decided to participate in on-campus recruiting to meet a large number of students at the one time. We wanted to provide an opportunity for students who are geographically disadvantaged for job-hunting, and to conduct interviews with students who are interested in INFOCOM business. What we have discovered through the interviews is that many APU students have a clear sense of purpose and active initiative.

INFOCOM is the provider of various IT solutions, applications, and services for enterprises, medical institutions and public institutions. In providing system solutions realizing cost cutting and operating effectiveness, it is crucial to think about what to do and how to respond to issues consistently. Freewheeling thinking is essential to create IT services such as ring melodies, cell phone contents and e-commerce. Developing overseas business requires not only language skills, but also an international sense. We realize that APU students have great potential and advanced ideas to succeed at INFOCOM.

BAMUNUARACHCHIGE
Arosha Umali
(APM, Sri Lanka-September 2005 graduate)
Overseas Business Promotion Group
Sojitz Group Companies Department.
Enterprise Systems Division
INFOCOM CORPORATION

The reasons why I decided to work for INFOCOM are its upbeat company climate, comprehensive involvement with IT business and overseas operations. The work is more demanding than I envisioned, but I am able to utilize the knowledge I attained at university on different occasions. I am really excited to be currently working as a member of a project.
Since I was looking for a job in the Tokyo area, it was hard to travel from Beppu and it cost quite a lot to stay there. Therefore, the participation of many companies in on-campus recruiting helps many students, especially foreign students, to save traveling time and expenses.
I would like to suggest that students start with a plan of what they hope to do in the future before looking for a job. I also suggest developing a general education as well as a specialized one during University, as every single thing you learn plays an important role in the real business world.

Arosha giving a speech at INFOCOM's ceremony
for new employees.

Expanding the APU Network through On-Campus Recruiting

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