Work in Japan Advice Board

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2. Shokumukeirekisho (Japanese Resume 2)

職務経歴書 (shokumukeirekisho) is a work history document that you need to create in addition to a rirekisho in Japan. It serves to convey your practical abilities, work experience, skills, and strengths. When writing your work history, it is important to keep the information relevant and make the document easy to read.

(1) Writing Points

point 1 Emphasis on readability

For PCs use a A4 format and keep the number of sheets up to two or three. Change industry-specific, technical, and company in-house terms to general terms.

point 2 Unify fonts

The standard fonts used in Japan are Gothic and Mincho. Make sure to only use one font throughout the whole document.

point 3 Use of Format Styles

Depending on your experience and skills, you can use different formats (Chronological, Functional, Career based etc.).

point 4 Clear points of appeal

Make sure to write in a way that appeals to the company you are applying for. For example, if you have strong sales experience but are applying for a position in IT, it may be better to talk about other skills that are relevant to IT.

(2) Basic writing style

① Date, name, and number of pages
  • The date should be within one month of the application date.
② Work summary and overview
  • Here you should summarize your past experiences in approximately 3 to 5 lines.
③ Areas of expertise and skills
  • Pick up about three of your skills or experience that are relevant to the position you are applying for and write the down in bullet points.
④ Career
  • Write a brief summary of each of your work expereinces. If you are currently in office, write "20XX年X月X日～現在 (XX/XX/20XX-present)".
  • Write down the type of employment; 正社員 (full time), 契約社員 (contract), 派遣 (temp) etc.
⑤ Summary of your work history (business description, capital, number of employees)
  • Refer to the latest corporate profile of each company.
  • Summarize the business ouline on one line.
  • Capital, stock, and number of employees are available for publicly listed companies. If unknown, you can omit them.
⑥ Work details
  • Focus on the operational experiences that are appropriate for the role or industry you are applying for.
  • If you have management or leadership experience, enter the size and number of people.
  • Add details about your clients and/or the industries in which you were involved.
  • If you had any specific results that can be noted down in numbers, write them down (e.g. sales results)
  • If you want to write about your experience at part-time jobs or as an intern, do so in a separate columnn.
⑦ Skills (besides official qualifications)

[PC skill]

    • Excel (graph design, pivoting tables, VLOOKUP, macros, functions, text examples etc.)
    • Word (You can add an example of a text that you have created)
    • PowerPoint (if you have experienced preparing presentation materials)
    • Others (Access, SAP, Kanjo Bugyo, etc.

[Programming skill]

  • Development Environment (Language, OS, Database)
⑧ Qualifications and language skills
  • Write down all qualifications that might be relevant to the position that you are applying for.
  • Acquired languages, levels, and practical experiences (if available, write down the test scores e.g. TOEIC)e.g. English Business Level (Can handle business negotiations with clients and correspondence with overseas)
⑨ Self PR

Select one or two points that you would like to emphasize, such as your experience, skills or personality, and summarize them in three or four lines.

(3) Various formats and recommended styles

① Chronological CV

This is a format that follows the traditional time line of your career, starting from the oldest one. It is the basic format that copies the timeline in the resume and is easy to understand, which makes it the most favourable with Japanese HR representatives. It is recommended especially for those with a long career experience in the same industry or for those who have not changed jobs too frequently.

② Functional CV

This is a format that lists your career experiences starting from the most recent one. It is commonly used for English resumes and is well-liked at foreign companies. It is recommended especially for IT engineers and other candidates who want to emphasize their latest work experience and skills, as well as those who work on a project-by-project basis./p>

③ Combination CV

This form is used in order to emphasize specific experiences and skills, such as SE, technological, and management expereience. It is recommended for those who have a long experience with working freelance or have vast experience in a wide range of occupations and want to emphasize their experiences according to job types (e.g. 1st company: General Affairs, 2nd company: Sales, 3rd company: Office management, 4th company: General Affairs, 5th company: Sales, etc.).

You can download samples and formats of 職務経歴書.

(4) Download samples and formats

Formats
Samples

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