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Tips for Creating and Deciding Your Job Hunting Criteria from an IT Venture HR Perspective

2024年4月27日 12:36

As an HR recruiter at an IT venture, I have been involved since the department's inception, handling both new graduates and mid-career hires, and I have reviewed nearly 4,000 job seekers from document screening to interviews.

I have also experienced changing jobs several times myself, and thanks to the experience I gained through recruiting, I believe I was able to join a company that suits me.

In this article, I will write about how to decide your job hunting criteria and the methods for choosing a company that suits you as I see it.
I think this can be applied to both new graduate recruitment and job changes, so please use it as a reference.

Please also take a look at this regarding job changes.

The Necessity of Deciding Your Job Hunting Criteria

"Do I even need to decide on job hunting criteria in the first place? I don't care where I work as long as the salary is high and the benefits are good!"
I don't want to work if I can help it, so there's no company I want to go to!
Some people might say this, but I think those are the very people who will find things easier later on if they decide on their job hunting criteria beforehand.
Strictly speaking, it feels more like "making it less likely that you will regret it after joining the company".

Those who are thinking about changing jobs probably know this deep down, but even among professionals who say impressive things, 90% of them live thinking, "I don't want to work!!".
Isn't "I want to join a company where I want to work" rather than "I have to work, so I want to join the best possible company" a more honest verbalization of most people's true feelings?

A decent job can sometimes lead to the state of mind where you think, "Work is fun!"
By the way, I chose the optimal company based on the stance that I wanted to do a fun job with as little stress as possible rather than just making a ton of money, so I am currently living a comfortable professional life.
Of course, this is just the optimal company for me, so the pros and cons of a company differ from person to person.

How to Decide Your Job Hunting Criteria (Self-Analysis)

Now, let's get into the main topic.
Even when we talk about job hunting criteria, strictly speaking, as mentioned above, it is about how to choose criteria for selecting "the best possible company".
Criteria are mainly considered by taking both positive and negative aspects into account.

List Up What You Want to Achieve

First, let's roughly list up as many things as possible that you want to achieve in the future.
These don't have to be grand or impressive.

"I want to be rich"
"I want to be useful to people/be appreciated"
"I want to work remotely"
"I want an easy job where it's easy to slack off"
"I want to try working abroad"
"I don't want to be transferred"
"I want to feel a sense of fulfillment/only do what I like"
"I want to work with people close to my age"
"I want to be popular"

Anything is fine, and the act of verbalizing it itself is very important.
Try to think about not only short-term things but also things you want to achieve in the medium to long term as much as possible. You don't need to think about whether they are achievable for now.

Of course, if you can have high aspirations, that is even better.
At that time, try to list them up while being conscious of verbalizing them as concretely as possible.
If it's a "rich" criterion, for example, "annual income of X million yen in my 20s."
If it's "fulfillment," what might make you feel fulfilled?

List Up Things You Absolutely Hate

Once you have listed what you want to achieve, similarly, list up "things you absolutely hate."
Anything is fine for this too. Don't try to look cool; try to write out your desires honestly.

"I don't want to work overtime"
"I don't want to talk to people as much as possible"
"I don't want to commute on a crowded train"

Try to imagine yourself working as much as possible, and identify and verbalize all the factors that might make you feel negative.

Prioritize

Once you have listed these two types of desires, go ahead and prioritize them.
It doesn't have to be too strict; just mix the positives and negatives and arrange them in an order of "I can't compromise on this!!"

Replacing verbalized desires with job-hunting terminology (conditions)

Once you have finished verbalizing and prioritizing your desires, replace them with job-hunting terminology.
This includes things like types of benefits, work styles, and job descriptions.
Decide what words to use by actually looking at job postings and conducting industry research.
Looking at job postings and conducting industry researchYou will also gain experience through this, so you will naturally start to see which companies suit you and which do not.

Drafting a statement so you can say, "My job hunting criteria is ●●"

By this point, I think you will have a rough shape of your job hunting criteria and the overview of the companies you want to join.
Next, let's turn that into words you can use when communicating with others.
You can use it as is during interviews, and it also serves as a check to see if you are truly choosing a company based on those criteria, so please try writing it down.
You can also use it when writing entry sheets and resumes.

If you follow this flow to create your criteria, even if you are asked in an interview, "Why are those your job hunting criteria?", it will be easy and natural to answer because you are just conveying your previous thought process. (Of course, you will need to polish the expression a bit for the interview...)

※ There are students who often say, "I have three job hunting criteria! The first one is...", but you don't necessarily have to divide them into multiple points. Personally, I think people who can convey their criteria in a single sentence appear more competent.

Job hunting criteria that are only surface-level will be exposed

In my hiring experience, people who have just polished their job hunting criteria usually show their true colors when you dig deeper.
"Wouldn't it be better to go to a different company with those criteria?"
"The things you want to achieve and your criteria for choosing a company are misaligned, and it doesn't seem like you'll last long."
I often think things like this.

That is precisely why it is very important to create your criteria following the flow written in this article, as it leads to good hiring without mismatches for both you and the company.

Points to note when creating job hunting criteria

A point to note is to ensure they do not become "job hunting criteria just to get a job offer".
Personally, I have the impression that job hunting sites and pushy agents try to make you create these "job hunting criteria just to get a job offer." (Good agents will be genuinely supportive.)

To get a job offer, it is important not to "create criteria to get a job offer," but rather to "skillfully talk about the job hunting criteria you created honestly based on your own desires to win a job offer".
Otherwise, you might end up in a situation where you get a job offer but it wasn't the right company for you.
As I wrote at the beginning, let's not forget the fundamental premise of joining the "best possible company."

I think this will also be helpful.

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