Mid-Career Job Hunting Chronicles 8: Handwritten Documents, Cover Letters... The Poor Time and Cost Efficiency of Japanese Job Hunting
Creating and sending application documents is an essential part of job hunting.
Nowadays, the use of job sites and recruitment agencies has become widespread, allowing people to use documents created directly on the site, and an increasing number of companies accept applications via email. However, for Hello Work listings that someone in their late 40s might apply for, or for applications where you simply register on a job site, postal applications are still frequently required.
At such times, I am surprised to find that even in the 21st century, handwriting is often mandatory.
For a position I found on a certain job site, I was required to submit the following documents after applying.
Resume with photo(handwritten)
Curriculum Vitae (created on a PC)
Statement of Purpose (handwritten, approx. 400 characters)
To my surprise, the resume and statement of purpose had to be handwritten! Naturally, they had to be sent by mail. Since it was a job I wanted, I submitted them, but it took a considerable amount of time to prepare.
In addition to this, another thing I personally find troublesome when applying by mail is the cover letter. Even in seminars at the Tokyo Shigoto Center, they said, "It's better to have a cover letter," but...
The NHK E-Tele program "Nehorin Pahorin" recently featured a segment on executive secretaries. They discussed how secretaries engage in a "battle without honor or humanity" by intentionally using difficult kanji in emails, such as "We humbly request your presence" or "Please make every effort to attend." On the other hand, they noted that such language isn't used in the IT industry, highlighting the differences in company culture, and that even if you write it with all your heart, the president on the other end doesn't even see the email—in other words, it's just a "farce between secretaries," and many people are likely thinking, "I wish someone would put an end to this."
I think the same applies to cover letters. Just because you carefully handwrite a cover letter, who actually perceives this as "polite"? At the very least, I have never read one properly when I received it (excuse me!), and I think it only serves as something that might result in a negative evaluation if a mistake is found. Since no one keeps them, they just end up as trash (bitter laugh).
The "cover letters" sold by Kokuyo have a tagline that says, "If you're sending a resume, be polite and improve your image with handwriting," but... if your impression changes based on whether or not there is a cover letter or if it's handwritten, I feel like that just exposes the company as having an old-fashioned culture. Besides, I wonder if such handwritten documents are even appreciated overseas.
And, not limited to these handwritten cover letters, I feel like "being polite" is the embodiment of creating waste in job hunting.
As you can see, mailed application documents are a symbol of poor time and cost efficiency. It may not be about executive secretaries, but isn't the recruiter's true feeling that they "wish someone would put an end to this"? Am I the only one who thinks that the "waste" of various Japanese companies is also manifesting in job hunting?