What is CFN in the first place?
Traditionally Japan has had a long history of hiring new grads by mass recruitment in a set period of the year, decided by the Keidanren. (経団連) However, there is a career forum for bilinguals (Japanese and English) organized by CFN. CFN is short for CareerForum.Net and is under a company called DISCO. They have a long history of organizing recruiting events in cities such as Boston, London, and many other locations. Initially, the event was organized for students attending universities outside of Japan who could not apply to the official hiring process set by the Keidanren, because they lived overseas. However, this event isn’t limited to those who are attending universities overseas, but is open to those who live in Japan, but can speak fluent Japanese and English.
Why should I know about it?
Have you already set your focus on a couple of specific companies? And have you told to yourself that participating in a career forum is a waste of your time? Well, to those who think that way, we would recommend you to rethink it just one more time.
In Japan, especially for new grads, there aren’t so many options for you to apply to a company other than the official application process set by the Keidanren. If you are attending a university outside of Japan, it would be almost impossible to join a large company in Japan, right after graduation.
The career forum organized by CFN is the best option for those who cannot participate in the traditional hiring process set by the Keidanren. CFN organizes career forums for job seekers all around the world, and out of all locations, Boston Career Forum is the most popular event of all. Boston Career Forum was first held in 1987 and helped many students studying in the Boston region land jobs in major Japanese companies.
Now, not only college students, but people who have already started their careers participate in the event and uses this event as a place to switch jobs. Also, this event provides a unique opportunity for those who want to work overseas. There are a lot of job openings in all locations over the world, and companies are expecting to find candidates who can work in a global environment at this event.
What kind of Career Forums are there?
There are a lot of career forums throughout the year organized by CFN, but the top 3 major career forums in terms of the number of participating companies and job seekers are as follows.
1. Boston Career Forum
2. London Career Forum
3. Tokyo Career Forum
Of course, there are other locations such as Los Angeles and Kyoto, but since there are so many events, we recommend you to only focus on these 3 events. (You should participate in local career forums if you live near the event location.)
Boston Career Forum
Website: https://careerforum.net/en/event/onf/
The Boston Career Forum is one of the largest and longest-running bilingual job search events in the world in Japanese and English. Since its inception in 1987, more than 8,000 people have participated each year, helping many bilinguals to find work. This is a large-scale event that lasts for three days and takes place in the largest showroom in New England (north of New York City on the East Coast of the United States).
London Career Forum
Website: https://careerforum.net/en/event/ldn/
The London Career Forum is a job search event that takes place in London, England, every April.
Although the number of companies participating in the London Career Forum increases every year, there is a large difference in scale compared to Boston Career Forum. However, who goes and participates in the Boston Career Forum all the way from Japan, but there are very few who do that for the London Career Forum. Therefore, for students studying in European countries, you might have a higher chance of landing a job by participating in the London Career Forum, than going all the way to Boston.
Tokyo Career Forum
Website: https://careerforum.net/en/event/tks/
The Tokyo Summer Career Forum is an international job hunting event where many world-leading foreign and global companies showcase their products and services. In order to cultivate talents who can play an active role on the global stage at home and abroad in the future, the career forum mainly supports students in grades 2 through 4. The event is basically the same as an event held in Boston and London, but it tends to have a lot more Japanese companies than foreign companies. Also, this event has a lot of student participants who never actually studied abroad. Although the event in Boston and London do have some students who do not actually study overseas, it is much easier to participate in the event that is hosted in Tokyo than somewhere outside of Japan.
