Fed up with the difficulties of securing employment during the continued economic slump, a group of college students have launched an initiative to radically alter the nation's recruitment practices.
Typifying this new approach was a symposium called Job Hunting Summit, held in January in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. Sponsored by a group called Job Revolution, the event saw about 30 Japanese and foreign student panelists exchange views on their job search activities.
"In France, freshmen, sophomores and third-year undergraduates are required to become interns for a company, and their motivation in job hunting is different from the Japanese," said Maiko Sekine, a Sophia University student who studied at a French business school for a year.