How to create a Japanese Resume/Shokumukeirekisho（職務経歴書）
Thursday, October 17, 2024
A how-to guide to create a Japanese shokumukeirekisho
What is a Shokumukeirekisho?
A shokumukeirekisho (職務経歴書) is a Japanese document similar to a resume. It highlights a candidate's work experience, skills, and achievements. It provides detailed descriptions of job roles and responsibilities, often tailored for mid-career professionals to showcase their expertise. This document is typically used alongside the rirekisho (standard resume) in Japan.
Name and Technical Skills
1. Name and Submission Date
Enter your name and the date the document was created in the top right corner. The rule of thumb is to always update the date on your resume each time you submit a job application. Companies prefer the most current information, so putting a recent date on your resume shows the resume is up-to-date.
2. Professional Summary
Create a 1-2 paragraph summary of your work experience with simple sentences focusing on facts or milestones in your career.
This section serves as a first impression to any company HR and is designed to help them get an overview of your past work experience.
3. Summary of Work Experience
List the companies you've worked for, starting with the most recent or current company. Include employment dates (month & year) and official names of the companies (e.g. 株式会社 IZANAU). If there’s a gap, such as language school, note that to avoid giving a bad impression.
4. Summary of Experience and Knowledge
Focus on the specific skills and expertise you’ve gained in your career, particularly those you’d like to highlight. If you possess advanced or specialized knowledge in certain areas, make sure to showcase your proficiency to demonstrate your abilities effectively.
5. Technical Skills
For IT engineers, provide a clear breakdown of your hands-on experience with technologies such as systems, programming languages, frameworks, and tools and the number of years of experience you have. Indicate your proficiency in each area to give potential employers a solid understanding of your technical skillset. Any self-taught skills should be identified as "self-learning."
Professional Background (Work Experience)
6. Professional Background
The work experience section is crucial. Here's how to structure it effectively:
List all companies from most recent to oldest. Include:
- Official company name
- Employment period (start & end dates)
- Business type and size
- Department
Job Description & Projects
For each job, detail the projects or roles:
- Project period
- Overview
- Your role and results (use bullet points)
- Development phase (e.g., design, testing)
- Tools/technologies used (language, framework)
- Team size, your role in the team
- Highlight achievements, even minor ones, such as efficiency improvements or task completion without issues.
This structure demonstrates your ability to contribute to projects and deliver results.
Certifications/Licenses & Personal Summary (Self-PR)
7. Certifications
Enter the qualifications that can be appealing to the company.
IT-related certificates and language certificates or any other qualifications that make you an appealing candidate.
8. Personal Summary (self-PR)
Ideally, your self-promotion has already been established through the previous sections, so it’s perfectly fine to keep this part concise. Focus on how your skills, experience, and competencies align with the specific needs of the company. Highlight how you can add value to their goals and objectives.
Additionally, if you’re particularly eager to join the company, it’s often more effective to express your motivation and reasons for wanting to work there, rather than just summarizing your own strengths. This approach shows genuine interest in contributing to their success.
Other General Rules
- Consistency: Use the same format and structure throughout your resume for consistency. (e.g. date format, font, text size, writing style, etc.)
- Accuracy: Make sure all dates are correct, especially for the graduation date, as this is often checked.
- No Over-Personalization: Unlike some Western resumes, personal flair or additional details (such as GPAs or course descriptions) are usually not included.
- Avoid overloading: While it's important to show all relevant education, avoid listing every single course or short-term program (e.g., seminars, certification programs) unless they are directly relevant to the job you are applying for.
