Home
Back

Dear visitor, if you know the answer to this question, please post it. Thank you!

Note that this thread has not been updated in a long time, and its content might not be up-to-date anymore.

What is considered a jumpy CV in Japan? 2020/10/22 07:32
I wish to move to Japan in a few years, and I am just wondering if my CV would look "jumpy" in Japan?

I worked as a contractor for 4.5 years (during which I worked at 2 corporations), and then continued working at the last company of the two for a further year as a permanent employee; so in effect was on the "same path" for about 5.5 years.

I have recently left that last company and have joined a new company which I plan on staying at for 3 years before looking for work in Japan.

Does this sound OK or a bit Jumpy to a japan company? What about to an international company (like Amazon, Google, etc)?

Also my friend is thinking of moving to Japan too, but he has a very jumpy CV, like 5 years worth of jumping around jobs, staying at each company for between 1-1.5 years and has a lot of gaps in his CV. How would this be perceived?
by Jonzeh  

Re: What is considered a jumpy CV in Japan? 2020/10/22 10:02
Yours sound fine. Your friendfs might look gjumpy,h but it all depends on what kind of specialized skills you have and what kind of career progression you have been making.
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: What is considered a jumpy CV in Japan? 2020/10/22 14:28
I would agree with @AKs opinion.

Just a bit of background. I am currently trying to hire a Project manager in Japan and jumpy CVs (and lack of experience) are the two main obstacles to even get invited for an interview.

HR is very conservative about jumpy CVs. More so than HR in Europe and muuuuuch more than US HR.

Yours sounds fine if you present it correctly. It needs to be clear that it was 5 years continuous and then 3 years. Also HR looks at why you jumped around. Eg if you moved to a better position each time you changed jobs , jumping is gallowedh ( but not to the extend of your friend). Or if you change jobs because you had to move to a new city for personal life, education...

Frankly to be in several jobs for 1-2 years only is a red flag also in Europe. I canft speak to the US, but I personally in the past had that experience that a very jumpy person was hired in the US. When she got assigned to my project I was concerned but her line manager told me not to worry. Well, I was right about my hunch. Less than a year later she was gone again.

Regarding gaps, it again depends on how you present them. If they were for education, good (eg Japanese language school) . Or for family, explainable. Everything else is generally more difficult.






by LikeBike rate this post as useful

Re: What is considered a jumpy CV in Japan? 2020/10/24 03:43
thanks guys for your input.

@LikeBike , I also have a gap on my CV after my 5 years as a contractor (and continuing as perm). It was a 7 month gap, and the reason why I took the gap was because I wanted to move onto a different career path (from IT infrastructure engineer, to software engineer) without starting as a junior. This required me to do a lot of studying and a personal software project during those 7 months (and the strategy worked as I got straight into mid-level development with a decent company). How would that sound in Japan?

Also what does a First Class degree at a not-so-good university (University of Greenwich) do for me in Japan?

Really appreciate your advice :)
by Jonzeh rate this post as useful

Re: What is considered a jumpy CV in Japan? 2020/10/24 06:32
Regarding the degree, frankly, I have never looked at that. But I normally hire mid career candidates, who have graduated about 10 years ago. Yes, if you are a graduate from a world renown university (Harvard, Oxford...), that's going to make a difference. But for the rest, I think recruiters look much more at your experience and recent jobs rather than a degree you took years ago.
Also Japanese recruiters will not know about your university. So as long as it is legit, you should be fine.

The gap you had, it sounds like you did a lot of studying. Maybe you got some IT certificates during that time? So just make it appear like a gap that has been used successfully.
by LikeBike rate this post as useful

Re: What is considered a jumpy CV in Japan? 2020/10/24 18:20
@LikeBike thanks for all the info!
by Jonzeh rate this post as useful

reply to this thread