CareerEngine

Site's statement

Jobboard Finder’s opinion

Summary: CareerEngine belongs to GPlus Media Inc., a Japanese company, which operated English-language websites. This includes CareerEngine, Japan Today and Gaijin. The founder of the site is Erik Gain. In 2015, it was sold to Fuji TV-Lab, a subsidiary of Fuji Media Holdings Inc. Today, the site continues to address the foreign community in Japan and it manages to attract 187 500 visits a month (about half of the activity comes from Japan, and the other from China). If you don’t speak Japanese, you’ll be happy to know you don’t have to for this site. On social media, there are 54 followers on LinkedIn, 11 151 on Facebook and a little over 1 000 followers on Twitter (they all have streams of job offers). According to the founder, the big difference between CareerEngine and other job sites in the country is that it is part of a collective network of sites, with one common CV database. Oh, and  they’re branching out to China.

Design: The homepage features an image of business people from different ethnic groups to focus on the international and bilingual nature of the site. You can click on a number of different filters to start the search (such as Japanese level, full-time jobs, etc.) or use the search engine (keywords, industry, location). Specific industries and functions are also on the homepage, as well as some featured jobs and companies. As for the job listing, the filters appear as an advanced search at the top of the page: English proficiency, Japanese proficiency, other languages, the function, the career level, contract type, employer type. There is also a box to tick to make sure overseas applications are accepted. The sorting is either default or the latest to the oldest. Highlighted offers appear on the right-hand side of the job listing and all the offers are visible for 30 days, which means the offers are updated.

The job board objective: CareerEngine strives to provide foreign workers with relevant job opportunities, all the while helping companies reach out to top (bilingual) talent.

Recruiter observations: To recruit, a company page is required, which includes information about the employer type, the company size, the industry and a phone number. The advertising process follows a clear step-by-step process. Since April, there has been a digital wallet for credits. You must complete  the job offer to see the prices.

Jobseeker observations: Jobseekers can create an account with Facebook, LinkedIn or an e-mail address.

The job offers: There are currently 121 job offers online. Most of the jobs are in tourism, IT and the service industry.

Reactivity: The team answers quickly.

Special features: The blog (both versions are down); job alerts.

Verdict: CareerEngine (and GaijinPot) have the same layout, which is particularly user-friendly for the foreigners. The site doesn’t reach as many candidates as some other local sites, but it offers a range of interesting opportunities all the same. Foreign recruiters will appreciate how easy it is to navigate the site.

Written by Ali Neill

As the job board tester and blog editor for the Jobboard Finder, Ali works on job boards from all around the world and keeps a close eye on the recruitment trends thanks to a number of sources, including the website's social media pages.