Shukatsu is the Japanese term for the job-hunting process that students go through before graduating. It is different from ordinary job searching, where people begin looking for work whenever they need a new position.
In Japan, many university students start attending company information sessions and applying for jobs at roughly the same time. Nobody directly forces them to begin, but once their classmates begin the job-hunting process, they naturally feel that it is time for them to do the same.
For this reason, shukatsu can feel almost like a scheduled event in student life. When everyone around you is attending company sessions and preparing applications, doing nothing can create a strong sense of being left behind. The pressure is not always simply that you have not decided what kind of work you want. It is often the feeling that everyone else has already started and you are late.
Some students know exactly what kind of work they want to do. Many others begin with a broader idea, such as an industry or field that interests them. Within that area, they may compare companies by name recognition, stability, salary, location, and workplace atmosphere.
In other words, students do not always search for one clearly defined position. Many apply with the general feeling that they would like to work for a company in a certain field. This is partly because Japanese companies often hire new graduates into the company first and decide their specific department or duties later.
The selection process also follows a broadly similar pattern at many companies. Students attend information sessions, submit written applications called entry sheets, take aptitude tests, and go through several interviews. They may repeat this process with many different companies.
The dark suits, conservative hairstyles, and careful answers commonly associated with shukatsu are not mainly intended to show strong individuality. Students often try to appear polite, sensible, and easy to work with. The goal is to give the company the impression that they can fit into the workplace without causing friction.
After several rejections, many students begin to feel that they want at least one job offer as soon as possible. Instead of calmly searching for the company that suits them best, they may become cautious and focus on avoiding mistakes during the selection process. In that sense, shukatsu can gradually become more defensive than adventurous.
The biggest difference between shukatsu and ordinary mid-career job searching is the new-graduate recruitment system. Students with little or no work experience enter the same recruitment process at almost the same time, usually in preparation for joining a company soon after graduation.
So shukatsu is not simply a student looking for a job. It is a well-established social process in which students in the same graduating class begin at roughly the same time and go through similar selection procedures in order to enter a company as new graduates.