Preparation for BCF 4 -Write Your Original Resume-

There are the other way to apply for companies other than submitting CFN resume. You can walk in to the booth of each company and you can just hand your CV to recruiters. This is called "walk in." However, in order to do this, you know you have to prepare your original printed CV.

There are some websites saying like "You should have 20 copies of your resume both in English and Japanese with you!!." But for one I do not think you have to. Probably you won't have that much time to walk in to 40 companies. The more you apply, the more you have to prepare for each of the interview. I used 7 or 8 copies each and actually I did not have enough time to prepare for all of the interviews. As a result in some interviews I said inaccurate things and couldn't pass it. I think 10 copies for each is enough.

You can look up the basic way to fill out your resume on Google so I don't mention about it. But if you have specific question, you can ask me by comment. However, I am going to write about the way I used to write your cover letter and entry sheets questions in the next post. Especially you have to think up "what you are good at and why you think so" or "your appealing thing" or sth like that to fill out your Japanese resume. I wish this will help you.

To be specific about BCF, there are some tips.

• If you run out of your resume at BCF, actually you can print there. However,
• you have to upload your resume online, or bring its data on USB beforehand
• the size of paper is limited to "US letter size." Be careful you cannot print A4 or any other size-formatted file. (I saved my resume of tabloid size in pdf... so I missed a opportunity to walk in)
• Some companies accept resume only in English or Japanese.
• If you want to print "shoumei shashin (ID photo)" which is required in Japanese resume, it's far more difficult to do it in the U.S. Print them beforehand in Japan. 
• If you live in U.S. or other counties than Japan, you can ask for your friend to take your photo. And print them, cut them, and paste them on your resume
• Above your breast
• Dress up in tidy clothes. Usually black suits and white shirts are preferred
• 40*30 mm
• Write your name (and your university name) on the back of your photo to avoid confusion if the photo fallen off from your resume
• If you forget to staple your resume, do not get upset yet. You can borrow variety of stationaries
• You can hand over your resume without cover letter. I heard some people got opportunities for interview without it. Though I do not know about the rate

Preparation for BCF 3 -Accomodation and Transportation-

Most of the people will have to book lodging and transportation to participate BCF. You know, it lasts for three days (from Friday to Sunday, thought there are less companies open on Sunday).

Airplane

You should book airplane as early as possible! The number of students come to BCF is said to be more than 10,000 so it is foreseeable that the price soon rises. The nearest airport is Boston Logan International Airport (which is famous these days with a naked man fell from the ceiling of women's bathroom lol). Look up your airplane in Expedia or something. The ideal is that you arrive Boston on Thursday, and you'll get plenty of time to prepare.

If you live in the United States, you ca also use Megabus. I do not know well about it though.

Lodging

Unfortunately hotels around the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center are really expensive and cost you more than $100 each night. If you want to book these hotels to save time, you have an option to book these hotels with some of your friends.Do not forget to book hotels earlier also.

I booked a motel room around Watertown and it costed me about $70 each night. If you are able to book hotel around the Center, I recommend to do so, because the price is almost same if you book them with your friends. Moreover lodging in motel was really time-consuming for me. You have to take 1 hour to go to the Center, with transferring from bus to train.

If you book hostel, you can save money at the same time you can share your info with your roommate. The demerit is that you will be unable to relax or focus on your task in those situation. And sometimes the info you shared with roommates are worthless for you.

It is announced by CFN that you should avoid lodging around Orange line and some particular areas. Check out the website of CFN.

Buses and Trains in Boston

Please search "MBTA" and you can find appropriate info about buses and trains in Boston. You can make Charlie Card or Charlie Ticket to utilize these transportation.

Taxi

You can find info about taxi by MBTA website. At the end of each day in BCF, there are lots of taxis waiting in line in front of the Center so you do not have to worry about taxi when you get back to your hotel.

Preparation for BCF 2 -writing CFN resume-

I received all of the results of the BCF... found to be nothing.
However, I (well, have to) believe this experience was truly meaningful for me, and also this lesson make me more stronger than ever!
I will do my best in the following shukatsu.

Anyway, I'm going to explain what BCF is, what students have to prepare for, and how I failed in the BCF.
I hope this will help your shukatsu.


What students have to prepare for the BCF -Writing CFN Resume-

If you decided to go to BCF, what you gonna do first is to register in CFN and entry to BCF.
Go to www.careerforum.net and just do it!

In the process of registration, you will be required to write "CFN resume."
This is so time consuming, and you will find it questionable how effective this resume is.
( For the most part of junior Japanese students, this would be the first experience to write resume... Good luck)
You have to write it in English and Japanese!

You will write about

• Your contact info
• Your academic/working experiences and what you have done there
• Other things that you want to tell about (do not forget, this is to get offer from companies)

I wrote the resume in the way almost same as my English resume.
(Later on, you will have to prepare paper resumes. These are for "walk in" entry.)
You will find that the word limitation is so rigid that you cannot tell enough about you.

If you have done with it, then you will be able to entry for the company you want to! ho ho
But anyway I recommend you pay attention and some effort to the way you write this resume, because for the large part of the companies, this resume is the only source of information about you before the actual day of the BCF.

In my experience, I guess the way I have wrote about me in the resume was wrong in somewhere... I sent them to about 15 companies, and I got only 1 offer of a job interview beforehand. (My being junior may had influence on it though)

Preparation for BCF 1

Imma write about how I decided to go to BCF...

Job hunting in Japan is very crucial problem for the Japanese students who is living in the country of recession. I hear many students get annoyed by how busy and stressful it is. Moreover it is also a issue that everyone cannot go to the company that the ycan continue to work for a long time. Some companies that exploit their employees are called "Black Kigyou (Black Companies)" and needless to say students avoid such companies.

I wanted to get "offer letters" earlier than others so that I decided to go to BCF. The merit of going to BCF is that...
- Fast paced selection
- Chances to see many famous companies
- Especially there are many foreign companies

I decided to go in September,  and then started preparing for it. TBC---