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TOKYO — Brendan White, a senior at Temple University's Japan campus, says he has it all figured out. He is dressed in his "job hunt" black suit, accessorized with shiny leather shoes, a crisp white shirt — plain, no stripes and no wrinkles — and a black briefcase, for which he ponied up $20, just for this job-hunting season.
东京——天普大学(Temple University)日本分校的毕业班学生布伦丹·怀特(Brendan White)说自己全算计好了。他穿着自己的“求职”黑色套装，搭配了闪亮的皮鞋和一件干净挺括的白色衬衫——纯色的，没有条纹，也没有褶皱——和一个黑色公文包。公文包花了他20美元（约合123元人民币），仅仅是为了这个求职季用。
He also knows how to finesse his way into an interview room, Japanese style: You must knock three times, etiquette experts say — not once, not twice. Once in the room where interviewers are seated, "you close the door without turning away from the interviewers," said Mr. White, a Massachusetts native. "You are not supposed to show your behind."
他还知道如何巧妙地进入面试的房间，用的是日本风格：礼仪专家说，必须敲三下门，不是一下，也不是两下。进入坐着面试官的房间后，“关门时不能转过身去，”来自马萨诸塞州的怀特说。“不能背对着面试官。”
Every move thereafter, including sitting down, should follow the interviewer's cue, he noted.
他指出，之后的每一个动作，包括落座，都必须按照面试官的提示进行。
All of this used to be a preserve for Japanese college students, who go through an arduous search process, lasting five to eight months, to land the job of their dreams. But, in a sign of changed times, a recent job fair in Tokyo, where Mr. White was scurrying around to meet officials at different corporate booths, was aimed exclusively at foreigners. Japanese companies are gearing up for an extensive international student recruitment campaign — a human resource strategy supporting a larger game plan to deploy their businesses more globally.
过去，所有这一切都是日本大学生所特有的。在找到理想的工作前，他们要经历一个艰难的求职过程，这个过程会持续五到八个月。但前不久东京举行的一场招聘会只针对外国人，这表明，情况发生了变化。在那场招聘会上，怀特匆匆忙忙地和不同企业展位上的领导见面。日本公司正在为一场大规模的国际学生招聘活动做准备。这是一项人力资源战略，目的是支持一项更大范围内的策略——将他们的企业更广泛地部署到全球。
Isao Ogake, director of global career and education at Disco, a job fair organizer that hosted the international job bazaar in Tokyo, said corporate Japan's appetite to engage more non-Japanese has been soaring, reflecting a growing desire to go global and to add diversity to the workforce.
招聘会组织机构迪斯科(Disco)全球职业与教育总监大悬德（Isao Ogake，音译）说，日本雇佣更多非日籍员工的需求在飞速增加，反映出走向全球以及增加员工多样性的愿望越来越强烈。东京那场国际招聘会便是由迪斯科组织的。
Of more than 800 midsize to large companies surveyed by Disco, "48 percent of them say they plan to recruit non-Japanese college graduates," Mr. Ogake said. "That is up from 35 percent last year." The number was just over 20 percent a few years back, he added.
在迪斯科调查过的800多家大中型公司中，“48%的公司称计划招聘非日本籍的大学毕业生，”大悬德说。“同去年相比增加了35%。”他补充说，回到几年前，这一比例仅略高于20%。
At many large corporations now "it is common to have a 10 percent target quota for internationals," he said.
他说，在很多大企业，现在“国际员工占10%的目标配额很常见”。
Yet for all the stated goal of fostering diversity, foreign job seekers are still expected to fit the Japanese mold.
然而，尽管有明确的增加多样性的目标，招聘方依然希望外国求职者能符合日本模式。
Tomoyuki Ichikawa, executive officer in the global business department at Pasona, another job fair host, said he encouraged internationals to embrace Japanese manners, even if they were not required to do so by corporations, strictly speaking.
另一家招聘会组织机构保圣那(Pasona)全球业务部执行官市川友之（Tomoyuki Ichikawa，音译）表示，他鼓励国际学生遵循日本的礼仪，尽管严格说来，企业并没有要求他们这么做。
"We want international students to be on the same playing field as Japanese students," he said. "It would be sad if they are rejected on the basis of etiquette."
“我们希望国际学生能和日本学生公平竞争，”他说，“如果他们因为礼仪被拒，就很遗憾了。”
The dress code for men may be informal, but it is clear: black suit, bleached white shirt and a nondescript necktie. Women are advised to wear a skirt, especially for tradition-bound financial institutions.
对男性而言，着装要求可能是非正式的，但很明确：应该穿黑色套装、经过漂白的衬衫、普通领带。女性建议穿裙子，尤其是去深受传统影响的金融机构求职时。
While 33 percent of international respondents surveyed by Disco indicated some discomfort with the rigidity of the dress code, Mr. Ogake justified it as just part of a screening process that all job applicants must go through. Employers also administer examinations for job hunters, with a battery of questions that test their knowledge of world affairs and their general professional aptitudes.
尽管在迪斯科的调查中，33%的国际受访者表示对严格的着装有些不适应，但大悬德解释说这是所有求职者必须经历的一个筛选过程。招聘方也会组织求职者参加考试，通过一系列问题检验他们在国际事务上的知识，以及总体上的职业资质。
The fixation on form has much to do with the fact that Japanese corporations recruit a large number of new graduates each year, often numbering in the hundreds. Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, one of the world's largest banks, hired 1,550 employees last year, for example. With such large numbers to sort through, companies need some form of triage process, Mr. Ogake said. "The whole process needs to be efficient and systematized," he said, with the dress code acting as a useful starting point, indicating a candidate's readiness to conform to expected corporate behavior.
对于形式的执着，与日本企业每年招聘毕业生往往高达数百人有关。例如，作为世界规模最大的银行之一的三菱东京日联银行(Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ)去年一共招了1550人。大悬德说，既然要筛选这么多人，公司就需要某种筛选程序。他说，“整个过程应该高效而系统化。”着装要求就是一个有用的出发点，能说明应聘者将来是否愿意遵守公司的行为规范。
The Japanese hiring approach has its advantages for entry-level candidates. Rather than recruiting to fill specific openings and vacancies, as many Western companies do, Japanese corporations hire a large number of fresh graduates annually and train them into a productive workforce. Newly minted graduates have a shot at landing a job at such marquee names as Toyota Motors, which engaged 600 new hires in 2013.
日本的招聘方法对于初级应聘者而言具有一定优势。许多西方企业都会针对具体职位空缺来招聘，日本企业则会每年聘用大量刚从学校毕业的人，然后把他们培训成高效率的劳动力。刚刚从学校毕业的学生有机会在丰田汽车(Toyota Motor)等大公司找到一份工作。2013年，丰田一共招了600人。
Since most international students don't have proven experiences on their résumés, "that must work out well for internationals," said Yoshihiro Taguchi, a representative of NAP, a volunteer organization that helps international students find jobs in Japan.
由于大多数留学生的简历上都没有工作经历，“这对留学生而言肯定是有利的，”NAP的代表田口吉弘（Yoshihiro Taguchi，音译）说。NAP是一个帮留学生在日本找工作的志愿者组织。
"Altogether, 90 percent of all college graduates end up with a decent job in Japan," he added. "That number would be preposterous in other countries."
“最后，90%的大学毕业生都会在日本找到一份不错的工作，”他还说。“这个数字在其他国家会很荒谬。”
According to the Japanese Ministry of Education and Science, 94.4 percent of this year's graduating students had found a full-time job by the spring.
根据日本文部科学省(Japanese Ministry of Education and Science)的统计数据，今年94.4%的毕业生都在春季找到了一份全职工作。
Another advantage is that companies do not expect their new recruits to hit the ground running. They are willing to hire employees without skills and invest in building their capabilities, hoping to reap the benefits over time.
另一个优势是，各公司并不指望他们的新员工能很快上手。他们愿意聘用没有什么技能的人，然后再培养他们的能力，希望在一段时间过后能有所收获。
"They hire you based on your potential, including your language skills," Mr. Ogake said.
大悬德说，“他们雇你是看重你的潜力，包括你的语言能力。”
Mr. Taguchi, who worked for Mitsui Life for decades before retiring, agreed. "Corporations don't think universities prepare students for a job," he said, "so they have comprehensive in-house training systems."
曾为三井生命(Mitsui Life)工作过数十年、现已退休的田口吉弘也同意这个观点。“企业并不认为大学已经让学生们做好了工作准备，”他说，“所以他们拥有全面的内部培训体系。”
Ramin Khatami, 27, an engineering graduate student from Iran at Gunma University, said this was what led him to study in Japan.
27岁的拉敏·哈塔米(Ramin Khatami)来自伊朗，毕业于群马大学(Gunma University)工程系。他说，这就是他来日本学习的原因。
"Japanese corporations are very competitive and provide the best education for employees," said Mr. Khatami, who hopes to work for a high-tech company such as Kyocera. "I can progress toward my goal with such good training."
“日本公司的竞争意识非常强，会为员工提供最好的教育，”哈塔米说。他希望能为京瓷(Kyocera)等高科技公司工作。“有了这么好的培训，我就能朝自己的目标前进了。”
The Japanese approach has several consequences for career development. One is that midcareer hiring is relatively rare — there's an expectation that young recruits will rise into management positions through in-house training and experience. Another is that promotion often comes slowly in the early years; five to seven years is the minimum to reach the lowest rung in a managerial hierarchy, said Mr. Ichikawa, the Pasona executive.
日本的做法对职业发展有一些影响。其中一点是，在职业中期换工作的情况相对少见——年轻的新成员有通过内部培训和工作经验升入管理层的可能性。另一点是，在职业生涯的早期阶段，升职一般会很慢；博科的高管市川友之说，进入管理层的最底层至少需要五到七年时间。
That can lead to defections: Foreign companies operating in Japan often hire internationals away with attractive salaries and positions, Mr. Ichikawa said.
这也会导致一些问题。市川友之说，在日本的外国企业往往会用高薪和职位把这些留学生挖走。
"People who worked for Japanese companies for a few years are well trained and are a prime target for poaching," he said.
他说，“为日本公司工作过几年的人都受过良好的培训，是主要的被挖对象。”
Louis Klépal, a French engineering graduate of a double-degree program at Keio University in Tokyo, and the école Centrale de Nantes in France, made the jump one year after working for a Japanese engineering company.
来自法国的路易·克莱帕尔(Louis Klépal)是东京庆应义塾大学(Keio University)和法国南特中央理工大学(école Centrale de Nantes)一个双学位项目的工程系毕业生，他在为一家日本工程公司工作一年后跳槽。
"I learned how to speak to Japanese customers," said Mr. Klépal, who now works for Schneider Electric in Tokyo. "If you are a foreigner, you might kick in the door of your customer, but it might shut right back. If you know the right manners, you can keep the door open."
“我学会了如何与日本顾客交流，”目前在东京施耐德电气(Schneider Electric)工作的克莱帕尔说。“如果你是个外国人，你或许可以把客户的门踢开，但是门可能会立即关上。如果你知道正确的方式，就能让门一直敞开。”
