Having applied for jobs in Japan with JLPT 1 on my resume I think it helped at least to some extent. Some companies use it as a base level of what they're asking for in terms of language, though I doubt any of them would insist on it if you can demonstate your language ability in some other way. For me I think it was useful though as I didn't study Japanese at all formally and didn't really have any other proof of my Japnanese ability that I could put on my resume to back up my claims of being fluent. It's possible that it saved my resume for automatically finding its way to the round file in the corner.

Once you get an interview it probably doesn't count for much, however it still helps them to judge your reading ability which is hard to do in an interview without giving a seperate test.

I have even heard of some companies where employees can get a pay rise by passing the JLPT, though this usually seems to be to encourage people who have entered the company without speaking Japanese.

Sure if you're going to apply for a company that never has employed a foreigner before and has no idea what the test is then it probably won't help, but I think that is quite a big if.

In the end I think the biggest determining factor should be "If I pass the test, will I put it on my resume?" If yes then it's worth taking. If you have tons of other better qualifications then no it isn't worth it.

Last edited by mutley (2012 November 05, 4:56 pm)

weirdo wrote:

I'm not sure where you heard that, but that's not true at all. Both my mother and aunt (normal housewives) have taken 漢検2級. Maybe you're thinking of １級 and 隼1級 which are considered enthusiast levels. Middle/Highs-school kids often take 漢検 during　受験 in order to better their chances at getting into the schools and colleges they want to. A lot of people like to put 漢検 certifications on their resume, 2級 probably being the minimum if you want to bother, since it shows to the potential employer that this person is probably competent and not a DQN or stereotypical ゆとり世代. 1級 or 隼１級 would probably impress them.

英検 and 漢検 are probably two of the most famous 資格 I know of.

Mainly because I don't know anyone who's done it, but I've spoken to many people about センター試験 and see it mentioned in media. Interesting to know 漢検 isn't that uncommon though.

JimmySeal wrote:

weirdo wrote:

隼1級

Ah, good old hayabusa ikkyu.  I look forward to it. ;-)

I suppose that's what happens when my brother's name is 隼, and I my IME puts that before 準...

Javizy wrote:

Mainly because I don't know anyone who's done it, but I've spoken to many people about センター試験 and see it mentioned in media. Interesting to know 漢検 isn't that uncommon though.

Oh, are you a college student? That might explain it.

Stian wrote:

I don't think 日本語能力試験 needs much explanation to be honest.

Well, they'll figure out what it means, but they won't be sure how credible it is. There are a lot of ゴミ資格 floating around used to pad resumes.

Last edited by weirdo (2012 November 06, 6:39 pm)