The worst timing to discover that a job does not fit the Engineer / Humanities / International Services status is after the offer, resignation and relocation have already happened. We usually divide the pre-hire review into five main checks.
1. Company — Does the business genuinely need this professional role?
Review the year of incorporation, business activities, sales, customers, workplace, employee count and organization. A new or loss-making company is not automatically ineligible, but it must be reasonable and sustainable to employ the professional.
2. Candidate — Do education, major and experience connect to the duties?
The review differs for university, junior-college, vocational-school and overseas education. For vocational-school graduates, the relationship between major and duties is particularly important; transcripts and employment certificates may need review before hiring.
3. Duties — Can you explain a normal workday, not just a job title?
“Sales,” “IT” or “interpreter” is not enough. Clarify what is done, for whom and for how much of the working time. A daily or weekly schedule often reveals whether professional duties are truly the main work.
4. Headcount — Is the hiring plan disproportionate to company size?
There is no single statutory cap, but if a three-person company hires ten professionals at once, workload, managers, sales, payroll capacity and office seats must be explained. Batch hiring is not simply one application copied ten times.
5. Language ability — Check the 2026 rule for interpersonal work
From 15 April 2026, certain Category 3 and 4 applications for mainly language-based interpersonal duties require CEFR B2-equivalent evidence. For Japanese, JLPT N2 is one benchmark. This is not a universal N2 rule for every applicant.
Company size / school and major / concrete duties / number of hires / working language. Checking these five points at the job-posting stage can materially reduce later mismatch.
Do not treat recruitment and immigration as separate processes. A status-of-residence check before the final offer is often the most efficient point.