Japanese vocabulary list: Employment-related words

Besides things like culture and media, one of the major reasons for wanting to learn a foreign language is a desire to live in a country that speaks that language, and to live somewhere the majority of us must also work there to be able to survive. So I’ve decided to make a vocabulary list about job and employment-related works in Japanese, focusing on things like obtaining and losing employment.

• 働く (hataraku): to work
• 仕事 (shigoto): work, job
• 就職 (shuushoku): the act of getting a new job
• 就職活動 (shuushoku katsudou): searching for a new job
• 就活 (shuukatsu): short form of “shuushoku katsudou”
• 仕事探し (shigoto sagashi): searching for a job
• 転職 (tenshoku): changing jobs (generally to another company)
• 異動 (idou): move to a different place (often referring to personnel changing positions within a company)
• 無職 (mushoku): unemployed (often used to talk about a person’s state)
• 失業 (shitsugyou): unemployment (often used to talk in general, like a country’s unemployment rate: 失業率)
• 内定 (naitei): a job offer (literally means “an internal decision”)
• オファー (ofaa): a job offer
• 辞退する　(jitai suru): to decline, reject (an offer, etc.)
• 承諾する (shoudaku suru): to consent, to accept, to give permission
• 派遣 (haken): contract (work)
• 正社員 (seishain): permanent employee (the opposite of a contract employee)
• 会社 (kaisha): company
• 企業 (kigyou): enterprise, company (larger nuance than “kaisha”)
• 面接 (mensetsu): interview (also インタビュー)
• 選考 (senkou): screening (for a candiate, etc.)
• 職業 (shokugyou): occupation, career, industry
• 流れ (nagare): literally “flow”, but often is used to describe the process of something like an interview
• キャリア (kyaria): career (sounds closer to English “carier”)
• 職種 (shokushu): type of job
• 肩書き (katagaki): title or position in a company
• 部署 (busho): role or position at a company
• 経験 (keiken): experience
• 経験者 (keikensha): someone with experience in a certain field
• 年収 (nenshuu): yearly salary
• 月給 (gekkyuu): monthly wage
• 日給 (nikkyuu): daily wage
• 給与 (kyuuyo): wages, pay
• 収入 (shuunyuu): income
• リストラ (risutora): restructuring, downsizing (basically layoffs)
• 首にする (kubi ni suru): to fire someone (from a job)
• 解雇する (kaiko suru): to fire someone
• 採用する (saiyou suru): to employ someone
• 不採用 (fusaiyou): not hired (i.e. failing an interview)
• 上司 (joushi): boss, superior
• 部下 (buka): subordinate
• 同僚 (douryou): coworker, colleague
• 会議 (kaigi): meeting
• 残業 (zangyou): overtime work
• 求人 (kyuujin): job opening
• バイト (baito): part-time job
• フルタイム (furutaimu): full-time (job)
• 契約書 (keiyakusho): contract document (paper or digital)
• 業務委託 (gyoumu intaku): outsourcing
• 在宅勤務 (zaitaku kinmu): remote work (work from home)
• テレワーク (terewaaku): remote work
• 従業員 (juugyouin): employee
• 社員 (shain): employee
• 入社（nyuusha): joining a company
• 退社 (taisha): leaving a company (can mean to quit, or to just leave the office building)
• 定着率 (teichakuritsu): rate of employees staying at a company after a certain period of time (retention rate)
• 離職 (rishoku): leaving a company
• 待遇 (taiguu): treatment or pay (at a company)
• 条件 (jouken): condition (for a job search, etc.)
• 需要 (juyou): need (of a product, or of talent, etc.)
• 人材 (jinzai): skilled worker(s), talent
• 新卒 (shinsotsu): a new graduate (from college)
• 手続き (tetsuduki): process
• 応募 (oubo): to apply (to a company, a contest, etc.)
• 応募者 (oubosha): applicant (to a job, etc.)
• 面接官 (mensetsukan): interviewer (person leading the interview)
• 急募 (kyuubo): urgent need (for workers)
• 人事部 (jinjibu): human relations department (HR)
• 障がい者 (shougaisha): a person with one or more disabilities
• 概要 (gaiyou): summary (of skills, of a company’s goals, etc.)
• 担当者 (tantousha): the person in charge of a certain department (like hiring, etc.)
• 志望(shibou): wish, desire (often used to describe the reason someone wants to join a school or company)
• 志望度 (shiboudo): the degree of one’s desire (for a company, position, etc.)
• 履歴書 (rirekisho): resume
• 歴史 (rekishi): history (general term)
• 活躍する (katsuyaku suru): to participate or play a part in something such as a company
• 実績 (jisseki): achievement(s) (literally, “actual result”)
• 長所 (chousha): a strong point (of a candidate, etc.)
• 短所 (tansho): a weak point
• スキル (sukiru): skill(s)
• 深掘りする (fukabori suru): to dig deeply (often used metaphorically, as to learn more about one’s experience)

Here is a good page to practice some of these words: https://doda.jp/guide/mensetsu/interview/