Recruiting channels and hiring foreign employees

Hello Work, the government employment service, is recommended for posting vacancies — it's free for the employer, and staff help word the posting and list it in their database. Formal online employer registration exists, but the initial registration in practice more often requires an in-person office visit. When entering compensation on Hello Work, a non-obvious form field causes confusion if salary and bonus are negotiable (no clear resolution was found in the chat). TOSBEC offers a free consultation on hiring a first employee (forms are shown and filled out together in one visit). Timee (タイミー, timee.co.jp) is a platform for short-term gig work (baito) with immediate in-app payment, run on a first-come-first-served basis, with a "favorites" feature for repeat hires (the job offer goes to that person first with a timer, then to everyone else if not accepted); the prepayment fee is 30% of the amount (covers travel), plus a 200-yen transfer fee. It's actively recommended in the chat. Other platforms: rikuto (Recruit), Indeed (well regarded by Japanese users), Wantedly (especially for engineers), LinkedIn, Daijob, and local universities via professors. For Japanese hires, referrals through personal connections remain the main channel for small companies. Recruitment agencies typically charge about a 30% fee — participants looked for cheaper alternatives (through personal connections, topical chats, Hello Work). Telegram channels focused on candidates who work with foreigners: @japanservicemarket, @japanit. For short-term temp work on simple jobs (repairs, etc.), haken agencies (派遣) supply workers to a job site. Advice on writing a job posting for the Japanese market: use Japanese templates and post in Japanese; for roles involving contact with Japanese people, look for a Japanese speaker with English (not the reverse); drop any Russian-language requirement from the listing so it doesn't discourage candidates; and be clear about the interview format upfront. An informal channel for hiring Japanese-speaking salespeople runs through personal connections — a snack-bar or hostess-club "mama" who can introduce experienced, sales-savvy women looking for work after leaving the industry. For interviewing Japanese candidates in Japanese without the hiring manager knowing the language, no alternative to staff recruitment agencies was found in the chat besides using a translator, including a remote one sourced through a referral network (significantly cheaper than hiring recruiters/translators locally in Japan); almost nobody keeps a translator on staff — they're usually hired as haken (temporary staff via an agency). Checking a candidate's references from a previous job is typically done by calling that employer's manager directly. For inviting a foreign employee on a work visa, the needed package includes the company's annual report, tax-payment certificates, a contract, and an application form; for new companies without an annual report, a detailed justification of why the hire is necessary for business growth is required instead. For hiring SOE employees (foreign specialists), an apostille was not specifically requested in chat experience; a translation of documents (e.g., a diploma) with the translation date, translator's name, and signature was usually sufficient. For an employee hired remotely from abroad (e.g., from Russia), equipment (a PC, for example) is typically purchased locally and either reimbursed to the employee or booked as a company asset; foreign receipts are generally accepted for blue-form filings, though it's best to check with the tax office. Freelance hiring through Deel EOR is an expensive but turnkey scheme that minimizes bureaucracy. A visa for physical-labor positions (e.g., disassembling cars) is usually arranged as an SSW (特定技能/tokutei ginō), requiring N4 Japanese and passing an exam. Source: https://www.hellowork.mhlw.go.jp/enterprise/ent_top.html — Hello Work employer registration portal.