Student Athletes' "5-Meter Job Hunting Radius": How Should Companies Approach Them?

Dentsu Consulting Inc.'s consulting team, the 'Recruitment Branding Experts,' supports client companies with recruitment branding while also tackling challenges related to job hunting and career development for diverse student populations.

This time, based on the results of the "Student Athlete Job Hunting Survey," we explore the challenges and solutions for student athletes (undergraduate and graduate students belonging to athletic clubs) regarding job hunting and career education.

A panel discussion was held with Professor Tadao Isaka (Department of Sports and Health Science, Faculty of Sports and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University), who regularly interacts with student athletes; Masahiro Furukawa (Riku Co., Ltd.), who provides career education support; and Kazuya Hasegawa of Dentsu Inc.

Dentsu Consulting Inc. supports corporate recruitment branding for hiring new graduates (targeted at high school and university students known as Generation Z) and second-time new graduates (young professionals with limited work experience). They provide end-to-end support, from planning to implementation, using key touchpoints in the job search process—such as new graduate recruitment websites, internships, brochures, corporate social media, and various advertising media—tailored to the company's recruitment challenges (release here ).

Student athletes have limited time for job hunting

Hasegawa: Thank you for having me today. Our "Recruitment Branding Experts" team addresses corporate recruitment challenges while also tackling student job-hunting issues. Past initiatives include internships aimed at providing job opportunities for students in regional areas and services supporting science students in balancing research activities with job hunting.

This time, focusing on students belonging to athletic clubs, we conducted the "Student Athletes' Comprehensive Job Hunting Survey" in summer 2024. For this survey, we hypothesized that student athletes face challenges such as "not having time to devote to job hunting" and "being unable to envision a career plan," leading them to perceive job hunting solely as "getting a job offer = the goal." Lacking a long-term career perspective can also cause mismatches with companies.

Hasegawa: The survey results revealed many things (see the release here ). Looking at the job hunting concerns (table below), the results support our hypothesis. The fundamental issue of not being able to dedicate sufficient time to job hunting is clearly highlighted. Professor Isaka, what are your thoughts on this point?

Ishaka: Student athletes are deeply committed to their club activities and often spend time learning new training methods outside of school. It's true they have less time for job hunting compared to other students.

As they become upperclassmen, their vision of themselves as athletes and their drive to achieve their goals intensify, leading them to take on various initiatives independently. Particularly during the critical period from the latter half of their third year to the summer of their fourth year, they focus intensely on culminating their club activities. This inevitably clashes with the core recruitment period for general companies.

Hasegawa: Mr. Furukawa, what challenges do you perceive regarding student athletes' job hunting?

Furukawa: There are two main challenges. The first, as Professor Isaka mentioned, is the "time" issue where club activities and job hunting clash. The main season for club activities often runs from spring to summer. Since most students start job hunting in the spring or summer of their third year, aligning schedules is difficult. The "basic knowledge and approach to job hunting" that other students learn when they start their job search is something athletic club students often have limited opportunities to learn by the time they begin in the fall or winter.

Another factor is "information access channels." While strong bonds within the club are a positive aspect, it's also true that job hunting often remains confined within that community. The barrier to gathering information from sources outside club seniors, alumni, and peers is high. Consequently, we see cases where students complete their job search without broadening their career planning horizons.

Hasegawa: Looking at the survey results, the most influential figures for student athletes at every step of job hunting—from "company awareness" to "job offer acceptance"—were consistently "seniors and peers within the club." We described this situation with the keyword "5-meter radius job hunting," observing a clear tendency to gather information and proceed with job hunting within their immediate circle.

Ishaka: "5-meter radius job hunting" perfectly captures the reality of student athletes' job search. If a close senior says, "This company is good," they often trust that advice and join.

Furukawa: There are other reasons student athletes prioritize job hunting secondarily. They also face challenges like securing club funding and learning organizational management skills to sustain their club activities. This is particularly common at national universities.

Challenges in Matching Student Athletes' Potential with Companies

Hasegawa: We also conducted a survey asking student athletes to describe their own personalities and characteristics. The results show many students identified with traits like "community awareness" (67.7%), "competitiveness and ambition" (65.0%), and "diligence and perseverance" (49.5%). Professor Isaka, what are your thoughts on their potential?

Ishaka: While there are individual differences, student athletes excel at organizing their schedules and tackling tasks systematically. They also demonstrate a serious attitude toward thinking about how to improve their skills and physical abilities. These are highly valuable traits for any company. Furthermore, today's student athletes give a strong impression of being diligent in their academic studies as well. Considering how many of us in our university days focused solely on club activities, this feels like a significant difference. Furthermore, today, some students engage in multiple extracurricular activities alongside their club commitments—joining other circles, attending research-related or certification seminars, or working part-time jobs to cover tuition and other expenses.

Hasegawa: So they're building diverse experiences while planning their schedules backward from their goals.

Ishaka: While it's often said that "young people today prioritize time efficiency," for student athletes, this isn't necessarily negative—it stems from a desire to use their limited time as effectively as possible. I am a bit concerned, though, that they might be pushing themselves too hard...

Many student athletes effectively incorporate ICT and AI to efficiently handle various tasks. They are truly capable. Precisely because of this, broadening their horizons during job hunting will help them become valuable assets capable of contributing across diverse fields.

Hasegawa: I see. Broadening horizons is certainly important. Mr. Furukawa, in your job-hunting support work, you interact with many companies. How do companies view student athletes?

Furukawa: It's not uncommon for companies to want to hire student athletes based on traditional perceptions like "they have incredible drive to achieve goals" or "they understand hierarchical relationships and are polite." The challenge of companies not having an updated understanding of student athletes can also impact post-hire placement decisions. If a mismatch occurs, placing them in roles or departments where they could actually perform better, it risks lowering the student athlete's motivation for the job and potentially leading to resignation. Companies need to update their perception of student athletes and carefully examine each individual's strengths and attributes.

Hasegawa: So, rather than viewing student athletes as a single category, we need to focus on the true qualities of each individual student.

Ishaka: Today's student athletes are highly educated, even in training alone, and have a strong grasp of theoretical concepts. When creating training schedules, they use AI to test whether the training content truly suits them. Based on the various insights gained from this, they sometimes hold group discussions within their teams to develop new training methods.

Hasegawa: That's surprising. It means they naturally develop the mindset to efficiently run the PDCA cycle within their daily training. Many people might not fully grasp the reality of today's student athletes.

Furukawa: When it comes to understanding student athletes, I don't think company size or industry matters. The reality is it depends on whether there are people within the company who truly understand them.

Ishaka: On the other hand, students themselves sometimes fail to recognize their own mismatches. Observing students, I often see cases where they believe, "I'm this kind of person, so this industry or company suits me," but from my perspective, it seems different. Some students only target large corporations... I believe student athletes need support to accurately understand their own potential and envision their career paths.

Furukawa: We often hear regrets after job hunting ends. Comments like "I wish I'd done more self-analysis before planning my career" or "I wish I'd explored more industries" are extremely common. One student, eager to return to his club activities, narrowed his industry choices as much as possible and ended his job search immediately after receiving one offer. He ended up changing jobs less than a year later, citing a poor fit with the company and work style. It's common for things that didn't seem like problems during job hunting to surface as issues afterward. One reason is that setting a job offer as the goal prevents them from developing a fundamental career vision. I feel this tendency is stronger among student athletes than other students.

Hasegawa: To reiterate the survey results introduced earlier, these findings also reveal that many students haven't clearly defined "what they want to challenge themselves with" or "what they are suited for."

Hasegawa: Additionally, among the processes they felt they couldn't fully engage with during job hunting, "inadequate industry/company research" ranked highly, suggesting they didn't broaden their horizons sufficiently. When asked about their desired industries, their scores for so-called popular job-hunting sectors like trading companies and real estate were significantly higher and more skewed compared to general students.

Ishaka: I feel that if students' own aspirations, motivation, and potential could be matched with companies, they could perform much better.

Creating connections between students and companies during the off-season of club activities

Hasegawa: Considering the challenges discussed so far, what is essential for matching student athletes with companies?

Ishaka: It requires corporate approaches that overcome the strong vertical bonds within clubs and the time constraints. We need to consider methods beyond the usual recruitment timing and approaches. For example, initiatives to get to know student athletes during the off-season of club activities. It's also important to see them engaging with their studies, not just their club activities.

Hasegawa: So, we need approaches that allow direct conversation with students at times when they have relatively more availability.

Ishaka: At the "University Sports Consortium KANSAI (KCAA)" where I serve as representative director, we previously developed " FUTURE QUEST," a card game simulating university life as a career education tool, with the cooperation of Dentsu Inc.

Ishaka: This is a role-playing game where students discuss in groups how to spend their time from freshman to senior year to get closer to their future goals, simulating the process of growth. It's primarily being adopted by universities in Kansai as part of career education for student athletes.

For example, having companies participate in this game is one way to understand the current reality of students. Through direct interaction with companies in career education, students can learn about various industries and jobs.

Hasegawa: This card game seems most effective when played early in university life, before job hunting intensifies.

Ishaka: Group work between companies and students is also effective. Recently, some companies practice "reverse mentoring." For instance, new employees act as mentors, working in groups with company executives to solve problems. If the theme is "building an app," the new employees efficiently create it using AI. Watching this, executives gain insights into new ways of working and how to utilize new hires. If companies engage in "reverse mentoring" with student athletes from various fields, the companies stand to gain significantly.

When young or mid-level employees outside HR participate, it creates new opportunities to learn about students. This approach might transcend the "5-meter radius" – the strong vertical connections within club activities – that athlete students often have.

Hasegawa: Communicating with actual employees at companies would definitely broaden students' perspectives. Mr. Furukawa, do you think companies approaching student athletes early, during their first or second year off-season, is effective for career education?

Furukawa: I believe it's highly effective. Looking at survey results regarding club activity off-seasons, the key moment for companies to approach students is January to March of their second year—a stage slightly earlier than when they consciously start job hunting. For companies, this is the seeding period for building their talent pool before job hunting events. Our company launched a new career support service for student athletes this year, and starting this October, we're rolling out a program for student athletes graduating in 2026.

Hasegawa: What does that program entail?

Furukawa: In addition to online career and job-hunting lectures, we plan to offer career counseling sessions mentored by senior students from the same university who are well-versed in job hunting, as well as roundtable events with successful professionals who are alumni of athletic clubs, scheduled from this year through next year.

This service is built around the concept of "Self-Realization for Today and Tomorrow." Today is about club activities; tomorrow is about their career. However, simply pushing career education or job hunting onto student athletes risks alienating them. Therefore, during this launch phase, we are also supporting their club activities by providing activity funding based on participation levels in the service.

Hasegawa: So you're creating opportunities for student athletes to learn about careers and connect with companies. Hearing about this today, I could sense the diverse potential within student athletes. Companies need to rethink their approach to student athletes who passionately dedicate themselves to club activities—whether it's improving their own performance through PDCA cycles or maintaining and managing club organizations. As a "Recruitment Branding Expert" supporting the career development of job-seeking students leading diverse campus lives, I want to continue supporting successful matches between student athletes and companies. Thank you for today.

[Survey Overview]
・Target Area: Nationwide, Japan
・Subject Criteria: Undergraduate and graduate students belonging to athletic clubs
・Valid Responses: 303
・Survey Method: Online survey
・Survey Period: July 22 to August 5, 2024
・Survey Agency: RECCOO Inc.
・Survey Cooperation: KANSAI University Sports Consortium (KCAA)