How to Use Hello Work in Japan: 2026 Job Search, Benefits & Training Guide

Hello Work, officially a Public Employment Security Office (公共職業安定所), is operated within Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare employment-service system. Job-seeker services are free.

You can search vacancies, discuss suitable occupations and working conditions, receive job introductions, get advice on resumes and interviews, and ask about recruitment events or specialist support. You can use Hello Work while unemployed or while preparing for a job change.

Hello Work also handles employment-insurance procedures and connects job seekers to public vocational training. These functions can be handled by different counters or even different buildings, so identify your purpose before visiting.

• 求人検索 — vacancy search
• 職業相談 — employment consultation
• 職業紹介 — Hello Work job referral
• 応募書類・面接支援 — application and interview support
• 雇用保険 — unemployment-insurance procedures
• ハロートレーニング — public vocational training

Hello Work provides job counseling and placement to foreign nationals whose status of residence permits the work they are seeking. Using a public employment office does not expand the activities you are legally allowed to perform.

People with status-based residence categories such as Permanent Resident or Spouse or Child of Japanese National have broad work freedom, while many work statuses are limited to specified professional activities. Students and dependents generally need permission to engage in activities outside their status before taking paid work.

Bring your residence card and be ready to explain your status of residence, period of stay and any permission for activities outside your status. If the proposed job does not clearly fit your permission, resolve that question before accepting employment.

• Check the work restrictions on your residence status
• Bring your residence card
• Bring passport information when requested
• Bring evidence of 資格外活動許可 when relevant
• Do not assume a Hello Work listing itself proves immigration eligibility

For ordinary job search and consultation, a nearby Hello Work or a specialist employment center may be convenient. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare publishes a national Hello Work office map.

Unemployment-insurance basic-benefit procedures are different: the ministry states that you should apply at the Hello Work responsible for your residential address. Related facilities such as a young-worker office or Mothers Hello Work may provide job support but may not process unemployment benefits.

Hello Training applications also commonly require consultation with the Hello Work responsible for where you live. Before traveling, check the office, building, department and opening hours for your exact procedure.

• Job search: nearby or specialist office may be usable
• Unemployment benefits: residential-jurisdiction Hello Work
• Hello Training: confirm the office responsible for your address
• Check whether services are split across separate buildings

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare places specialist advisers and interpreters at selected Hello Work offices in areas with many foreign residents. Languages, days and hours differ by office.

A foreign-language service can be limited to particular counters or time slots. Confirm whether the interpreter supports ordinary job consultation, unemployment insurance, or both, and whether an appointment is required.

Specialist foreigner centers also have different target groups. For example, the Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners focuses on international students seeking full-time work and certain specialist or technical residence statuses, while the Shinjuku foreigner center serves other groups including permanent residents, long-term residents, spouses, working-holiday holders, dependents and students seeking part-time work.

• Confirm the language
• Confirm the day and hours
• Confirm the service counter covered
• Confirm whether an appointment is needed
• Check whether a specialist center serves your residence-status group

A Job Seeker My Page (求職者マイページ) requires a job-seeker application. You can complete the process at a Hello Work office or start from home through the Hello Work Internet Service.

If you register entirely online before staff confirmation, you become an 'online registrant.' You can search vacancies and use online self-application, but some My Page functions are unavailable.

After you use Hello Work and staff confirm the registration information, you can become a 'Hello Work user registrant' and use the full set of My Page functions and Hello Work support available to that category.

• Create the Job Seeker My Page account
• Enter your work history and preferred job conditions
• Online-only registration gives partial functions
• Staff-confirmed registration enables fuller Hello Work services
• Past registration data may sometimes be reusable

Hello Work job listings contain more than an occupation name. Use employment type, working hours, location, salary, days off, required experience and qualifications to narrow the search.

For foreign residents, also examine whether the duties actually fit your residence status and Japanese-language ability. A vacancy that says foreign applicants are possible does not eliminate work-permission requirements.

Some employer information can be restricted to registered job seekers. If a listing is promising but unclear, take the job number to a counselor and ask for clarification.

• 職種 — occupation
• 雇用形態 — employment type
• 就業場所 — work location
• 賃金 — pay
• 就業時間 — working hours
• 休日 — days off
• 必要な経験等 — required experience
• 必要な免許・資格 — licences and qualifications

When Hello Work formally introduces you to a vacancy, staff can contact the employer and issue or arrange the referral process required for that application.

Online self-application (オンライン自主応募) is different. The Hello Work Internet Service states that it is a direct application through My Page and is not a Hello Work referral.

That distinction matters beyond terminology. The official service warns that online self-application can be excluded from certain employment-insurance benefits or allowances in specified situations. If you are receiving unemployment benefits and a benefit may depend on the route of introduction, check with your Hello Work counselor before applying.

• ハローワーク紹介 — formal Hello Work referral
• オンライン自主応募 — direct online application
• Online self-application is not a Hello Work referral
• Benefit treatment can differ
• Ask before applying if reemployment allowances may matter

For ordinary job-search registration, prepare your residence card and information about education, work history, qualifications, preferred occupation, desired salary, working hours and commuting area.

Bring a Japanese resume (履歴書) and work-history document (職務経歴書) if you already have them. Hello Work can still help if they are unfinished, but having drafts makes the consultation more concrete.

If you are visiting for unemployment insurance or training, additional documents are required. Do not assume the ordinary job-registration checklist is sufficient for those procedures.

• Residence card
• Passport when relevant
• Work-permission documents when relevant
• 履歴書 draft
• 職務経歴書 draft
• Education and qualification details
• Preferred working conditions

To receive the employment-insurance basic allowance, you must first complete a benefit-eligibility determination at the Hello Work responsible for your residential address. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare lists separation notices 1 and 2, My Number confirmation, identity documents and bank-account information among the required items.

There is a seven-day waiting period beginning from the day you submit the separation documents and job-seeker application and receive the eligibility determination. Additional benefit restriction can apply depending on the reason for leaving.

For a resignation without a justified reason on or after April 1, 2025, the ordinary benefit restriction is generally one month after the waiting period. Repeated voluntary resignations and dismissal for serious misconduct can result in a three-month restriction. Eligible education or training undertaken under the post-April-2025 rules can remove the restriction when the requirements and notification procedure are met.

• Use the Hello Work responsible for your home address
• Bring 離職票-1 and 離職票-2
• Bring My Number and identity documentation
• Prepare your bank-account information
• Seven-day waiting period applies
• Post-April-2025 voluntary-resignation restriction is generally one month

Hello Training is the common name for public vocational training for job seekers. The system includes public vocational training and job-seeker support training.

Public vocational training is mainly for job seekers receiving employment insurance, while job-seeker support training is mainly for people who cannot receive employment insurance or whose benefits have ended. Tuition is generally free, although textbooks and some other costs are paid by the participant.

You normally begin by making a job-seeker application and discussing the training with Hello Work. The office must determine that the training is appropriate and follow the prescribed application and referral process; applying directly to a school does not replace Hello Work's required steps.

• 公共職業訓練 — public vocational training
• 求職者支援訓練 — job-seeker support training
• Tuition generally free; textbooks etc. can be self-funded
• Consult Hello Work before applying
• Selection tests or interviews can apply

Foreign Employment Service Centers and foreigner employment service corners provide more specialized support in selected areas. Their target users are not identical.

The Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners, for example, provides counseling and placement for international students seeking full-time employment after graduation and for people with specified specialist or technical work statuses. Its current guidance tells other residence-status groups to use the appropriate Shinjuku foreigner center instead.

If you are an international student, permanent resident, dependent, spouse, working-holiday holder or professional-status worker, call the relevant center first and state your residence status, desired job type and preferred consultation language.

• Specialist target groups differ
• Full-time student job search and part-time student job search can use different centers
• Residence status determines the appropriate specialist service
• Confirm interpretation availability in advance

Hello Work and the Hello Work Internet Service can be used while you are still employed. Searching before resigning can help you test salary levels, job availability and required skills without creating an unnecessary gap in employment.

If you are considering a voluntary resignation, do not assume unemployment benefits begin immediately. The waiting period and any benefit restriction remain separate from your ability to start searching for work.

For foreign residents changing employers, also check whether the new job remains within your status of residence and whether an immigration notification or status-change procedure is required.

• Search while still employed
• Compare market salary and requirements
• Prepare documents before resigning
• Check immigration obligations for the new job
• Do not plan cash flow on immediate unemployment-benefit payment

The most efficient approach is to separate what can be done online from what needs a staff decision. Complete the online job-seeker information first, collect your residence-status documents and prepare a short list of realistic job conditions.

At the consultation, ask staff to check three things: whether your search conditions are producing useful vacancies, whether the job duties fit the experience and work permission you can show, and whether a Hello Work referral offers an advantage over direct online application for that vacancy.

After an employer offers you a job, confirm the actual written working conditions. A Hello Work vacancy is job-search information; the final employment terms should be checked in the employer's formal employment documents.

• 1. Create or update Job Seeker My Page
• 2. Prepare residence-status and career documents
• 3. Search and save realistic vacancies
• 4. Visit the correct Hello Work / specialist center
• 5. Ask whether referral or direct application is better
• 6. Confirm written working conditions before accepting