Job Hunting Conference Co., Ltd., which operates "Job Hunting Conference," Japan's largest company review information product for job-seeking students, has announced the winners of the "Student Review Grand Prix 2026." Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi UFJ Information Technology Co., Ltd., NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation, and NTT DOCOMO, INC. were selected as the best companies in their respective categories.
Job Hunting Conference is Japan's largest company review information product for job-seeking students, featuring senior students' selection experience stories and application essays, with approximately 350,000 job-seeking students registering annually. This survey is the second to be conducted, following the one in 2025. Of the reviews posted on Job Hunting Conference (reviews from students who have direct contact with companies through selection processes, internships, alumni visits, roundtables, company information sessions, etc.), 7,528 were selected for judging in this Grand Prix from students scheduled to graduate in 2027 or later. For 10 items (job satisfaction/attractiveness, future prospects/challenges of the business, career advancement/training system, corporate culture, work-life balance, annual income/evaluation system, work environment/welfare, ease of working for women, management/supervisors, reasons for joining and gaps after joining), student ratings on a 5-point scale were compiled, and the top 10 companies were selected.
The survey results show that Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. took first place for the second consecutive year in the "Overall Category (overall evaluation of 10 items)." In addition, Mitsubishi Corporation took first place in two categories: "Job Satisfaction and Attractiveness" and "Business Growth and Future Prospects." A general trend seen in the reviews of top-ranking companies, including in the "Job Satisfaction and Attractiveness" category, was the frequent comments such as "There is an environment where young employees can take on challenges" and "The opportunity to take on work with a significant impact on society is attractive." This suggests that young employees are more strongly attracted to companies where they can take on challenges with a certain degree of autonomy from an early stage and feel a sense of contributing to society through their work.
By analyzing the reviews received by these companies and other award-winning companies in each category, we were able to identify the points that job-seeking students prioritize when choosing a company in recent years, as well as common trends among highly-rated companies.
While there is a noticeable positive response to the introduction of systems such as "remote work" and "flextime," students are not only scrutinizing the existence of these systems, but also critically examining their actual implementation, including the ease of taking paid leave and the reality of overtime. Many students mention specific operational details such as the actual amount of overtime, employees' attitudes towards work styles, the number of annual holidays, and the paid leave utilization rate. It seems that their criteria for judgment are not based on superficial information such as the existence of the system, but rather on whether it is an environment where it can truly be utilized.
Furthermore, many respondents mentioned that they were able to hear firsthand accounts of things like "ease of taking paid leave" and "the reality of work-life balance" through roundtable discussions and other events. This suggests that dialogue opportunities such as company information sessions and employee roundtables play a significant role in providing opportunities to learn about these realities, and that direct communication with employees influences students' decision-making.
A new trend observed was the shift towards using adaptability to AI and business structures that cannot be replaced by AI as criteria for selecting companies. In online reviews regarding business growth potential and future prospects, students' comments were prominent, evaluating companies' future prospects from the perspective of "will they be replaced by AI?" and "will they be able to ride the wave of AI and continue to grow?", reflecting the rapid evolution of AI technology. While some students gave positive evaluations to companies that actively invest in the AI field, saying "stable growth can be expected in the future," others expressed doubts about companies that did not show concrete countermeasures, saying "it is unclear whether they will be able to ride the wave of future AI utilization."
These findings indicate that students are evaluating companies not only based on their past performance and size, but also on their ability to adapt to changes in the social environment and their long-term growth potential. Stability can no longer be measured solely by company size or brand name, and students are shifting their criteria for measuring "company stability" from mere company size to a new perspective: "Does it have a business model that can adapt to the changing times, including AI?"
<Best Company (Companies that received the highest ratings from students)>
[General Category] Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd.
[Job Satisfaction and Appeal Category] Mitsubishi Corporation
[Business Growth and Future Potential Category] Mitsubishi Corporation
[Career Advancement and Training System Department] Mitsubishi UFJ Information Technology Co., Ltd.
[Company Culture/Corporate Culture Category] NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation
[Work-Life Balance Category] NTT DOCOMO, Inc.
