TOKYO — Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced that it has abolished the paper screening process for new graduates scheduled to join the company in spring 2027, and that the interactive selection process it has introduced in its place is showing results. As the use of AI (generative artificial intelligence) expands and application documents become more standardized, the company has reconsidered things that have been taken for granted in hiring up until now.
As a step towards mutual understanding, dialogue with employees was held as the first step in the selection process. This has improved matching with applicants and significantly shortened the time it takes to get hired.
Rohto Pharmaceutical has been conducting document screening in recent years, but it appears that the number of application documents created using AI has increased, making it difficult to understand the individuality of students.
On the other hand, AI has made it easier to create application documents, allowing students to apply to more companies and increase their chances of getting hired. When faced with a flood of applications, companies tend to focus on how to efficiently narrow down the applications, and some companies are starting to introduce screening methods that utilize AI.
Yu Fujiwara, who is in charge of human resources and public relations at the company, says, “I felt uncomfortable with the way AI reviews documents written by AI.By talking with them, you can get a sense of a person’s personality even in a short time.I want to change the way hiring is done.”
The company has traditionally focused on individuality and compatibility when recruiting.
At Rohto Pharmaceutical, we recommend that applicants wear their usual attire, as we believe that wearing a suit that you are not used to wearing may make you nervous and prevent you from demonstrating your true potential.
The company also has a culture that emphasizes face-to-face interaction, or so-called “live communication,” and even after online applications became commonplace, it sometimes intentionally accepted application documents in person.
As part of this, an interactive initial screening was introduced. The company named it “Entry Meet Recruitment,” a play on the “Entry Sheet,” which is the first application document submitted by prospective employees to companies.
From January to February 2026, the company set up venues in eight locations nationwide, including Osaka and Tokyo, where the company is based, and human resources personnel conducted interviews lasting approximately 15 minutes for each applicant.
Students make reservations by submitting documents that include their profile information, and applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. This also means that this process is not influenced by factors such as the oft-cited “educational filter” or where applicants are screened based on university.
In addition to interviews, employees other than human resources staff also waited in the lounge and interacted with each other before the interviews.
Fifty employees, ranging from young employees to veterans, participated as volunteers for reasons such as wanting to relieve students’ tension and interact with them.
Mr. Fujiwara says, “Rather than having the company explain its culture in words, I think they were able to get a feel for it from conversations with employees and the way they interact with each other.”
The students also expressed their understanding that, compared to the selection process based on documents or AI, the process of going to the interview venue and taking on the challenge made the process “more convincing.”
Mr. Fujiwara highly praised the students who participated in the entry meet, saying, “There was a high level of interest and a high degree of matching with our company.”
She suspects that fewer students are applying based on mere speculation, as they have to submit documents at the time of booking or come to the venue in person.
With the traditional document screening process, there were concerns that too many applicants proceeded to the second round, making it difficult to make confident decisions, but the company says that this situation has been improved.
After completing the selection process in April, it took 33.1 hours per person to reach what the company calls a “prospective offer” (official offer), down from 36.8 hours last year.
The company expects to hire 30 to 40 people, which means a total of about 100 hours of time saved.
He analyzed the reason for this by saying, “Since both parties were able to assess compatibility early on, it didn’t take long to narrow down the candidates.”
Mr. Fujiwara also expressed concern that students are treating job hunting as if it were an entrance exam for their desired school.
He advises job seekers, “In addition to the conditions, compatibility with the company is also important, such as whether you can feel comfortable working there.I want you to work from the perspective of how well you can find a workplace that suits you.”
The company plans to continue using a dialogue-based selection process.
[Yuko Shimada]
