Hiring cycles in 1990s Japan are different from those in the US today.

During that era, white collar hiring was via directly recruitment from out of college at the university's college fair with employment examinations (like an actual paper test) and job mobility was nonexistent (you were expected to remain at your job til retirement).

Panasonic's selection process [0] is representative of how hiring traditionally works in Japan and Asia in general.

While it's tempting for Western new grads and unemployed SWEs to look to such comparisons, it's not really relevant. As I've mentioned before on HN, the tech industry is returning to the norms we had before the COVID boom/bust cycle. You are now expected to go into the office, live in a major hub like the Bay/NYC, and have a CS/CE/ECE/EE degree.

[0] - https://recruit.jpn.panasonic.com/career/process/