全塾留年生扶翼会
summary
“The Strategist’s Delay”
In the grand theater of ambition, a young scholar at a venerable university finds himself at the final act—diploma in sight, future uncertain. The curtain rises on a twist: he chooses to linger, not from failure, but from calculation. A pause, he claims, to aim higher.
He trades tassel for time, thesis for tactics, and reenters the fray with sharpened resolve. The world, it seems, rewards the well-prepared—especially those who’ve already read the script once before.
And so, with a résumé polished and a paycheck plump, he declares the gamble won. Yet behind the confident prose lies a quiet truth: even the most deliberate detours are not without toll.
In the end, it’s a tale of delay not by misstep, but by design—though whether the design was divine or merely convenient… well, that’s for the reader to decide.
"The Strategist’s Delay"
A Personal Account of Deliberate Graduation Deferral for Job Hunting
How I intentionally delayed my graduation to take a chance (“one-chan”, a playful Japanese term for giving something another shot)—and ended up earning an annual salary of 10 million yen.
(Note: The average annual income for people in their 20s in Japan is around
4 million yen, so 10 million is considered quite high.)
1. Why I Chose to Delay Graduation
2. What Happened as a Result
3. Reflection: Do I Regret Delaying Graduation?
4. Final Thoughts
①Why I Chose to Delay Graduation
To begin with the conclusion: I intentionally delayed my graduation for job hunting purposes—what is commonly referred to in Japan as “job-hunting deferral.”
I was a student in the Faculty of Letters at Keio University, and I chose to repeat my fourth year.
The reason, though somewhat embarrassing, was that my job-hunting efforts during my senior year did not go as I had hoped.
(I did receive job offers at the time.)
Specifically, the reasons I felt dissatisfied were:
a. Lack of preparation:
I had devoted too much time to my club activities and entered the job-hunting season without sufficient research on industries or companies.
b. Unsatisfactory compensation:
It was difficult to find a position that offered a salary I felt comfortable with.
Given these circumstances—and the fact that I had never repeated a year or taken a gap year before—I decided I wanted to give job hunting another try.
After consulting with my parents and my seminar professor, I made the decision to delay graduation.
Fortunately, I had no academic difficulties and had already fulfilled all graduation requirements except for my thesis.
So I was able to defer graduation simply by not submitting my thesis.
Additionally, delaying graduation meant placing an extra financial burden on my parents.
To reduce that burden, I took a leave of absence for one semester, which allowed me to cut the tuition in half.
(At Keio, if you delay graduation by half a year, you only need to pay half of the annual tuition.)
② What Happened as a Result of Delaying Graduation
As a result of taking a one-year deferral for job hunting, I was able to achieve a highly satisfying outcome.
I am currently employed at a major IT company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market, and I am fortunate to be earning an annual salary of 10 million yen at the age of 28.
I believe the following factors contributed to the success of my job search:
a. I had already engaged in job hunting before deferring.
Since I went through the job-hunting process two years in a row, I had already internalized the basics—self-analysis, company and industry research, and the overall schedule of the job-hunting season.
It was like starting a “New Game+” with all my previous experience carried over.
(Note: “New Game+” is a common phrase in anime and video games, referring to starting a game over with your previous level and abilities intact, making the second playthrough easier.)
b. I already had the foundation for a successful job search.
There are several qualities that companies look for in university students during recruitment, but I believe the most important is not immediate job-readiness, but rather the potential to grow and succeed in the long term.
To assess that potential, companies typically look at:
Basic academic ability (e.g., aptitude tests like SPI)
What the student dedicated themselves to during university (commonly referred to in Japan as gakuchika, or “what you put effort into as a student”)
Fortunately, I had both of the qualities mentioned above.
During my four years at university, I was deeply involved in club activities, and as an "Tozama"(a student who entered Keio through university entrance exams), I didn’t find it particularly difficult to perform well on the aptitude tests required for job hunting.
I’ve heard that among the fudai (students who entered through middle or high school entrance exams) and hatamoto (students who entered from Keio’s affiliated elementary school), there are a certain number of people who struggle with these tests if they haven’t studied seriously.
(Note: “Tozama,” “fudai,” and “hatamoto” are terms originally used to classify feudal lords in Japan’s Edo period, based on their proximity to the shogun’s power. At Keio University, these terms are sometimes humorously used to describe the hierarchy among students based on their entry route—external exam takers vs. internal progression students.)
This is one of the downsides of internal progression.
Among the factors mentioned earlier, I believe point b was especially important.
Not only in job hunting, but also in university entrance exams, many people attempt a second try after failing once.
However, not everyone succeeds the second time around.
Through my experience of delaying graduation for job hunting, I came to realize that one of the key reasons for this is precisely point b—whether or not the person has the underlying potential to grow and succeed.
③ Summary: Do I Regret Delaying Graduation?
To summarize and reflect on my decision to delay graduation—do I regret it?
Not at all. I’m very satisfied with the outcome and believe it was the right choice.
Personally, I think there are certain periods in life where your efforts and results can be significantly leveraged.
High school and university entrance exams are prime examples.
Achieving good results in these exams can have a lasting positive impact on your life—and the opposite is also true.
The same applies to job hunting, and in fact, I believe its impact is even greater.
Unlike school, where you spend a few years, your career may span decades.
Even in future job changes, your previous employer will often be a key factor in how you're evaluated.
The diversity in industries and work styles is far greater than in university life.
To put it bluntly, depending on the company or industry you work in, even graduates from the same university can end up with lifetime earnings that differ by hundreds of millions of yen.
Back then, I weighed the impact of accepting a job I wasn’t satisfied with against the cost of delaying graduation by one year.
And I chose to delay.
(If the delay is only about a year and you can explain it properly, it won’t negatively affect your job prospects. Four years, however, would be a different story.)
Finally, I’d like to share a personal observation about students who delay graduation.
While some have unavoidable circumstances, in most cases—including mine—people delay graduation because of reasons that are ultimately their own doing.
And if you fail to reflect on yourself and instead blame external factors—like your environment or professors—you won’t be able to move on to the next stage.
Whether it’s delaying graduation or facing any kind of setback, I believe the first step is to look inward and try to resolve things through your own efforts.
“God helps those who help themselves.”
— Algernon Sydney
※He seems to take pride in earning 10 million yen a year, as if it were purely the result of his own effort and ability.
He’s articulate and good at winning people over.
To be fair, he is indeed a highly capable and intelligent individual.
However, the fact that he was able to delay graduation in the first place is thanks to his parents having the financial means to support him.
Even in his “gakuchika” (what he devoted himself to during university), he simply continued participating in the same liberal arts club without any notable leadership experience or achievements.
To put it bluntly, perhaps it was precisely because he failed to recognize these things that he struggled in job hunting and ended up repeating a year.