ZenX Releases Report on What Makes an Internship Successful, Based on 100 Students from Former Imperial Universities, Waseda, and Keio: Students' Candid Voices Show Top-Tier Students Truly Value People, Hands-On Work, and Social Impact

Report download (Google Forms): https://bit.ly/4pr6ffh

ZenMatch, the career support service operated by ZenX Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya, Tokyo; CEO: Masahiro Goto), jointly with CareerTabi, a career support community (Representative: Hidemitsu Tamachi; supported by ZenX Inc.), has released "Keys to Successful Internships as Seen Through Student Voices" (the "Report"), an internship survey of university students expected to graduate in 2027 (current third-year undergraduates and first-year master's students; hereinafter, the class of 2027).

The Report is a 54-page survey of 100 class of 2027 students from former imperial universities, Waseda and Keio, and other institutions, examining in depth which internships they found "most appealing" and which "lowered their interest" among the companies where they interned.

The "Class of 2027 Internship and Recruitment Status Report (Updated September 2025)," published in October 2025, visualized overall job-hunting trends such as the number of internship applications, participation, and offer rates. This Report goes further, using students' candid voices and survey data to clarify why particular internships were good or bad and what kind of program design leads to greater student interest.

This press release presents selected excerpts from the full Report.

Reference: ZenX Releases Job-Hunting Trends Report on 100 Class of 2027 Students from Former Imperial Universities, Waseda, and Keio: An Average of 12 Applications and a 16% Offer Rate Reveal How Top-Tier Students Choose Industries, Start Earlier, and Apply to Multiple Companies (October 24, 2025)

■ Overall Summary

Analyzing the keys to internship design from both students' free-form comments and quantitative data, the survey found that internships that raise student interest share the following common traits:

• The character and engagement of employees and mentors

• Work sessions designed at a level close to real business

• Opportunities for individual, specific feedback

These three points proved especially important.

Conversely, the survey also revealed that a mismatch in atmosphere or "thin," explanation-heavy program management risks actually lowering students' interest.

■ The Deciding Factors That Raise Interest: People and Realistic Work

About 35% of respondents cited "the appeal of employees and people" as the reason an internship was the most interesting or appealing — the most common answer. Comments concentrated on who they would be working with: "the character of the employees," "I felt I wanted to work with them," and "I could talk with them at length in roundtable sessions."

This was followed by "the depth and practicality of the work sessions" (about 25%) and "the quality of feedback" (about 15%), with many comments such as "high-level work close to real business" and "I learned a great deal from individual, incisive feedback."

While factors such as business scale, social impact, and company culture have some influence, the survey found that people, hands-on work, and feedback — more than the job content itself — form the core of what raises students' interest.

■ The Most Common Reason Interest Declines: A Mismatch in Atmosphere

Meanwhile, "mismatch with employees or atmosphere" was the most common reason interest in a company declined after an internship, at about 30%. Many respondents cited gaps in values or mood, such as "the employees seemed gloomy," "too much of a hard-driving sports-team culture," and "it felt intimidating."

This was followed by "the work or job content was not a fit" (about 25%) and "poor feedback or program management" (about 15%), with notable comments such as "it was all explanations, with no sense of growth" and "the work sessions were short and mostly online, so I couldn't get a feel for the atmosphere."

These results make clear that internships that fall short of students' expectations actually risk lowering their interest.

■ When Schedules Conflict, the Top Priority Is Whether It Leads to an Early Offer

Asked which company they would prioritize when internship schedules conflict, 54.1% chose "the internship that leads to an early offer," far ahead of the second-place answer, "good online reviews and reputation" (15.3%).

The next most common reasons were "referrals from seniors or mentors" (9.6%) and "compensation is provided" (8.3%), showing that monetary compensation is a comparatively low priority. Students appear to choose internships based on whether they connect directly to their careers and whether the recommendation comes from a trusted source.

■ What Resonates in an Internship Differs by Industry

The Report also aggregates the reasons internships left a good impression or lowered interest by target industry and presents the characteristics of each industry. (Available upon download.)

■ Additional Report Contents

The Report also covers the following topics beyond those above.

• By target industry (trading companies, consulting, finance, real estate developers, IT, and more): the most interesting

• and most appealing reason rankings, and rankings of reasons interest declined

• Detailed rankings by industry of factors that raised or lowered interest, with free-form comments

• Four key points for internship design

Download the complete version free of charge below. (Google Forms)

https://bit.ly/4pr6ffh

■ Reference: About the EQ Assessment Analysis Report Provided by ZenMatch

ZenMatch, a career support service, provides reports that analyze behavioral traits, soft skills, and EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) data. This objectively visualizes each individual's characteristics and delivers practical insights that can be applied to recruiting and talent development.

https://www.zenmatch.jp/

[About the Survey]

Conducted in September 2025. Survey of 100 university students graduating in 2027

・Gender: 80 male, 20 female

・Year: 60 third-year undergraduates, 34 first-year master's students, 6 fourth-year undergraduates

・Field of study: 51 humanities, 44 sciences, 5 interdisciplinary

・University breakdown:

<Former imperial universities> University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Tohoku University, Hokkaido University, Kyushu University

<Other national and public> Hitotsubashi University, Institute of Science Tokyo, Chiba University, and other national and public universities

<Waseda and Keio> Waseda University, Keio University

<Other private> Tokyo University of Science, Meiji University, Rikkyo University, Chuo University, Hosei University, Doshisha University, Kwansei Gakuin University, and others

[About CareerTabi]

CareerTabi is a career support community connecting top-tier students with companies. It is run by a representative with more than 15 years of recruiting support experience together with multiple students holding offers from highly competitive companies. Around 1,000 students participate each year, creating points of contact with companies through interviews, roundtable sessions, and surveys.

Offer track record: Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui & Co., Sumitomo Corporation, Itochu Corporation, Mitsubishi Estate, Mitsui Fudosan, NRI, Dentsu, BCG, Bain & Company, Development Bank of Japan, MUFG Bank, and others.

https://careertabi.com/

[About ZenMatch]

ZenMatch is a career support service provided by ZenX Inc. for new graduates and mid-career job changers. In new-graduate recruiting, it focuses primarily on top-tier students — visualizing career orientations, matching, and supporting the selection process — to support both corporate recruiting and students' career development.

It also uses "EQ business professional," the EQ assessment of ZenTest developed by ZenX, to analyze students' behavioral traits, soft skills, and EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) data, delivering highly accurate, data-driven career matching.

https://www.zenmatch.jp/

[ZenX Inc. Company Overview]

ZenX is a company offering BPaaS (Business Process as a Service) that combines AI with human expertise. Across the three domains of HR, Finance, and Global, it comprehensively supports the management challenges of startups, growth companies, and large enterprises.

Representative: Masahiro Goto

Established: 2019

Address: Cerulean Tower 15F, 26-1 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Corporate site: https://www.zenx.jp/

Business: ZenTest, an AI-powered talent assessment; ZenStrategy, an HR BPaaS, Finance BPaaS, and strategy and HR organization support service; and ZenMatch Agent, a recruiting and career-change support service that delivers optimal matching based on company requirements, organizational culture, and candidates' behavioral traits, soft skills, and EQ (emotional intelligence quotient)