Fifty Japanese graduates opted¹ to gamble with their job prospects² at a mahjong tournament set up by recruiters looking for a different way to find the next high flyer.

 

五十名日本毕业生选择参加麻将竞赛以争取工作机会。招聘者们组织了这次打麻将活动，借此新方式发掘人才。

 

Held in a crammed³ mahjong outlet⁴ in downtown Tokyo, prospects competed against each other on Friday (June 24) to gain the chance to face recruiters from six companies in the fitness, education, technology and real estate sectors⁵.

 

"Mahjong is a very strategic game, so I think people who are good at it would be good at marketing⁶. This is a new approach and I find it really interesting," candidate Tomoko Hasegawa, who is aspiring⁷ to become a designer, told Reuters.

 

Mahjong, which originated in China, is similar to the western card game, rummy, and players in Japan said the tile game required skill, strategy, calculation and a degree of chance.

 

Organisers said the recruiting tournaments began in 2012 and had gained popularity, mostly among male students, and also with hirers, who say the game revealed more about the candidates than just long pages of resumes.

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