Using the Uchida-Kraepelin Test for Recruiting Foreign Nationals

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You want to hire foreign nationals but are unsure how to select candidates, and you are looking for a suitable aptitude test.
Your recruitment criteria overseas are unclear—for example, hiring decisions rely only on interviews and résumés.
When recruiting in a different cultural setting, you want objective indicators of applicants’ abilities and behavioral characteristics.
You want to understand employees’ characteristics and place each person in a suitable role.

Working with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds

Foreign-national recruitment means hiring people from other countries in the country where they will work. Examples include hiring Cambodian employees in Thailand or Vietnamese employees in South Korea. These are illustrative scenarios, not customer case studies. In any country, employers need to understand each candidate’s working style and suitability for the role, while employees need clear communication and support for adapting to the workplace. Differences in language and culture can make interviews and résumés alone insufficient. The Uchida-Kraepelin Test provides an additional perspective for recruitment, placement and training; results should be considered alongside job skills, language ability, interviews and the individual’s background.

Assessing working style beyond differences in language and culture

The Uchida-Kraepelin Test does not use verbal questions or questionnaire items.
There is therefore no need to translate questions first.
Unlike many questionnaire-based tests, it also avoids differences in how questions are interpreted because of the culture in which a person was raised.
It can thus be described as assessing a person’s direct working style beyond the wording of language- and culture-dependent questions.
There is, however, an important point to remember. A person’s language and culture are themselves essential considerations when working with people from overseas.
Please assess not only the working style indicated by the Uchida-Kraepelin Test, but also the important aspects that the test does not measure.
We hope to see more workplaces that respect each individual’s working style, culture and personal background, regardless of nationality or language.

The Uchida-Kraepelin Test around the world

Before its use became common for foreign nationals working in Japan, the Uchida-Kraepelin Test had already begun to be used overseas in the 1990s.
It has been used particularly as an aptitude test when Japanese companies operating in Asia recruit local personnel.
In South Korea, Samsung—now a global company—was an early adopter and has used the Uchida-Kraepelin Test not only domestically but also at manufacturing sites around the world.
Today, we have distributors in many regions, mainly in Asia, to support use by local companies.
If you need assistance with recruitment or placement locally, please consult the distributor serving your country or region.

For use outside Japan: Uchida-Kraepelin Test — Overseas Distributors
For use in Japan: https://gaikokujinsaiyou.com/

Examples from Japan — What recruitment professionals say

We learned about characteristics that interviews and résumés had not revealed!
Recruitment professional for foreign technical intern trainees

Our company accepts technical intern trainees, who work at factories in Japan.
We had been struggling because some of the people we hired were absent without notice or became involved in disputes.
After introducing this test, we were able to identify characteristics that interviews and résumés alone had not revealed, which helped us recruit people who were a better fit for our company.
The results also showed that one of the selected candidates had especially strong adaptability, and the information was useful when choosing a production-line leader.

Building a team that was easier to manage reduced our day-to-day burden!
Restaurant manager

Our head office has detailed manuals, but we had staff members who would not follow them at all.
I was concerned that this might eventually have a negative effect on the management and operation of the whole restaurant.
After introducing this test, we were better able to identify people who insisted on doing everything their own way, and this helped us build a team that was easier to manage.
We were also pleased to see better teamwork among employees, which led to improved customer service.

For workplace safety, we built a team less likely to have accidents!
Safety management leader in a technical occupation

One employee worked faster than anyone else but had already been involved in three accidents.
They had only been minor single-vehicle accidents, but we were worried that a serious accident might eventually occur.
After learning that the Uchida-Kraepelin Test can indicate tendencies associated with accident involvement, we administered it to all employees.
To our surprise, the results of employees who had previously experienced many near misses did show the relevant tendencies.
Before a major accident occurred, we were able to review our safety arrangements by reassigning personnel and pairing some employees with experienced colleagues, among other measures. Together, these steps helped reduce accidents within the company.

To arrange the Uchida-Kraepelin Test, a work-based aptitude and personality test that can be used in the same way in Japan and overseas, please contact your nearest distributor in your country or region.

Distributors in East Asia

South Korea
- Korea Management Association
  - Main areas served: Seoul, Daegu, Busan, Gwangju, Jeju
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Management consulting
  - Languages supported: Korean
Mainland China
- Shanghai Oracle Bay Enterprise Group, Co., Ltd.
  - Main areas served: Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yancheng, Nantong, Nanning, Ningbo, Bengbu, Xining, Yinchuan
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Human resource development
  - Languages supported: Chinese
- NINGBO NAPU TRADE CO., LTD.
  - Main areas served: Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dongguan
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Manufacturing consulting, Fabless manufacturing
  - Languages supported: Chinese, Japanese
Hong Kong
- N-ERVE TECHNOLOGY
  - Main areas served: Hong Kong
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Manufacturing consulting, Fabless manufacturing, Recruitment
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Chinese
Taiwan
- Pasona Taiwan
  - Main areas served: Taipei, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: HR consulting, Human resource development, Recruitment
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Chinese

Distributors in Southeast Asia

Thailand
- Krung Asia Insight
  - Main areas served: Bangkok, nationwide Thailand
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Thailand market entry consulting
  - Languages supported: Thai, Japanese
- Waguri
  - Main areas served: Bangkok, Chon Buri, Rayong, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai, Lamphun
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: HR consulting
  - Languages supported: Japanese
- Pasona HR Consulting Recruitment (Thailand)
  - Main areas served: Bangkok
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment, HR consulting
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Thai
- TRAINING AND SEMINAR KOTSUKOTSU
  - Main areas served: Bangkok
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Human resource development, Recruitment
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Thai
Vietnam
- Kosaido HR Vietnam
  - Main areas served: Hanoi (on-site visits available for Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and other locations)
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment, Human resource development, Vietnam market entry consulting
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Vietnamese
- Success Partner
  - Main areas served: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Organizational development
  - Languages supported: Vietnamese
Myanmar
- J-SAT CONSULTING
  - Main areas served: Yangon, Mandalay
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment, Myanmar market entry consulting, Japanese language education
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Burmese
Cambodia
- Creative Diamond Links
  - Main areas served: Phnom Penh
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Khmer
Malaysia
- Pasona HR MALAYSIA
  - Main areas served: Kuala Lumpur
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Malay, English
Laos
- Lao-Japan Gateway
  - Main areas served: Vientiane
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Cybozu Kintone, Laos market entry consulting
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Lao
Indonesia
- Bruggen Batavia Indonesia
  - Main areas served: Jakarta, Bekasi
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: HR consulting, Legal consulting, Visa consulting
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Indonesian, English
- Japan Asia Consultants
  - Main areas served: Jakarta, Bekasi
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Indonesia market entry and company incorporation, Accounting and bookkeeping, Tax services, Labor affairs, Legal services, Visa services
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Indonesian, English
Philippines
- One World Human Resources Development
  - Main areas served: Manila, Quezon
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Japanese language education, Human resource development
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Tagalog, English
Singapore
- Pasona Singapore
  - Main areas served: Singapore
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment, HR consulting
  - Languages supported: English

Distributors in South Asia

India
- Pasona India
  - Main areas served: Delhi, Gurugram, Chennai, Bengaluru
  - Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment
  - Languages supported: Japanese, Hindi, English

If you cannot find a nearby distributor or would like to arrange testing in multiple regions, please contact us using the contact form.