Target the exact band employers screen for, sharpen the real business English they use every day, and build the speaking confidence that beats interview nerves, all before application season.
Free mock · plan of business-English drills · instant score
Job hunting is already a lot. Here is the short, honest loop that gets your English score to the band employers screen for.
Take a free, timed mock in the current official format. Get an instant score estimate and see exactly how far you are from the band your target companies screen for.
Your AI coach builds a plan of business-English drills, ranked by how many points each one is worth, so every session moves you toward the score you need before applications open.
Practise Speaking tasks and pacing until real business English feels natural, so you answer with confidence when it counts, not just recognise it on paper.
A TOEIC number is not a formality. It moves through hiring, promotion and overseas postings, so the band you land in shapes which doors open.
About half of companies factor a TOEIC score into hiring. On a form that asks for it, a blank language field is the one recruiters notice first.
Around 70% of listed companies use TOEIC as a reference, so your number is understood at a glance, with no explaining or converting required.
Many firms set a TOEIC threshold you must clear to move into management or take an overseas assignment, so the score keeps paying off after you are hired.
In Japan's shukatsu and Korea's open-hiring rounds, a score often clears an early, automated screen before a human ever reads your application.
Figures reflect employer surveys in Japan and standard practice in Korea. Every company sets its own bar, so always confirm the target on the specific job posting.
Every company sets its own bar, always check the listing, but these are the bands hiring teams in Japan and Korea look for most.
The score new graduates commonly list on applications so recruiters see workplace-ready English.
Signals you can handle daily business English, the band that helps you stand out for most roles.
What trading firms and global-track positions commonly expect from strong applicants.
CEFR B2 high, the level that marks you for international assignments and fast-track roles.
| Score band | CEFR | What it signals to an employer | Where it lands you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 470–595 | A2–B1 | Basic, functional workplace English | Some course credits; entry and support roles |
| 600–725 | B1 | Résumé baseline for new graduates | Clears the first filter at many companies |
| 730–795 | B1–B2 | Handles daily business English | Competitive for roles that use English regularly |
| 800–855 | B2 | Global-track ready, English on the job | Trading firms, global divisions |
| 860–990 | B2–C1 | Advanced workplace fluency | Overseas postings and the leadership track |
Aiming high? See the exact section scores a 900-clearing result takes in our realistic plan for a TOEIC 800.
Guessing at a score wastes weeks you do not have. Set the band your target companies actually want, watch every mock move you toward it, and practise the real business English hiring teams use, not textbook lines you will never say at work.
TOEIC rewards the language of real work, emails, meetings, calls and quick decisions. Drill those, and you prepare for the test and the interview at the same time.
Reply to a client, confirm an order, push back on a deadline. The Reading and Writing tasks use the exact formats you will send at work.
Practice by task →Follow a fast conversation, catch the one detail that matters, and respond without freezing when someone speaks quickly.
Practice by task →Self-introduction, your strengths, "why this company," and thinking on your feet when a question you did not expect lands in English.
Try the S&W test →Openers, polite disagreement, and the phrases that make you sound calm and professional, not rehearsed, in front of a customer.
Try the S&W test →The TOEIC Speaking & Writing test has 19 tasks, describing a picture, answering questions, giving an opinion, that mirror what an interviewer asks you to do in English. Rehearse them out loud and the nerves fade, because you have already answered before.
Reverse-engineer your target date. Four phases take you from today's score to a result that arrives before your first application, not after.
Take a free full mock in the current format, set the band your target companies screen for, and find the two or three parts leaking the most points.
Drill your highest-yield parts daily, usually Part 5 grammar, Part 7 pace, Parts 3–4 listening. A short mock each week confirms the climb.
Shift to workplace English, emails, meetings, phone calls, and interview answers. A Speaking task every day makes fluency automatic.
Full timed mocks under exam conditions lock your pacing. Sit the official test two to three weeks before your first application.
Already near your band, or 60–100 points short? Run the gap-closing and business-English phases in parallel and test in week 6. Intense, but it works when time is tight.
Starting further back, or studying around a job? Give each phase its full window and book a second official test date as backup, so one off day never sinks your timeline.
Every tool in this plan, the full mock, task practice and Speaking drills, is free to start.
A score only helps if it is placed and framed correctly. Lead with the test type, the total and the date, and put it where a recruiter expects to find it, the qualifications column on a Japanese rirekisho, the language section on a Korean résumé.
It has expired, sits well below the band the role screens for, or you would have to round or estimate. Always use the exact printed number, never a guess.
Take a breath, you are closer than it feels. A gap this size is usually a four-to-eight week fix, not a reason to delay your applications.
The band that clears the filter shifts with the sector and the role. These are the targets hiring teams reach for most, so aim at the one your field expects, not a number pulled from the air.
| Sector or role | Commonly screened band | What the job uses English for |
|---|---|---|
| General office, domestic track | 500–600 | Occasional email and internal documents |
| New-graduate résumé baseline | 600+ | Shows workplace-ready English on the application |
| Manufacturing, engineering, technical | 600–730 | Specs, manuals and supplier email |
| IT, tech, pharma | 730–800 | Documentation and cross-border teamwork |
| Back office at global firms | 750+ | Reports, policies and vendor contact |
| Trading firms, hospitality | 800–860 | Daily client, partner and travel English |
| Consulting, strategy, finance front office | 860+ | Negotiation, analysis and high-stakes English |
Ranges are our rough guide from job listings in Japan and Korea, not official survey data, and Korea generally runs higher. Every posting sets its own bar, so confirm it on the listing and see what score you need.
Both markets lean on TOEIC, but Korea usually sets a higher bar and treats the number more like a gate. Here is how the two hiring systems compare.
| What you are comparing | Japan · shukatsu 就活 | Korea · open hiring 공채 |
|---|---|---|
| Résumé baseline | 600+ | Often 700+, varies by employer |
| Competitive at large employers | 730+ | 800+ |
| Global track, trading | 800–860 | 850+ |
| How it appears | One line among many on the rirekisho | Often a scored line near a cut-off |
| Speaking & Writing | Rising, valued for client-facing roles | Sometimes asked by conglomerates and airlines |
| Score validity | 2 years | 2 years |
Job hunting in Korea? See our dedicated guide to TOEIC for jobs in Korea.
A number on a listing is not always a hard gate. Read how it is phrased, and you aim at the right score instead of ruling yourself in or out by mistake.
A hard gate. You must meet it to pass the first screen, so aim comfortably above it rather than landing exactly on the line.
Not a gate, but it breaks ties and moves you up the pile. Clearing it pays off when a role is competitive, though a little under still gets read.
A phrase like TOEIC 800程度 means roughly 800. A touch under can still pass, but treat it as the floor you plan for, not a maybe.
English still surfaces at interview and on the rirekisho. A solid, current score signals readiness even when the posting stays silent.
