i-plug to Launch “OfferBox mirai,” a Self-Discovery Career Support Service for First- and Second-Year University Students

i-plug, Inc., the operator of OfferBox, a job-hunting service that connects students and companies through offer-based recruitment for new graduates, announced that it will launch OfferBox mirai, a new self-discovery career support service for first- and second-year university students, on June 1, 2026. In Japan, job hunting has often been criticized for making the acquisition of a job offer the goal itself, partly because the job-hunting period is limited and opportunities for career education are insufficient. This system is also considered one of the causes of early turnover among new employees. Through OfferBox, i-plug has supported students in deepening their self-understanding during the job-hunting process and meeting companies where they can fully apply their aptitudes and potential, helping them complete their job search with a stronger sense of satisfaction. Many users have said that OfferBox’s aptitude tests and offer messages from companies have helped with self-analysis and career development. In recent years, however, job hunting in Japan has been accelerating earlier. According to i-plug’s survey on job-hunting and recruiting activities for students graduating in 2027, announced in February 2026, roughly one in four students in that cohort already had a job offer as of February, one month before March 1, the official start date for corporate recruitment publicity. About 40% of companies also said they would issue offers earlier than usual, indicating a stronger trend toward earlier recruiting. i-plug is concerned that, as this acceleration continues, more students may begin job hunting without sufficient opportunities for self-analysis or career reflection. Against this background, i-plug concluded that it is essential to provide students with opportunities to understand their own traits and strengths and to connect with society from the early years of university, before full-scale job hunting begins. OfferBox mirai was developed for that purpose. The new service is not intended as early job-hunting preparation, nor is it meant to encourage earlier job hunting. It is a self-discovery career support service for first- and second-year university students. Through content listed on the platform, students can engage in experiences and learning that help them encounter society and deepen self-understanding. These processes are recorded and visualized as a portfolio. i-plug hopes students will not merely accumulate experiences and learning, but will discover and explore their strengths in depth, building confidence as a result. The company believes this will help students make career choices with a stronger sense of conviction when they eventually enter the job-hunting phase, enabling them to step into society positively and confidently rather than beginning their first career with anxiety. OfferBox mirai enables students to search for and apply to experiential and learning content for thinking about their careers and understanding society, while also accumulating their experiences in one place. The service includes search and application functions for events and seminars hosted by i-plug, search for experience programs offered by partner companies, and aptitude tests to help students understand their own characteristics. Content from partner companies will be carefully selected by i-plug and limited to programs that match the concept of OfferBox mirai. Planned content includes industry-understanding seminars, job-type understanding seminars, career education programs, global programs, regional revitalization programs, and entrepreneurship programs. The platform will also publish past report articles, allowing students to deepen their understanding of society and themselves through article-based learning. The service also includes a Career Portfolio function that records and visualizes seminars and programs students have participated in. The portfolio does more than record participation history. It allows students to reflect using i-plug’s original MPDCA framework: Mission, Plan, Do, Check, and Action. By setting objectives and goals before participation and reflecting afterward, students can maximize learning from their experiences and preserve records of their strengths and growth. In the future, experience records and profile information accumulated in OfferBox mirai are planned to be linked with OfferBox, the offer-based recruitment service for new graduates. i-plug aims to build a system that allows learning and experiences from the early university years to be carried forward seamlessly as personal assets and used for more satisfying career choices during full-scale job hunting. The service name is OfferBox mirai. The service URL is https://mirai.offerbox.jp/. The launch date is June 1, 2026, and the main target users are first- and second-year university students. The official LINE account is https://lin.ee/o2kazI6, where users can receive information such as event announcements. i-plug’s group mission is to create a society where human potential overflows through connection. While its core business is OfferBox, an offer-based job-hunting service for new graduates, the company aims to build a platform where each person can develop a career true to themselves. Founded in Osaka in April 2012, i-plug now also has offices in Tokyo and Nagoya. It listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market on March 18, 2021, and transferred to the Growth Market on April 4, 2022.