Career Design Center

What Career Design Center does

Career Design Center Co., Ltd. (株式会社キャリアデザインセンター) is a Tokyo-headquartered, publicly listed (Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section, ticker 2410) operator of Japan's specialized mid-career recruitment and job-change platforms, founded in 1993. The company runs a multi-brand portfolio anchored by three job-search websites — "type" for career-oriented professionals in their 20s and 30s, "女の転職type" (onna no tenshoku type) for women seeking long-term regular employment, and "Direct type" for scout-based IT engineer recruiting — together with proprietary web magazines (エンジニアtype since 1997, Woman type, 20's type), a placement/recruitment agency (type転職エージェント), an IT-focused worker dispatch service (type IT派遣), and a new-graduate business (type就活) that the company announced it will terminate effective May 2026.

The platform is built on a web and mobile architecture (iOS and Android apps) with an AI-powered matching engine branded "キョリボ" (Karibo) that processes candidate skills, experience, preferences, and structured profile data to generate job recommendations across the type, 女の転職type, and Direct type sites. Distribution is heavily event-driven: the company operates Japan's largest IT/engineer job fair (type エンジニア転職フェア) and largest women-focused job event (女の転職typeイベント), drawing 100+ major employers per event including NTT Data, Canon, Toyota Motor East Japan, Yamaha Motor, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Microsoft Japan, and NEC. The portfolio is supplemented by content channels including the 聴くエンジニアtype podcast series, an audio product launched November 2022.

Career Design Center's business model spans B2B media advertising (job posting fees on type and woman-type), transaction-fee placement revenue through the recruitment agency and event sponsorship, managed-service revenue from IT engineer dispatch (margin between engineer compensation and client billing), and — until its announced wind-down — new-graduate services. The customer base is dual-sided: free-to-use job seeker segments (mid-career professionals, women re-entering long-term employment, IT engineers) and paying corporate employers. As of September 2025, headcount stood at 768, down from 835 a year earlier, reflecting the deliberate scaling back of the new graduate business; FY2025 revenue was approximately ¥126.1B with operating income of ~¥10.7B.

Name

Career Design Center

Legal name

株式会社キャリアデザインセンター

Website

https://cdc.type.jp

Company type

Public

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Career Design Center (TSE 2410) operates Japan's specialized mid-career recruitment platforms — type, 女の転職type, and Direct type — plus recruitment agency, IT engineer dispatch, and Japan's largest engineer and women-focused job fairs, serving job seekers, IT engineers, women re-entering employment, and corporate employers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional & Technical Direct Hire (IT, Engineering, Finance, Healthcare) (BPACAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Administrative, Clerical & Office Support Direct Hire (BPACAFAF), Career Transition, Re-entry & Employability Support (Mid-career, Returnships) (EDAAAKAN), Interviewing & Selection Skills (Behavioral, Technical, Assessment Centers) (EDAAAKAD)

Keywords

• Online job search
• Recruitment services
• IT engineer staffing
• Career change platform
• Women-focused recruitment

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Media Advertising (Job Posting Fees): Charges companies for posting job listings on type, woman-type, and related platforms. Revenue based on job posting volume and duration. Core B2B revenue stream supporting job seeker acquisition.
2. Human Resources Introduction Services: Fee-based recruitment agency services matching job seekers with companies. Earns placement fees from hiring companies upon successful placement. Operates under government license (13-ユ-040429).
3. IT Worker Dispatch Services: Dispatch of IT engineers to client companies. Revenue generated from margin between engineer compensation and client billing rates. Operates as 'type IT派遣' under government license (派13-315344). Also offers permanent-type IT dispatch model.
4. New Graduate Services: Job fairs, media advertising, and placement services for new graduates. Includes 'type就活' website/magazine and 'type就活エージェント' services.
5. Event Sponsorship and Exhibition Fees: Revenue from company participation fees at job fairs like 'type エンジニア転職フェア' and '女の転職typeイベント'. Companies pay for booth space and event sponsorship.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Career Design Center operates a portfolio of online job search platforms (type, 女の転職type, Direct type) targeting mid-career professionals, IT engineers, and women seeking long-term regular employment in Japan. The company complements these platforms with recruitment agency services (type転職エージェント), IT engineer dispatch staffing (typeIT派遣), large-scale job fairs (type エンジニア転職フェア, 女の転職typeイベント), and new graduate recruitment support (type就活, type就活エージェント). Revenue is generated primarily from B2B sources—corporate clients pay for job postings, successful placement fees, and IT engineer dispatch billing—while job seekers access the platforms free of charge.

Product overview

Career Design Center operates a multi-brand job search and recruitment platform portfolio comprising: three core job search websites (type for career-oriented professionals/engineers, 女の転職type for women seeking long-term regular employment, Direct type for IT engineer scout-based job changes); two job fair brands (type エンジニア転職フェア as one of Japan's largest IT engineer fairs, 女の転職typeイベント as one of Japan's largest women-focused fairs); three placement/staffing services (type転職エージェント recruitment agency, type IT派遣 IT-focused worker dispatch, type就活/type就活エージェント for new graduates); and three web magazines (エンジニアtype since 1997, Woman type, 20's type). The type brand also offers a LINE stamp with its image character Audrey, and the company recently launched the audio content series 聴くエンジニアtype. The portfolio is integrated through shared AI-powered matching technology across the job search sites.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• エンジニアtype: IT・Web・ハード系エンジニアを対象とした技術者のキャリアを考えるWebマガジン
• Woman type
• 20's type

Products and services

• type (タイプ) Career job search website targeting ambitious 20s-30s professionals and engineers. Features AI-powered job recommendation and matching, 100% independently researched job listings, casual interview request functionality, and extensive search filters. IT/Web industry-focused with listings from major corporations to ventures.
• 女の転職type (onna no tenshoku type) Job search platform for women seeking long-term regular employee positions. Offers 80%+ regular employee job postings across industries including sales, clerical, service, and IT engineering. Features detailed search filters (remote work, low overtime, work-life balance, childcare support) and personalized matching.
• Direct type (ダイレクトタイプ) Scout-based job change service for IT engineers. Companies directly approach registered candidates based on their skills and preferences. Features engineer-customized search fields, detailed registration options for skills and preferred job types, and an iOS app with resume creation tools.
• type エンジニア転職フェア Japan-largest scale IT and manufacturing engineer job fair, held both in-person (Tokyo Dome City, Tokyo International Forum) and online. Features company booths, casual interview sessions, special seminars by industry leaders, and exclusive selection processes. Major participants include Toyota Motor East Japan, NTT Data, Canon, Yamaha Motor, and 100+ other companies.
• 女の転職typeイベント Japan-largest female-focused job fair event series. Connects women job seekers with companies offering long-term regular employment. Features company presentations, individual consultations, and networking opportunities.
• type転職エージェント (type Career Agent)

Quantifiable outcome

• 女の転職type ranked #1 in Oricon Customer Satisfaction Survey 2022 (Women Job Site category)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SHE WORKS (シーワークス)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 February 2026Career Design Center partnered with SHE WORKS to enable seamless job placement from reskilling to employment. Female job seekers completing reskilling programs on SHE WORKS platform gain access to approximately 80% full-time job listings on 女の転職type. The partnership aims to support women's long-term career development from learning to employment.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• LinkedIn: Global professional network with growing Japan presence for mid-career and executive job matching. Competes with CDC's type and Direct type for employer recruitment spend targeting experienced IT and corporate professionals.
• Recruit Holdings: Japan's largest HR and marketing services conglomerate, parent of Indeed, Rikunabi, and many recruitment agencies. A broad incumbent whose HR Media and HR Technology segments encompass CDC's core job-board and agency offerings.
• Indeed (Recruit Holdings): Operated by Recruit Holdings, Indeed is the dominant global job aggregator with strong Japanese market share. Provides the principal alternative channel for employers' posting budgets versus CDC's owned-and-operated type media properties.

Direct peers

• Wantedly: Japan-focused talent-matching platform popular with engineers, startups, and creative professionals. Competes directly with CDC's Direct type and engineer-job-fair offerings in the IT engineer recruitment segment.
• BizReach: Operates one of Japan's leading mid-career professional job platforms (BizReach) with a high-end recruiter database, directly competing with CDC's type and type転職エージェント services for the same IT, manufacturing, and corporate employer clients.
• Mynavi Corporation: One of Japan's largest recruitment media and HR services companies, operating job boards, new-graduate magazines, and placement agencies. Competes across both new-graduate and mid-career segments that CDC targets with type就活 and type.
• en Japan: Japanese HR services company operating multiple job boards (en-japan, en world, etc.) and recruitment agency services. Closely overlaps CDC's mid-career job-board + agency model, including women-focused and English-bilingual verticals.
• JAC Recruitment: Japan-headquartered specialist recruitment agency focused on mid-career and senior professionals across technology, manufacturing, and consumer industries. Closely comparable to CDC's type転職エージェント service in target customer and fee model.

Regional players

• Robert Walters Japan: UK-headquartered professional recruitment firm with established Japan operations serving mid-career and senior candidates in IT, finance, and engineering. Comparable fee-based agency model and target overlap with CDC's mid-career recruitment agency.
• Hays Japan: Global specialist recruiter with Japan offices focused on professional and technical permanent and contract placements. Competes for the same IT engineer and corporate mid-career talent pools as CDC's type and Direct type.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cdc.saiyo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/type-careerdesigncenter

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Career Design Center