Hello. This isKototsuki Design.
This time, instead of talking about web development or SEO, I’d like to discuss something a little different. It’s about a type of community that’s been on my mind
lately within the industry.
To be honest, right after graduating from a coding school, you often find yourself with practically nothing, don’t you? No job. No track record. No one to turn to for advice. At a time like that, if someone approaches you saying, “I can introduce you to projects” or “I’ll assign you work,” it’s only natural to feel tempted. I remember feeling the same way when I first started my own business.
I don’t think being invited to networking events or communities is a bad thing in itself. In fact, having places to connect with people is something to be grateful for. However, when I look at the systems behind them, I sometimes find myself thinking, “Wait, is this…?” In this post, I’d like to write about the specific mechanisms I’ve noticed that give me pause.
A Common “Template” for Communities
They gather graduates of their training programs. They create connections at networking events. There, they convey that they’re “in a position to assign work.” You’re sort of guided into the community, where you pay a training fee upon joining and then ongoing monthly dues. Projects circulate within that community—that’s the typical pattern.
If you look at each element individually, there’s nothing particularly wrong with it. Education, networking opportunities, and project brokerage all have their own value, and it’s only natural that a fee is charged for each. However, when these elements are combined into a single system, I feel like the situation changes a bit.Is this a “place to find work,” or is it a “place to generate revenue from people who are working”? I feel it’s worth pausing to consider this question.
In fact, schools themselves have begun issuing warnings about these trends. For example, SHElikes, a career school for women, posted a warning to its students on its official X account, stating, “There have been reports of individuals posing as students, approaching others to build connections, and then cleverly recruiting them for external businesses or seminars.”This is by no means a rare occurrence; I suspect it’s happening simultaneously across various parts of the industry.
⚠️ Warning Regarding Suspicious Solicitation:
— SHElikes | Career School for Women (@she_officials) August 10, 2026
Recently, there have been reports of individuals on social media and elsewhere claiming to be SHElikes students, approaching others by saying “I’d like to connect” or “Let’s talk on the phone,” and then cleverly soliciting them to participate in external businesses or seminars. …
Education, Community, and Job Placement Are Fundamentally Separate
Teaching skills. Providing networking opportunities and spaces for interaction. Commissioning actual work. Acting as an intermediary for projects.
These are, in essence, four distinct activities. It is only natural that each involves a fee, and I have absolutely no intention of denying that. However, when these elements are integrated into a single system, I feel it becomes increasingly difficult to see exactly what you’re paying for.Is it a training fee, a membership fee, or a brokerage commission? I’ve seen and heard of several cases where things proceed with these boundaries remaining ambiguous.
As an aside, the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions includes a transaction category called “sales transactions induced by the provision of business services.” As explained on the Consumer Affairs Agency’s website, this covers transactions in which a party entices customers with the promise that “you’ll earn income by providing work,” while simultaneously compelling them to purchase goods or services under the pretense that they are necessary for that work.I certainly don’t mean to suggest that the “paid community + job referral” model seen here necessarily falls under this category, but I think it might be worth keeping in the back of your mind that this type of transaction does, in fact, exist under the law. (Reference: Consumer Affairs Agency, Act on Specified Commercial Transactions Guide: “Transactions Induced by the Provision of Business Services”)
The Line Between “Offering a Job” and “Paying to Accept a Job”
This is the point I’d most like to explore in this discussion.
How much is the training fee? How much is the monthly membership fee? Are these mandatory in order to accept assignments? Can you not accept work unless you join? Will assignments not come your way unless you’ve completed the training? To begin with, is the relationship between the act of “introducing work” and the act of “subscribing to a paid service” clearly explained?
If this line remains blurred, I think graduates will find it difficult to even clarify for themselves whether they’re “paying to learn” or “paying to get work.” Without that clarity, they may end up settling into a state of “just keeping on paying” out of habit. This might be the most precarious aspect of the situation.
Is the compensation structure transparent?
The same could be said about the projects themselves.
How much is the client paying? How much actually goes to the production staff doing the hands-on work? How much are the costs for direction, sales, and brokerage? And is the actual workload commensurate with the compensation? Are low rates being tacitly justified simply because “it counts as experience”?
I’d like to make one thing clear here: I’m not trying to accuse anyone of “skimming off the top.” It’s only natural that intermediaries and sales teams incur costs, and the fact that commissions are charged is not at all unusual.What concerns me, rather, is the fact that the compensation structure itself is “invisible.” Precisely because it’s invisible, I feel that the recipients can’t judge its fairness, and the payers can easily avoid having to explain it.
In fact, I’ve heard a story like this before. A recent graduate from a design school joined a business community and began receiving design work through it.The rates seemed to be around 100,000 yen or less for website development, a few thousand yen for business card design, a few thousand yen for video production, and tens of thousands of yen for landing page design and implementation. Looking at the rates alone, some might think, “That’s about right for a beginner,” while others might feel, “Isn’t that a little too cheap?”
What’s interesting is that the person in question didn’t seem particularly dissatisfied with the situation. Since there were no other designers in the community, they were consistently getting work, and they seemed to feel they were learning how to run a business. From an outsider’s perspective, regardless of the terms, if the person themselves is satisfied, I don’t think it’s right to simply label it as “exploitation.”However, I also wonder if that satisfaction is merely a coincidence—based on a lack of knowledge about other market rates or other available options. I feel that this very difficulty in distinguishing the truth is what makes this situation a bit tricky.
Why Is It Hard for Graduates to Say No?
They have no track record. They don’t know the going rates. They don’t even know how to land jobs in the first place. They have no reliable network to rely on. In that situation, if they feel, “If I turn down this project, I might not get another job,” I think it’s a fairly natural reaction to just go along with it, even if they have some doubts about the terms.They might convince themselves that “this is just a learning period” and set their doubts aside for the time being.
I feel it makes more sense to view this not as a personal weakness, but as a problem of information asymmetry and a vulnerable position. There are those who know and those who don’t; those who can choose and those who have no choice but to accept. The gap between these two sides may be what somehow sustains this structure.
On the phrase “building a track record”
I have no doubt that building a track record is important when you’re just starting out. However, I don’t really think that means you have to accept anything—including low pay or unclear terms.
I feel there’s a fine line between building a track record and exploitation. I think it probably comes down to one key question: “Is this truly contributing to that person’s professional development?” If working on a project helps you grow your skills and gain the ability to land your next job, then I consider that a healthy way to build a track record.On the other hand, if you’re simply being used as cheap labor, it feels to me like it’s become something slightly different—something disguised under the guise of “building a track record.”
There Are Actually Ways to Build a Track Record Without Relying on Communities
So far, I’ve written about the risks of building a track record through a community, but I’d also like to touch briefly on how else one might go about building a track record.
One option is to launch your own media site. Instead of waiting for someone to commission you, choose a theme yourself, build the site yourself, and manage it yourself. Since it’s not a project for anyone else, you don’t have to worry about issues like payment transparency, and you’ll be able to claim the entire process—from planning and design to coding and post-launch management—as your own portfolio.
Another approach is to come up with a small project on your own and create something creative. I think even something as simple as designing a logo or website for a fictional brand, or planning a small campaign for someone you know, is perfectly sufficient.
There’s just one thing I want you to keep in mind here: don’t do it for free or at a steep discount. If you do it for free just because “it’s for your portfolio,” you risk reinforcing the perception that “it’s free because it’s for your portfolio.”Even if it’s your own project, imagine you have a fictional client and quote yourself a price that’s close to the market rate. I believe that approaching it with that level of seriousness will help you build both a more convincing portfolio and a solid sense of your own market value.
Moving from a state of waiting for someone to assign you work to a state where you can create your own work. It takes time, but I think there are actually more cases than you might expect where this approach ends up being the shortcut.
Points I’d like production agencies and marketers to consider
I’ve written from the client’s perspective so far, but I don’t want this article to come across as one-sided criticism.
There is genuine value in nurturing graduates. There’s nothing wrong with receiving compensation for education. Running a community incurs costs, and it’s only natural that commissions are charged when projects are brokered. I have absolutely no intention of downplaying the effort and costs incurred by those on the provider side.
That said, there’s one question I’d like to raise. Have we clearly defined the boundaries between those seeking work and those providing education, community support, and project opportunities? What exactly are people paying for, and what are they getting in return? Are we in a position to explain this clearly to them?
Things to Check Before Joining
If you’ve just graduated from a school and are considering joining a community like this, I hope you’ll at least check the following points before making a decision.
What exactly are you paying for, and how much? What does the monthly fee cover?What are the conditions for accepting work? How much is the pay, and who is the client? If there is an intermediary, how does that system work? Are you required to take a training course to receive work? Can you continue to receive projects even after canceling your membership? Is it okay to publicly list these projects as part of your portfolio? Is a contract signed?
Can they explain all of these points clearly in your own words before you join? I feel that this alone can serve as a small clue to help you determine whether the organization is legitimate.
What Is the Right Way to Support Graduates?
Finally, I’d like to write this once more—not so much as an accusation, but as a proposal.
Referring people to work isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. Building a community and offering paid training courses each have their own value.What matters, I think, is whether there is transparency and equality in these relationships. Are they interacting as “partners working together,” rather than in a hierarchical relationship between the “side giving work” and the “side receiving it”? Ultimately, I feel that’s what it all comes down to.
If I may add just one personal thought: if there’s someone you truly want to work with, I think it’s more sincere for both parties to approach them directly—saying, “I’d like to ask you to do this”—rather than going through a community.Of course, I’m not trying to dismiss the idea of reasonable fees for direction or mediation. However, if a commission is charged on top of monthly membership fees for each project, I feel that creates quite tough conditions for those actually doing the work. I hope we can all be mindful of the going rates in this area.
It really does feel a bit sad when valuable design and marketing skills end up being used in a way that works against the person who possesses them.
I’m not trying to single out anyone in particular. I wrote this simply with the hope that the industry as a whole could take a more flexible approach, so that newcomers can enter this field with peace of mind.
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