Having completed their stints in developing countries and returned home, the members of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers pursue various courses. The "on-the-job" volunteers who take a leave of absence to participate in the program return to their jobs. Other former volunteers explore new roads based on their valuable experience in sharing the lives and labor of the local community in their assigned country and pressing forward through a process of trial and error. Their choices vary from volunteer to volunteer: some find jobs in private enterprises, others opt to remain in the international cooperation field, and join JICA as general staff or experts. Some look for places in international institutions, and some elect to go on to higher education or to study abroad to further their learning.

However, former volunteers often go through an extremely unsettled period before making their decision. To encourage their smooth reorientation into Japanese society, JICA has established career guidance counselors in 18 cities around Japan to support former volunteers in making their career decisions. Other measures taken by JICA include a tie-up with Public Employment Security Offices, employment support requests made at round-table meetings with the private sector, and distribution to companies of a list of volunteers soon to be returning to Japan. Volunteers without jobs awaiting them receive a lump-sum payment on their return to Japan, funds that are intended to be used to help them make the transition back to Japanese society. To promote "on-the-job" participation, which requires no such career decisions when a volunteer returns home, companies are being asked to encourage staff participation in this program, and the ceiling rate has also been raised for the compensation provided to companies whose staff take leave to participate in the program (from 70 to 80 percent in the FY1999 budget).

The experience gained by JOCVs and their diverse sense of values fostered through their cooperation activities in developing countries are precious assets to Japanese society. Ensuring volunteers' smooth social reorientation and their participation in a wide range of fields is a means of ensuring that these asset flow back into Japanese society.