Questions from a Reader about Finding a Job in Japan From Overseas

I haven’t updated this blog for more than two years – sorry everyone, but especially after COVID, life got busy.

I’m glad that there still are people reading this though. Just a few days ago I received a very well written email from a reader asking for my advice on job hunting in Japan. I’m very happy to answer these kinds of queries so please do feel to fire away through the contact form if it is a theme I can answer.

To add some background, the reader is a Southeast Asian student studying in Australia. They have been self-studying Japanese for 3-4 years – approximate Japanese level being around N3. The overall questions (in more detail below) are therefore, how would someone chart a path from overseas to a job in Japan.

My answers are below, going through the options which were brought up in the questions:

Option: Job Fairs for Foreign Residents

How beneficial are job fairs in Japan for foreign residents? What types of visas are companies typically looking for, and how should I prepare if I decide to attend one? My experience with career fairs in Melbourne has been less than fruitful, with most companies seeking citizens or permanent residents.

Answer:
Generally job fairs in Japan can be divided into two – those explicitly stating that they are aimed at foreign students and those which are not.

Those which are advertised as aimed at foreign students or foreigners (外国人 / 外国人留学生) will be much more lenient on applicants both in terms of visas as well as language. There will still be a preference for those with student/working visas within Japan, but at least the companies displaying will be more familiar with the process of hiring a foreigner

Option: Working Holiday Visa

One suggestion I received from the Consortium of Hyogo was to come to Japan on a working holiday visa and work part-time while searching for a full-time job. While I see potential in this approach, I also worry about the risk of wasting time. What are your thoughts on this strategy?

Answer:

Coming for a working holiday can be a good investment I think! The reasons being that

(1) This is an opportunity to improve your Japanese and cultural understanding

(2) Hiring companies generally prefer applicants which are already in Japan

However, as you can imagine how well people really take advantage of (1) and (2) is dependent on their own efforts to job hunt, improve their language and possibly luck.

Option: Japanese Language School

My agent recommended enrolling in a language school, specifically ARC Japanese Language School, which offers business-level Japanese lessons. Do you think this would be a valuable investment in enhancing my language skills for the job market? And do you have any other language school you can recommend?

Answer:

I’m not familiar with Japanese language schools but aside from the above, Akamonkai is a school that I hear of.

Japanese schools can be valuable because aside from just the classes, they also do job fairs and may have links to hiring companies. Their daily life support especially when you first arrive in Japan can be also valuable in getting over the difficulties in living in a country which you are not familiar in.

Of course the drawback is the tuition, but if you are at the more reputable schools it can be very good investment.

Option: Continuing with a Master’s Degree

I am also considering pursuing a master’s degree in Japan, as I believe it could open more doors for employment while improving my Japanese skills, while I don’t know yet if I am qualified. Do you think this is a viable path, or are there other methods you can recommend or other risks I am not seeing?

Answer:

Generally Masters Degrees do not offer a significant advantage in terms of employability versus a bachelors, with the exception of STEM field graduates who want to work in their specific field.

However for foreign students, they can be beneficial in terms of:

(1) the chance to learn the language and culture

(2) the chance to get a degree from a Japanese education institution (which looks better to employers)

(3) the chance to build a network before starting job hunting

Do note that because of how the Japanese hiring calendar works, masters graduates entering in April may need to start job hunting in their second semester of studies though, meaning that things can be very rushed.

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Side note: Hopefully I can figure out something sustainable to keep this place alive. I think there’s many topics yet to be covered (and some new insights that I have vs 2022). We’ll see though.

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