Job Discussion Forums

[rxk22]

I have decided to start working on getting out of the English industry here. At least the non-corporate part( I wouldn't mind editing and helping deal with English speaking customers). I have more or less hit my ceiling. There isn't much more I can do to make more. Most jobs that pay more than my school require specific degrees, such as ESL( as in a BA/BS).
Also, the birthrate has me wondering how long we can keep our jobs.
Not too mention, that teaching English here, save for the rare exceptions, we don't have a real impact on our students, nor this country.

Anyhow not to be melodramatic, I am just starting to get my resume and such together. I do not have the time/money to get another degree, such as an MBA. I have little kids at home, which makes writing reports or serious studying very hard. I am aiming to to take the N2 next yer. I am studying for the N3 now.

Pitaro got into making aps. So there is hope for me.

Anyone have tips or advice on how to get hired, I would appreciate it. It looks like many recruiting sites want the N2, and will hire at that level. Otherwise, for now it's a smattering of gaijinpot ads.

[taikibansei]

What type of job do you want and feel qualified for? Here's a hint: If you do a search in English for the desired position on Yahoo!JAPAN, you will often be able to find job adverts--many posted only on company websites--from a variety of companies in that field. While a number of ads will be for places outside of Japan, many (most?) will be Japan-based. (The search engine can be finicky at times until you get used to it.)

That said, 2 kyu is usually the minimum to get hired, with 1 kyu preferred at many places. Remember that there is age discrimination in hiring here as well, with entry-level professional positions becoming progressively harder to find after 25. Given this, as somebody without 2 kyu Japanese language ability who doesn't want to teach English, the easiest way to get a good professional job in Japan would be to find a position in your specialty at a company in your home country, one with a Japan office (and/or Japanese connections)...and then get transferred. Still, starting looking and applying now--what do you have to lose?

Finally, be wary of taking a job here with the majority of your income commission-based. As you know, Japan (particularly Tokyo) can be a very expensive place to live, and your sales opportunities will be much more limited than the bilingual (sometimes trilingual) people working with you. I know a small number of foreigners trying to survive in these commission-based positions without Japanese ability. They are all struggling.

My two yen, anyway.

[rtm]

[TokyoLiz]

Anecdontal, I know, but a former colleague left ALT jobs to work in graphic design with minimal Japanese. He has an art degree from a good university, and I suspect he also went to Hello Work for assistance in retraining and job searching.

This service may be of assistance to you -

http://tokyo-foreigner.jsite.mhlw.go.jp/english.html

[rxk22]

[rxk22]

Thank you Liz for the link. I may give it a visit this summer. I still need to brush up my resume thoguh

[Inflames]

[nomad soul]

[taikibansei]

[Inflames]

[nomad soul]

[rxk22]

I ca use excel, word and power point pretty decently. I have to do make PP presentations for my school. I have also used them all in an office setting in my home country.

That said, I don't think I can just programming. I am probably much closer to learning Japanese to the point of it being useful. While anything computer related would take me much longer. Plus, using my cell I can study Japanese much better than I could study programming.

[nomad soul]

[izmigari]

All this concern and advice for rxk22 is fine and dandy, my question to the OP would be:

Why did you wait for the conductor to blow the whistle and the doors to start to close before you made your fateful decision to change horses in the middle of the stream and decide to upgrade what most would consider rather pedestrian proficiently at commonly-used office software?

It doesn't sound like a well-though-out plan at all, but more like, "Now that I'm broke brothers, can you spare a dime?"

[rxk22]