Job Discussion Forums

[chirp]

I sense that someone will jump down my throat after they read this post so let me begin by saying: be nice - I'm sensitive!

lol

I am a Human Resource Professional so I find it very entertaining to read the opinions of people who are still in Japan discussing how the work world will treat them when they return home. I can't speak at all about ESL positions and how your experience in Japan will help or hinder you in the future. I can however speak to the larger job market.

Are you guys crazy? This experience won't help you gain future employment? You don't always have to have experience in the exact industry to which you are applying. In fact, the trend increasingly is for people to change careers more often, and as such, recruiters have to be open (and they are) to transferable skills and competencies from previous employment rather than just direct experience.

It is all about selling what you gained by spending x number of years in Japan, beyond just language skills although those will also help you. Consider the following: developed presentation and communication skills, awareness of other cultures, ability to adapt to a foreign environment which also demonstrates flexibilty, creativity developing lesson plans and/or in getting students to participate. It can be quite a long list... Use some of that creativity!

Please don't send me a flood of resumes now... I do this at work and don't intend to do it in my free time too. Besides, there are a ton of resources on the internet to help. Remember, the key is TRANSFERABLE SKILLS.

Good luck!

[Vince]

About two years ago, I returned to the US and found a bleak job market. I applied to all kinds of positions, and after a few months it was actually a pleasure to get the courtesy of a rejection letter (most times, a sent resume simply disappeared into the ether). The attitude toward my overseas and EFL experience was like, "Wow, you must have a great photo album." I bit the bullet and took a stop-gap retail job. After about five months in the US, I finally got an invitation to an interview at an investment company. Having digested lots of resume and interview books by then, I presented my transferable skills well and landed the job. I've been there for almost a year and a half and am about to start a MS in IT (the company will pay for it). The take-home pay isn't very good for such an expensive region, but I have plans to address that from both angles. It was a brutal start, but things are finally looking up.

As good as opportunities are starting to look, I still think about returning to Japan. I'd probably look for an IT or management job with a foreign company. But if the MS in IT, the business experience, and the six years of EFL in Japan will get me into a good teaching position, I'd certainly consider it. That's if I go back to Japan.

[klement]

Thanks again for all your replies.

Chirp : also thanks for an HR point of view. I myself am in HR, and from what I've heard from my management and colleagues, it is about selling what you have learnt ie. transferrable skills. They all look fairly favourably on people who have spent time abroad (but only when young it seems).

At the moment, I think I will take the plunge. I'm young and when I return (if i go), I will still be eligible for the graduate programs in my home country as they allow for a three year graduate gap for such programs.

And now for the waiting game...