Job Discussion Forums

[ReedNZ]

Hey guys and gals,

I have a question for you and any responses would be appreciated.
I know this is a forum aimed ultimately at the ESL side of employment in Japan, but what other roads could be taken regarding employment?
I ask this as I am looking at making the transition to Japan as a change of lifestyle for a year, possibly 2.
I have looked into the ESL side of things and have found my options limited with only a 2 and a half year Business Diploma to my name and limited mathematics tutoring. Certain ESL providers have various options where i can work a slightly shortened schedule which is fine as I am not looking at coming to Japan to make my millions, merely to enjoy myself.
My partner is currently living in Tokyo so i am looking at basing myself there.
What are other potential job paths have people taken with limited Japanese Language ability? I am open to doing almost anything (within reason) and can pick up a new job and new skills very quickly.

Any help would be great!

[Glenski]

With limited Japanese ability, you are very...uh... limited in what you can do in Japan. A few jobs won't require high level Japanese (anything from bartending to some IT work), but you probably want something closer to the latter than the former. The bottom line is this:

Qualifications
Japanese language ability (reading/writing/speaking)
Experience

If you have the right combination of all three, you are primed for work here. Add to that the need for connections (networking) in some cases, and you have a more complete picture.

Nobody is going to hire you in order to pick up those skills in the office, and just picking up some skills quickly is not going to prepare you for what you need in many (most?) cases. Consider the situation of a non-English speaker in your own country. What chance would they have with little skill and language ability and experience?

Jobs outside of the Humanities Specialist visa usually require 5-10 years of experience if you don't have the appropriate degree. I'd say consider going back to school to get another degree, then look at the few options available to you here (once you've decided what line of work to pursue), or see if you can get hired by a company in your home country that has a branch in Japan. You could get an intracompany transfer visa that latter way, but only if you spent a year at that local company first. Again, consider the reality of a company with offices here -- they would have to be fairly large, but why would they even consider sending a newcomer overseas in a position of responsibility? It will take time.

[Urban_Legend]

[womblingfree]

If you don't speak Japanese and haven't been sent to Japan on business your options are basically:

1. Working at a gaijin bar.

2. Stripping/escorting.

Good luck

[skijam]

Does anyone know what opportunities there are for finance/accounting professionals with no Japanese language ability? I've heard of execs working in Tokyo on large expat salaries without speaking much Japanese!. Are these roles restricted to senior levels only?

[markle]

Send your resume to your local Merril Lynch, Andersen or Goldman Sachs. I take it you've got about 10 years senior experience, some background in international accounting law

[AndyH]

I'm a 40 year old guy, about 15 lbs overweight (with a beergut), and going gray.
Any chance I can work as an escort?

[TK4Lakers]

I'm guessing a lot of the posters here are 7 years into their dead-end ESL jobs so that's why there's so much negativity with this thread.

I'll tell you what...they are all right though. You need to have Japanese language ability (at least intermediate) and a good understanding of Japanese culture.

As for me, I have both of the above, but no experience really...and I went from being an ALT for a year to finding a good sales job with a well-known international company.

There are ways out there. Expand your network. Go to career forums. Apply and register to job searching websites. But get the language down first, and then go from there.

Good luck.

[SEndrigo]

I'm surprised no one here mentioned headhunting or editing as an alternative to teaching if one does not speak any Japanese.

There are plenty of foreigners who don't speak Japanese who make good money as headhunters.

Another alternative is getting transferred to Japan by a company back home, but this is another story and probably doesn't apply to the OP.

Despite what you may hear, there ARE other jobs out there other than English teaching or bartending.

[skijam]

[silvercat]

For what it's worth I know of a few people who are paralegals or legal secretaries, however I have heard the conditions aren't that good...

[Canuck2112]

If you're going to stick around a few years, aim to get your 2kyu Japanese certification. Most jobs require it.

There ARE jobs for foreigners besides English teaching but you can't realistically expect to get one if you can't handle the language.

I know a guy who came here with a degree in Anthropology who's now making pretty good money at a huge Japanese pharmaceutical company. He owes much of this to his motivated Japanese study.

[Apsara]

It seems like a lot of people are totally unaware of the opportunities out there.

There are a lot more jobs out there for people who don't speak Japanese than people think, as long as you have the requisite skills/ experience.

My husband works in IT for a French company- surprisingly enough most of the staff are Indian and Korean and the working language is English. There are countless IT jobs available in Tokyo where English is the working language of the company- the last 2 companies my husband has worked for over the last 7 years or so were similar, many of his coworkers were local hires and spoke very little Japanese.

Friends of ours working in trading and finance also speak little Japanese and many were also local hires. Quite a few started out teaching English just to get the visa and be in Japan for interviews.

Anyone in or near Tokyo with fairly up-to-date IT skills has a pretty good chance of being hired, even with little Japanese. Agencies like Robert Walters, Robert Half, Panache and James Harvard seem to be the way to go.

[malcoml]

Dont laugh AndyH,

Back int he early ninties my parents use sell investments to many rich Japanese people who would come out to Australia.

A friend and myself had just left school and we were basically working part time in bars and tourist resorts.

Anyway to cut a long story short one of dads female clients approached offereing us high paid work firstly in Australia and then we would come to Japan to live at her place to work in her restaurant/bar and ofcourse lean Japanese language.
We were a bit silly but the work we were doing in Oz was escort work for Japanese women who were betwee the ages of 28 and 55 need less to say it was not to long before the folks found out and put a stop to our plans to stay with this lady in Japan and I never did get that chance to learn Japanese.

[TK4Lakers]