How To Find Jobs In Japan? The Ultimate Guide 2021

Do you love Japan and want to move there one day? If yes, you may need to find a job to support your life in that country. There are many job opportunities in Japan, but can you still find a job if you are not fluent in Japanese? What are popular jobs in Japan for foreigners or English speakers? To get the most detailed answers to those questions, please keep reading this blog!

What Should You Consider Before Looking For A Job In Japan?

Japanese Work Culture

Work culture in Japan is an important factor that you should take into consideration as it might be distinctly different from that in your home country.

Working in Japan, you are expected to consider the whole business the first priority because the Japanese people value teamwork and a group mindset over individualism. Therefore, it is common that Japanese workers spend long hours working until everything is perfectly done. After finishing work at the end of the day, you may go out for drinks, karaoke, and other nightlife activities with your colleagues, so long days can easily become long nights.

What’s more, the Japanese workplace tends to be more formal than any workplaces in the world with highly regarded business trait, which is politeness. You can recognize the courtesy in the Japanese workplace through indirect communication styles and vague directions, which may make foreigners feel annoyed.

Type Of Work

It’s essential to decide what kind of job you are interested in and dedicated to when you work in Japan. There is a wide range of job opportunities offered for you in unique industries and markets in Japan, but remember that you will need to have experience or specific skills to work as a professional in many types of jobs here.

Japanese Language Proficiency

Evaluating your Japanese language proficiency is necessary for you to find the most suitable jobs. You can know how good your Japanese skills are by taking a standardized test such as the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), which includes five test levels with N1 being the highest. If you would like to apply for higher-level jobs, Japanese companies will require you to show your N1 certificate, meaning you master the Japanese language. Many other jobs will require a N2 certificate, which proves that you are confident in using the language.

But, will you still get a job if you know little or even no Japanese? Well, the answer is absolutely yes, but you will encounter a language barrier in everyday activities such as getting around, shopping, etc.

How To Get A Job In Japan

If you are a new comer in Japan and do not know where to start looking for a job, you can refer to several useful websites listed below.

1. GaijinPot

This website includes various information related to five main topics, which are Find Jobs in Japan, Study in Japan, Live in Japan, Travel in Japan, and Understand Japan. Thus, you can not only search for jobs in Japan on the website but also get information about other aspects of life here such as renting an apartment, learning Japanese, etc.

Well, it can be said that GaijinPot is an ideal website for foreigners living in Japan and those who plan to visit or live in this country.

2. JapanCareer

If you don’t know how to find a job in Japan, you can get support from JapanCareer, which is a website established by a company specialized in employment for foreigners in Japan.

This website provides free consulting and support services, so why not register with it to make your way of finding a job in Japan become shorter?

3. Career Cross

Founded in 2000, this website now has more than 5,500 job listings and it enables you to search for jobs by keywords, location, job category, language level and more. If you find commuting to work during rush hour really tiring, Career Cross is extremely helpful for you to look for jobs with minimal commuting by its searching jobs by train line function.

Besides, Career Cross also has the Japan Salary Guide page, on which you can see average, minimum average and maximum salaries for each job by category. Furthermore, if you want to apply for any position in a desired company, you can easily check if that position is available or not on the website.

SEE MORE:

• 8 Highest Paying Jobs In Japan For Foreigners
• Japan Working Culture – The Old And The New

4. Daijob

Daijob is one of the largest websites providing job search service for multilingual with more than 10,000 job listings. On this website, you can search for jobs by category, industry, language, and even employer types. If you prefer to narrow down the search results by location, position level, salary, keywords, etc., you can use the website’s advanced search function.

5. Career Engine

This is a small-scaled job search website with a few hundred job listings categorized by industry, location, full-time or part-time, language level, and keywords.One great thing about Career Engine is that it allows you to communicate directly with the companies that posted the job advertisements without involving a third party such as the recruiters.

6. enWorld

This is a website developed by en Japan Inc., which is one of the largest Japanese recruitment and staffing companies for mutilingual job seekers with more than 600 job posts. With enWorld, you can find many high-salary jobs in Japan and you can search for them by location, job category, and keywords.

7. Jobs in Japan

This one is a website established by an American who has been living in Japan since 1998. There are about 200 job listings on the website and you can search for jobs by industry, job category, job type, location, language level, employer types, keywords, and so on.

Additionally, the website is useful for you to search for jobs that provide work visa sponsorship if you need a visa to work in Japan.

8. Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners

This center is a public employment support office run by the Japanese Government. It mainly provides job counseling and placement services for foreign students who have student visas, and foreigners who are specialists or technical experts with a corresponding status/visa who live in Japan and seek employment.

If you have a valid visa to stay and work in Japan, the center can also help by offering you job career counseling, job matching, seminars for how to get a job, internship opportunities, Japanese classes, and so on.

Popular Jobs In Japan For Foreigners

English Teaching Jobs

Teaching English is one of the most common jobs in Japan for foreigners. Many teaching positions are available at private language schools, public schools, international schools, vocational/technical schools, and universities.

The most famous and credible teaching job in Japan is the JET Programme (The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) run by the Government of Japan. This programme provides opportunities for native English speakers with university degrees to teach English and take part in a cultural exchange at Japanese public schools. The JET Programme contract expires after one year and then you can renew the contract for five consecutive years.

White Collar Jobs

Doing white collar or office jobs is also popular in Japan. You can apply for a job in which you have specialized knowledge and skills. If you are good at the Japanese language, you will find it easier to communicate at work as well as build good relationships with Japanese co-workers and bosses. Furthermore, the possibility of you receiving better appraisal and even promotions may increase if you are able to embrace the work culture in Japan.

In order to find office jobs in Japan, apart from relying on some websites mentioned above, you can register at the following major recruiting and headhunting companies such as HAYS and Robert Walters in Japan.

Blue Collar Jobs

Although the Japanese government don’t sponsor foreign people with a work visa to do blue collar jobs, you can still have chances to do those jobs by applying for the Technical Intern Training Program or becoming a student and working part-time.

For more details about the Technical Intern Training Program in Japan, please check out the information below.

• The Technical Intern Training Program

This program is organized by the Government of Japan for foreigners who want to gain knowledge, specific skills and technologies in Japan. It aims at establishing employment relationships between companies and other Japanese businesses with intern trainees and providing them opportunities to acquire or improve skills that can be hard for them to master in their home countries.

The Technical Intern Training Program features a training period which lasts for a maximum of five years and covers six main industries, namely Food, Textile, Agriculture, Construction, Machinery, and Manufacturing.

After completing the training session, you may be able to apply for blue collar jobs in the aforementioned industries provided that you are still living in Japan.

Tips On Applying For Jobs In Japan

Resume Tips

In the process of applying for any job, sending your resume to the recruiters is the first step. Your resume is your introduction to a Japanese company, so make sure to make a good first impression.

You should decide your targeted company and then type your resume in which you hightlight all of the skills you possess to contribute to the business of that company.

To ensure your resume is outstanding among other resumes, you can name the file with a more specific and eye-catching title that can emphasize your skills. For example, if you are fluent in both Japanese and English and have a lot of experience in teaching, you can name your resume file with the title “experienced-bilingual-teacher-resume.pdf” to attract the recruiter’s attention.

Additionally, it’s common practice in Japan to include a photograph of yourself with your resume. Using a passport photo or another official-looking image of yourself can be acceptable.

Interview Tips

In Japan, interviews will be mostly conducted online through Skype or other video chat tools, but you will still need to keep in mind the following rules:

• Get dressed formally
• Act professional
• Make good eye contact
• Don’t eat or drink anything during the call
• Don’t slouch in your chair

During the interview, don’t forget Japanese work culture. You’d better not focus too much on yourself or what you expect to gain by working in the company. Remember that the interviewer is only interested in learning if you can do the job, if you will like it and what you can contribute to the company.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you have gained some useful information about jobs in Japan after reading this blog. If you need any help to find a job in the Land of the Rising Sun, please feel free to contact Question Japan! Hope that you’ll get a good job when you relocate to Japan.