I graduated from a Canadian university with a 3-year BSc in General Science while also obtaining the highest level certificate of Japanese of my university (Japanese Certificate II). After graduating, I moved back home and worked a shitty part time job. After a little while, I accepted an offer to teach English overseas in Korea. I previously applied to JET, but they didn’t accept me. Now I’m in the tail end of my contract of teaching in Korea and I truly understand how underpaid and how shit of a job teaching really is. I don’t want to get a headache teaching these bratty fucking kids for the rest of my life. It makes shit money (2500 CAD a month approximately), and that is just simply put not enough money for me.
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But the real question is this: How do I make a career out of Japanese (the only real skill that I actually have)? Over the years I’ve become fairly proficient such to the extent that I would be confident passing N3 and if I studied my ass off I could pass N2 or N1. So how can I leverage this skill that I’ve developed to make money??
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Machine translation has taken leaps in evolutionary bounds over the past couple of years; especially during covid. Unless you are looking to be a deposition interpreter or court certified translator for QC machine product; look for jobs that need interpersonal contact in multiple languages.
I didn’t know you only made $2500 teaching English overseas, I slightly regretted not trying something like that when I was younger. I’m more focused on my career in Canada now, but in university I also studied Japanese lol.
Don’t have advice but if you’re passionate about using Japanese, best of luck!
Yeah English teaching overseas can be a bit of a trap — you can easily get to the point where you basically CAN’T go back home again. Because if you try to return to US/Can after doing eikaiwa for 10 years… you can’t get a teaching job back home because you don’t have actual teaching certification, and you can’t get a job doing anything else because you don’t have any work experience other than English teaching.
Slight exaggeration of course, but I know several people who have struggled with that situation.
One question, are you looking for advice on jobs using your Japanese that would be located in Japan, or are you interested in jobs back in Canada using those skills?
For the first one– of course translation is an option. And that’s something that you could easily continue to do back in Canada, once you’ve developed a roster of steady clients/companies that regularly send you work. Another option is to look for “regular” jobs in Japan (assuming that your Japanese skills are up to par in that) where your bilingual English skills would be valued. For example a lot of kind of PR or entertainment industry work, things where they maybe deal with a lot of overseas clients. In that case, the idea would be more to find a more entry-level job in a field/industry that interests you, and work your way up — some place where your English skills would be valued enough to offset if you didn’t have other past experience in that specific work.
If you’re talking about a career using Japanese in Canada … probably a similar strategy would be your best bet. Which is to say, a job where your *Japanese* skills would be a draw for the employer. For example with Japanese companies that might be based there, or certain tourism industries that maybe get a fair number of Japanese customers. You could potentially also look into the film/tv industry — for example if there are any Canada-based offices for Japanese studios. Or agencies that help facilitate location scouting and shooting for Japan crews who need to come to Canada for filming.
honestly n3 of japanese doesnt really sound like any company would be willing to pay for that. as a bonus to other skills, maybe to show cultural competence, thatd be enough, but most universities and companies ask for n2 or n1. (and even n1 can be so far away from native speakers, that even that isnt a guaranteed job. at least not if you want to be in japan. if you plan to stay outside of japan, maybe n3 is enough for some companies)
I lucked out and got a job at a Japanese company. The background helped but my technical/PM background is what landed the job. So have a hard think about what skills you can polish.
Also I am not in Japan. So I’m more hireable in my home country.
Most all jobs in Japan will pay you a lot less than most other G-7 countries. if you want to use Japanese to make money, your best bet is starting your own business.
Personally I think that, **rather than trying to live in Japan, it’s much better if you meet someone you like and then bring him / her back to your home country**.
If you go this route, you will essentially be able to create a tiny Japan island at your home! You will be able to speak Japanese every day, and you can afford to raise a family! All while you don’t have to work insane hours for little wage etc!
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**Lengthy post time! Personal opinion time!**
I’m speaking from my own path in life, my experience so far, so I’m a bit biased when I write this. You see, I lived in Kyoto 2010-2011. During this time I studied Japanese and met my future wife. Life was awesome, and all went well until Fukushima happened, and we felt a bit scared and thought… hey, lets go to Sweden!? Now, I’m married, 35 years old, and a father of 3. My children are all fluent in Japanese too. Because we read and speak Japanese at home.
At our mini-Japan island in Sweden, we have everything we need. We have books, manga, games, and movies. But more importantly, we have most of the japanese kitchen utensils and ingredients we need. So we are able to make everything from Mizutaki Nabe, Ramen, Okounomiyaki, Sushi etc. etc.
I still develop my japanese language skills, mostly thanks to my family and thanks to Anki. For example, 3-4 years ago I only knew about 350 kanji (mature). Today, I know more than 1100-1150 kanji. Also, I study vocab and so too, currently working on the 4k Core vocab-thing. Anyway, I made have made a great progress so far, despite that I only study for about 100 reviews a day (20 minutes).
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While my wife and children visit Japan 1-2 times every year, I usually go to Japan for 2-6 weeks every second year, and I must say, I’m very happy with this situation!
Sure, I have thought about moving to Japan again, especially during the winter in Sweden. But I know that work in Japan is tough. I have heard it from my wife, and from my friends who actually worked for years in Japan. Today, all three of them have moved back to Sweden. They say many things, they didn’t enjoy the wages nor the unpaid overtime culture in Japan. Life is much easier in Sweden. Also it’s very expensive to have children there. Therefore, it’s better to save up money in Sweden and then visit Japan.
I think Japan is more awesome, cute, special and lovable, if I only visit it once every two years. Then I really long for it, plan carefully and look forward visiting. Back when I lived in japan, the 1½ year I spend there was awesome too (mostly because I could enjoy myself as a student). However, a downside is that you also can get used to Japan being awesome… and that’s a bit sad, I think. I don’t want the magic to go away. Of what I read / heard online, is that most foreigner who stay in Japan for a decade or so, they often say that the magic japan period or the “honey moon period” wore off after living in Japan for 2-3 years. Because, you get used to the good parts, and then you start to see the bad more and more.
If you desperately want to live in Japan, you should start your own company there. That way you can at least get something from all the overtime hours you have to work! But, maybe it is even better to start your own company at your home country, because even that will be tough enough!
**TLDR**
So, rather than trying to live in Japan…- Go and create your tiny Japan at home! 😉
A Japanese guy here. I ended up running an office overseas even though I didn’t want to.
My best general advice will be to go to an industry that you love and have a deep knowledge in, which involves international business (trade, Japanese branch offices and so on). Doesn’t need to be professional knowledge at start.
Lucky if you can get a job at the Japanese branch office on start, but if not, still work at a company that has all those and accumulate professional knowledge.
After a while, you’ll have experience and professional knowledge under your belt as well as your love for that industry.
While at it, look for posts at a Japanese office both in and out of the company you work for.
Volunteer to go to trade shows and manage having a booth on exhibitions and sorts. Meet other people in the industry.
You don’t need to be the best guy in the team but be nice. People likes people that are easy to work with.
Like I said, I never wanted to work overseas but was begged to. Not to mention people contacting me for headhunting. So I think this should be a solid plan as far as I know.
Good luck!