Thanks for reading this! Using a throwaway as it involves too many personal details to be associated with my main account.
I've been in a dilemma for a few days now over what to do with my life. I feel like I'm at an important threshold, and that whatever I do next might steer me into something that I can't back out of, so it's a bit nerve-wracking.
For context, I'm a 21 year old french national currently finishing a bachelor's in computer science and business management (scheduled to graduate this month) in a french university. I'm spending this last semester as an exchange student in Tokyo, and should be in the country until august.
I've entertained the idea of working in Japan for some time now. My biggest limiting factor, however, is japanese itself- my japanese is good enough to hold a conversation and daily life, but not at the business-level yet. I won't make a guess at my actual "level" (I know these tend to be wildly inaccurate) but the last time I took the JLPT was 2 years ago, and it was the N4, so it's not like this would add much value. I also have an internship under my beltーnot much, but as a student any kind of experience is welcome haha. Most Japanese companies obviously have business japanese as a requirement, and the international ones where it's not a requirement seem to receive a LOT of applications, which means that more experienced profiles inevitably send my resume further down in the pile. Still, I have been to job fairs (Tokyo Summer Career Forum) and applied to a bunch of jobs on Linkedin, but not much luck so far.
My "plan" until now was to finish the bachelor, go back to France, complete a master's degree* and then look for employment in Japan. But I've also been told (and read here) that it's very easy to say "I will be back in 1-2 years for sure" and then before you know it a decade has gone by, and your initial idea/dream is now unattainable. Perhaps even more if you marry, have kids, etc.. in the mean time. I really dread falling into that kind of situation, so I ended up thinking that I might be better off finding employment now, especially since I'm still physically in Japan. I know I'd need to find a company that's willing to sponsor a Visa (currently here on a student one) and that even in a best case scenario it'd likely take some time, but this is not a problem. The procedure to come here on an exchange in the first place has taught me patience 😂
*(I should note that I don't have any particular willingness to pursue a Master's degree, I'm kind of tired of studying right now. I only planned on doing that to make myself more employable as the french job market isn't too great.)
If this whole idea is unrealistic then I'd rather stop now and enjoy these remaining weeks in Japan to make the most of the time I have left. But if I have a realistic chance at finding employment, then I'm ready to pour as much energy as I can into securing something. But I don't know what my chances are at the moment. I usually turn to my father or other trusted figures with more experience for advice in this kind of situations, but in this specific instance I don't have anyone I can really ask this. So I figured I should ask here.
If you have some kind of advice, recommenations, similar experiences or overall opinion on this I would be very grateful. It doesn't have to be positive either, I'm looking for a honest take. I just need some kind of guidance from someone who has things figured out. Thank you again.
TL;DR – Stuck in a dilemma between looking for employment right now in Japan or going back home to complete further higher education.
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