Really appreciate anyone taking the time to read this <3 there's a lot of context I added into why I'm interested in JET so it means a lot for anyone who actually reads it before answer my question hahaha
So a bit of background, I'm a guy in my mid 20s. I work as a freelance software developer making a lot less than I would as an actually salaried employee. I'm having a lot of trouble finding work given my current skillset (could be a post in and of itself but that's all I'll say). The thing is though, I don't really have a ton of passion for software engineering in all the roles I've worked at and would love a chance to change careers but I'm not sure how. I would love to work in something a bit more "business creative" as I would call it, so something more related to business operations, consulting, marketing, sales, etc. But as someone removed from college with only a C.S. degree I don't know how to make a change.
At the same time I do love Japan. I've spent around 3 months total in big cities, suburbs, and inaka as well and the prospect of living in Japan is super appealing. Not cause I have some grand fantasy about Japan like some people do (honestly I wouldn't want to live in Tokyo) but cause I want to get out of my comfort zone and be forced to improve my Japanese and adjust to a different enviornment.
I haven't taken the JLPT so I have no idea how good my Japanese is. What I can say is that I know around 1000 Kanji and at least one word per Kanji. When I was in Japan I could hold basic conversations within the 30-45 minute region, even if the content of those discussions never got too advanced (cause most of the time it would just be talking about where I came from, why I like Japan, what I've done, etc.). In terms of comprehension I can understand a decent bit the language in games/anime with my main struggles coming from fantasty or really domain specific words like 任務部隊. I would be very eager to spend every day in wherever I get stationed in — assuming i get in of course — improving my Japanese everyday.
Anyway, with all that out of the way this is my main question:
what career opportunities does JET afford after completing one year as an ALT? I know about the career fair but what kind of opportunities actually come from it, and are the jobs that they present jobs I can reasonably expect to get or is it a gamble? Basically, would JET be a way for me to transition into anything other than a career as an English educator down the road?
Thanks a lot for reading!
by pouyank