Posting here because I feel that people here will better understand Japanese companies.
So I was born and raised in the US and moved to Japan after getting a bachelors 2 years ago (will update my experiences since some have asked). Anyways I started working for a traditional Japanese company a year ago but due the cultural differences I can’t imagine myself staying here longer, and I’m hoping to return to the US soon for graduate school.
I’m in a moral dilemma right now because I entered my current company as a “Shinnyuushain” and my company has a 1.5 year OJT training (it ends this year, yes it’s a long “kenshu”). From company-perspective if I’m going to quit soon, I should quit ASAP before they invest anymore in me (although it’s already been one year, they will be bitter about it anyways). If I quit now, I’d have time to work on my applications but there will be a gap between now and Sep 2025 (when I plan to start school). Also there is slight chance I don’t get accepted.
At the same time, the norm in society is to quit once I have something in place next. I feel that my next step is graduate school, and waiting until I have chances of being accepted means I wouldn’t be able to quit until next year (preferably before interviews). I’m leaning towards this option, but I’m worried my company will get angry for me not letting them know earlier.
If I quit, I’m planning to just head back to the US to move back in with my parents. This decision would have been so much easier if it didn’t involve moving countries and had I not had to wait 8 months from accepting offer to starting job. (Because Japan hires new grads in batches and they wanted me to start in April, which makes it hard to quit early because of the gap already on my resume) And Japanese expectation of staying at one company for long time (hence the long training period). And I’m the only one who can speak native English in my entire division so I know they have high hopes for me.
When I entered my company I figured I’d work for a few years before thinking of grad school (the idea has always been in the back of my head) but I didn’t think I would have wanted to go back so quickly.
TLDR: Should I quit job ASAP when I’m on my 1.5 year training period (although they already invested a year in me), or is it ok to be selfish and wait until my next step is certain?
EDIT: Didn’t expect to receive so many comments! I’m just a replaceable employee, I will quit whenever I want. Thank you everyone for the push 🙏🏻 The only thing I’m concerned is that I have limited amount of paid leave left to do grad school interviews, so I’ll either need to negotiate with my company or leave before then.
To clarify, the reason I feel the guilt is that my trainers have taken the time to lecture and train me over the year, and my company has sent me to an overseas factory for a month specifically for training. I have stated that I am interested in an overseas post before, so I'm just hoping they don't think about relocating me soon (company known for sending out young people early).
by cryptid3