Hi all,
Thanks in advance for the help!
I just finished working eikaiwa for about four years during the pandemic. I originally came just to explore and see the world, but I have grown to like Japan and am trying to change careers into something more stable.
I majored in physics in college, but immediately came to Japan, so I have very little experience. In spite of this, I am applying to entry level engineering jobs. My japanese is around N3. I haven’t taken any tests, but I am studying to take N2 next year!
I am not sure what my best move is at this point. I am considering going to language school, trying to get an engineering job, or returning home to get some qualifications and polish my Japanese. Does anyone have insights on a good course of action?
Much appreciated!
4 comments
While probably only some of the smartests minds out there can major in physics, it is too broad. I would first think about what application you would like to do with your physics knowledge.
My personal opinion is the most popular aspect of physics is probably material science, or computational physics. High energy, astronomy are just nice to know.
Material science would probably have applications like battery research, semiconductor manufacturing.
Computational physics is like doing simulations, developing AI algorithms etc.
Do some of your own research into more specific physics applicable fields. Imagine what you’d be doing, then find who or where can help you bring out your vision.
Going back to the US to build a career has its ups and downs. For one, I think it is easier to accelerate your career, but you may not have the chance to learn Japanese as effectively.
If you’re sure you want to stay here and had good grades in undergrad, go to graduate school here. Especially in STEM fields, unless you are an internal transfer it’s going to be very hard to get a good job with very low level Japanese, no experience, and a bachelors in a different field than the jobs you’re applying for…
can you code? you mentioned engineering. If you can I think you can join Rakuten or a smaller IT firm and learn a lot practice Japanese.
Going to Japanese school won’t guarantee a job down the line.
Try a couple times through hello work or a recruiter. It’s worth the try for the experience even if you don’t find anything at the end.
Do you know whether you want to go with academia or industry? There’s usually a few contract positions (I vaguely remember OIST looking for people) but it’s a dead end if you don’t want to do academic research. If you’d rather go to the private sector, best bet is to search for industries in your field and check if they have any large conferences with free attendance. At the very least you can check the attendees to see who your possible employers are.