Does anyone have experience working in the marketing field in Tokyo/Japan? I currently practice law in New Zealand, am moving to Tokyo in April this year and while I’m at it, am thinking seriously about a career change.
I’ve seen some marketing positions come up on CareerCross but most require a few years’ marketing experience, which I don’t have. What I do have is experience working in various people-focused/communications-type roles (law, education, customer service), a Bachelor of Arts in media studies, JLPT N2, and a couple years’ experience as an ALT on JET.
In terms of further study, internships, recruiters, job fairs, networking, etc., where do I start? It’s only a few months until I’m there and I want to hit the ground running.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
7 comments
I’d look higher up the marketing food chain, so to speak. Management, leadership, where the tangible marketing skills are less relevant (my Lead doesn’t know how SFDC works, but he knows how to guide us with marketing plans and KPI evaluation).
I’m a marketer working for a US company’s Japan branch (no openings right now, sorry!) so don’t have much advice for the career search, but it s definitely look at broader marketing-related job options. And I’d also recommend going in-house and not an agency. Better hours/expectations.
>I currently practice law in New Zealand, am moving to Tokyo in April this year **and while I’m at it, am thinking seriously about a career change.**
Generally speaking it’s better to do a career change *before* you move to a new country, not after.
I’m going to assume you’re married to a Japanese person? That helps your situation a *little*, as the company doesn’t need to take the risk on a visa, but… It’s still gonna be tough. There are plenty of natives available if a company wants a no-experience entry level person. A native speaks the language better, and is more familiar with the various cultures involved.
/u/onigiri_chan’s advice about looking higher up the food chain is pretty spot on. You’ll probably have better luck looking at management positions rather than client-facing marketing roles.
>I’ve seen some marketing positions come up on CareerCross but most require a few years’ marketing experience, which I don’t have.
That’s where I would start. Get yourself some experience and a high level of Japanese skill.
I’m a digital marketer working for a company in Tokyo.
For career search, try to use as many platforms as you can. CareerCross, linked in, recruiters, job fair… Many Japanese companies also recruit on facebook.
Another way you can try is to look for some companies that you can potentially work for, and then contact them directly (via website, social media…) to see if they’re hiring.
I work for FMCG company in Marketing in Tokyo. Started my career here after graduating from uni abroad.
Most of the opportunities have come to me via networking (pre Covid), connections and recruiters. If you already have marketing experience & you are based in Japan, recruiters will bombard you
If you have no experience maybe start w/ an internship, that’s what I did
I wouldn’t get your hopes up for April… Currently there’s no re-entry date in sight for foreign students/workers
I currently work in Marketing for a tech company in Kyoto. I’d say focus on the sector you want to specialise in and prepare to make the career switch before you move. Certain sectors will benefit from native English speakers, especially as you’ve got N2 already boxed off on top of that. Our company operate in English and Japanese and it’s great to have both covered with the nature of our business.
Reaching out to companies you think you could be a good fit for culturally would be a good start. Conversations around my current role started on LinkedIn, so always a good place to be present. You could work on your personal brand to make a good impression and start sharing content on your personal pages to demonstrate ability. SEMrush offer great free marketing courses covering fundamentals and depending on whether you want to focus on social media management or not, Hootsuite and Later have great learning tools too.
Hope you can work something out, wishing you the best of luck!