Hi,
I’m considering japanese language school in the spring of next year. I already have a bachelor’s degree and about 8 years of experience in IT, so I know the common refrain around here is just to get a job directly in Japan if you’re in my position. That being said, I’m really looking to take 6mos to a year off as I’m really burnt out and have ample funds to handle the expenses without sweating it too much. With my professional background, would it be difficult to locate a full time job toward the end of language school? Would Japanese employers frown on having a .5-1yr gap on my resume, even if it’s for the purposes of improving my business Japanese? Also, can I switch to an employment visa without too many headaches if I’m already on a student visa (like would I need to go back home or no?)
I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has made a similar transition from language school to employment in Japan.
3 comments
In my experience searching for and changing jobs, it depends more on how you present yourself and how the company hires than any sort of hard and fast guideline. If I were a hiring manager and I saw that gap, I would simply think to myself that you understood language and communication skills are important to a work environment and did what you need to accomplish your goals. Someone else might look at it and wonder why you couldn’t study while working. Hiring managers have their own values and companies have their own standards, so my advice is to just make sure you present the gap in a way that shows the company value.
>Would Japanese employers frown on having a .5-1yr gap on my resume, even if it’s for the purposes of improving my business Japanese?
No, you’ll be fine. It’s not a gap if you can explain it (eg, attending language school).
>With my professional background, would it be difficult to locate a full time job toward the end of language school?
Depends on the flavour of IT you’re looking for and how well you do in that language school. If you’re a developer? No worries at all. If you’re System/Server/Network admin, then you may have more of a challenge, but if you’ve passed N2 I doubt you’ll have too much trouble.
>Also, can I switch to an employment visa without too many headaches if I’m already on a student visa
Once you have an employer lined up they shouldn’t have any issues sponsoring you for a change of status of residence. Just splitting hairs here, but the ‘visa’ is only for your initial entrance to Japan. Once you’re here, you’ve got a ‘Status of Residence’ and that’s what allows you stay here and gives you permission for specific activities. It takes on average two to four weeks to process the change of status, and you won’t be allowed to work full time until that’s completed. So make sure you’ve got enough buffer cash to last you and you apply for the change early enough. Good luck!
What is your current Japanese level now? Starting from zero, 6 months of language school can probably bring you to N4 level and 1 year probably N3. N2, the de facto working benchmark is usually 2 years, unless you have phenomenal language learning talent or study a lot beforehand. Although there are English only engineering jobs, you might find advancement limited without better Japanese.
0.5 to 1 year gap probably won’t kill your career prospects but you may have less negotiation on your salary.
Yes, you can switch from student to working visa, provided tou get hired.