I did ALT, then went to grad school in Japan all the way to a PhD, then applied to jobs. I don’t recommend doing a PhD if you want to find non-academia work unless you can pull off some serious connections during your study (which I didn’t).
First I was a Haken, then a semicon wafer engineer and finally software engineer. I like what I do now.
I had a BS in Chemistry from a PAC10 university in California before coming to Japan. I had N2 at the time of applying for jobs.
Edit: I am old, I guess it is PAC12 now
Edit2: It wasn’t CSU Bakersfield, I wouldn’t touch Bakersfield with a 20 mile pole.
After my time in the ALT jail, I quickly found a job as a back-end developer. I had 10+ years of experience and multiple degrees before coming to Japan, though. At the time of my job search, I was about N4 level. I’m now in cyber security and enjoy it immensely.
N1 helped me get my foot in the door, even without tech experience. Not at the level of pay I am happy at yet, but getting there. JLPT isn’t important until it is.
Last few years as a teacher, I did a master’s in IT online. Then got an entry level position in a tech company. Less work, less stress, better pay, more flexibility with time off/temporary remote work.
Applied for translation/localization jobs until one hired me
Did 5 years as a JET ALT/CIR and turned down a 6th year to leave government work.
Now I work as an agile coach and am also branching into systems coaching at a start up consulting agency that I really love. All of our clients are Japanese companies so my language ability is a big factor in why I was hired.
I get to help people who want to improve their workplace.
I got extremely lucky with my job as my company was willing to shoulder the financial burden of mentoring me and getting me trained up until I could pair with a mentor with clients.
1 year with JET, then got a job as a medical editor based on my science degree. Much better pay and I work from home 🙌
I did the ALT thing for 2 months. Nope. Not for me. Luckily no contract since I already had a visa. Found a car repair shop that was willing to hire me due to my experience working on cars. They couldn’t verify my past experience so they made me work on cars for a week with no pay to ‘prove’ to them I knew what I was doing. I didn’t care because one, this shop was willing to pay under the table, and two, they were sketchy as hell. I probably worked on a lot of stolen cars. Worked at the repair shop for 5 years (first year under the table) until I opened my own business. He never admitted it but I’m pretty sure the ‘owner’ was a yak or connected to them. He was very nice, though.
Was a JET ALT for 3 years. During that time I got extremely involved in the community and was a coordinator with the local AJET chapter, an elected AJET Block Leader, and local block leader for the ALTs in my prefecture which granted me ample experience in event organization and planning.
Thanks to that experience, I was able to secure a job with one of Japan’s leading conference organizers and was placed in the international conference organizing department. Since then I was sent to Europe on multiple business trips, worked directly with the EU, and emceed multiple G20 events.
As far as language goes, I have N1 now but had N2 at the time of entry to the company.
Was a English teacher for 4 years and moved into Software development after teaching myself how to code. I am conversational in Japanese but would probably fail most JLPT tests. I work in an all English environment so it doesnt really matter.
During school holidays, I worked part time at a bicycle rental shop. Convinced the shop owner to take me on full time. I now run cycling tours, co-manage the shop and work at his other business, an engineering company. Not taken JLPT yet, probably around N3. My job is busy, but it’s ace!
JET for 2 years. Tonnes of down time to make my Japanese better than it was, learned Excel, SQL, coding, and some other useful platforms/ languages. Got a job as a junior in a data analytics company. Then once the CV had 2 years exp started job hopping to get promoted quicker rather than getting stagnant.
​
Really use that down time if you want to stay in Japan and not be a teacher or recruiter for the rest of your life.
Made the jump to IT after one year of grinding.
Marketing expensive vacations to the 1% lol
It’s interesting if not hard. A lot of people are attracted to the Bali style insta/tiktok style pose for the camera behind you pictures and Japan doesn’t really have that for tourists. Well it does but in the usual spots. Part of my job is trying to do the generic stuff for them, but also giving luxury level accommodations, while also letting them “like you know, feel the spirituality of the origins of traditional Buddhist culture in Japan.”  or “you know any good places where we can get bar girls?” 
Came into ALTing, then special needs specialty teaching, then into this tourism/marketing gig. It’s what I’m interested in, but despite the clientele the pay is too close to ALTing for my like and I want to move on within a year or two to a bigger company.
in the very back of my mind is going to school again either online or in the USA and learning some basic IT stuff for stability. At 35 (or will be this year) thats essentially a no go unless the preconceived notions about working in Japan truely shift. But in the USA it seems like I hear lots of people jumping in at some level even in their 40s+
Worked as an ALT as well as Eikaiwa. Had JLPT N2. No other special skills. Found a Japanese IT company that hired unexperienced staff and offered on the job training. Taught us the IT network fundamentals from scratch. The company lessons and exams were tough, but I learnt a lot. Downside was, even if you get qualified, they didn’t pay you much more than 3mil. Moved on to another IT position after that.
Did eikaiwa for 4.5 years and studied for JLPT (N2 then N1) on my days off. That got me a handhold for applying for job and I found a rare translating job that accepted people without much experience. They didn’t expect N1 on hire, but prefer you take it after being hired. I’m still here doing IR-based translation 3 years later.
Been here almost 23 years.
Main job: JET ALT->direct hire ALT->ALT supervisor->part-time uni->full-time uni->unemployed
Side jobs: part-time eikaiwa, private English lessons, materials writer, wedding celebrant, eikaiwa co-owner, content creator, run a niche website
Had a BA/MA and no Japanese when I got here, JLPT2 after 2 years, JLPT1 after 8, got a distance MA TEFL from the UK.
Came here as an ALT, now I’m a Software Engineer. I had N3 when I switched, still N3 now. I enjoy it a lot more than teaching, but I miss the energy that kids bring to a classroom.
ALT for 4 years, worked my way up from nothing to an N2 during that time. Got hired as a mechanical engineer thanks to my engineering degree and professional experience (albeit not much at under 8 months) prior to moving here.
Pay was garbage (along with many other things) at that first job, but three years later and now I’m employed as an engineer for a multinational company in the semiconductor industry with much better pay and work life balance. Only been at my new company for about a month but I love it so far.
Moved over to IT. It’s not always a straightforward move. I went to the States for a year to get some experience before coming back
One year as a JET and then joined an international advertising agency. A long time ago…
N3, ALT to ALT manager. Not taking in tons of money, but at least it’s a shain contract.
3 years in an eikawa, then moved to restaurants and cooking. Got a part time job at a brewery recently and I’ll be going there full time this year.
I own my own reverse petting zoo.
You pet the animals.
They pet you back.
I worked as a manga translator for seven years, but I went back to ALT work which paid more.
I know numerous people who moved from teaching to work as recruitment consultants – zero Japanese – and earning 20M+ now.
If you can’t work in sales though – forget that.
27 comments
I did ALT, then went to grad school in Japan all the way to a PhD, then applied to jobs. I don’t recommend doing a PhD if you want to find non-academia work unless you can pull off some serious connections during your study (which I didn’t).
First I was a Haken, then a semicon wafer engineer and finally software engineer. I like what I do now.
I had a BS in Chemistry from a PAC10 university in California before coming to Japan. I had N2 at the time of applying for jobs.
Edit: I am old, I guess it is PAC12 now
Edit2: It wasn’t CSU Bakersfield, I wouldn’t touch Bakersfield with a 20 mile pole.
After my time in the ALT jail, I quickly found a job as a back-end developer. I had 10+ years of experience and multiple degrees before coming to Japan, though. At the time of my job search, I was about N4 level. I’m now in cyber security and enjoy it immensely.
N1 helped me get my foot in the door, even without tech experience. Not at the level of pay I am happy at yet, but getting there. JLPT isn’t important until it is.
Last few years as a teacher, I did a master’s in IT online. Then got an entry level position in a tech company. Less work, less stress, better pay, more flexibility with time off/temporary remote work.
Applied for translation/localization jobs until one hired me
Did 5 years as a JET ALT/CIR and turned down a 6th year to leave government work.
Now I work as an agile coach and am also branching into systems coaching at a start up consulting agency that I really love. All of our clients are Japanese companies so my language ability is a big factor in why I was hired.
I get to help people who want to improve their workplace.
I got extremely lucky with my job as my company was willing to shoulder the financial burden of mentoring me and getting me trained up until I could pair with a mentor with clients.
1 year with JET, then got a job as a medical editor based on my science degree. Much better pay and I work from home 🙌
I did the ALT thing for 2 months. Nope. Not for me. Luckily no contract since I already had a visa. Found a car repair shop that was willing to hire me due to my experience working on cars. They couldn’t verify my past experience so they made me work on cars for a week with no pay to ‘prove’ to them I knew what I was doing. I didn’t care because one, this shop was willing to pay under the table, and two, they were sketchy as hell. I probably worked on a lot of stolen cars. Worked at the repair shop for 5 years (first year under the table) until I opened my own business. He never admitted it but I’m pretty sure the ‘owner’ was a yak or connected to them. He was very nice, though.
Was a JET ALT for 3 years. During that time I got extremely involved in the community and was a coordinator with the local AJET chapter, an elected AJET Block Leader, and local block leader for the ALTs in my prefecture which granted me ample experience in event organization and planning.
Thanks to that experience, I was able to secure a job with one of Japan’s leading conference organizers and was placed in the international conference organizing department. Since then I was sent to Europe on multiple business trips, worked directly with the EU, and emceed multiple G20 events.
As far as language goes, I have N1 now but had N2 at the time of entry to the company.
Was a English teacher for 4 years and moved into Software development after teaching myself how to code. I am conversational in Japanese but would probably fail most JLPT tests. I work in an all English environment so it doesnt really matter.
During school holidays, I worked part time at a bicycle rental shop.
Convinced the shop owner to take me on full time.
I now run cycling tours, co-manage the shop and work at his other business, an engineering company.
Not taken JLPT yet, probably around N3.
My job is busy, but it’s ace!
JET for 2 years. Tonnes of down time to make my Japanese better than it was, learned Excel, SQL, coding, and some other useful platforms/ languages. Got a job as a junior in a data analytics company. Then once the CV had 2 years exp started job hopping to get promoted quicker rather than getting stagnant.
​
Really use that down time if you want to stay in Japan and not be a teacher or recruiter for the rest of your life.
Made the jump to IT after one year of grinding.
Marketing expensive vacations to the 1% lol
It’s interesting if not hard. A lot of people are attracted to the Bali style insta/tiktok style pose for the camera behind you pictures and Japan doesn’t really have that for tourists. Well it does but in the usual spots. Part of my job is trying to do the generic stuff for them, but also giving luxury level accommodations, while also letting them “like you know, feel the spirituality of the origins of traditional Buddhist culture in Japan.”  or “you know any good places where we can get bar girls?” 
Came into ALTing, then special needs specialty teaching, then into this tourism/marketing gig. It’s what I’m interested in, but despite the clientele the pay is too close to ALTing for my like and I want to move on within a year or two to a bigger company.
in the very back of my mind is going to school again either online or in the USA and learning some basic IT stuff for stability. At 35 (or will be this year) thats essentially a no go unless the preconceived notions about working in Japan truely shift. But in the USA it seems like I hear lots of people jumping in at some level even in their 40s+
Worked as an ALT as well as Eikaiwa. Had JLPT N2. No other special skills. Found a Japanese IT company that hired unexperienced staff and offered on the job training. Taught us the IT network fundamentals from scratch. The company lessons and exams were tough, but I learnt a lot. Downside was, even if you get qualified, they didn’t pay you much more than 3mil. Moved on to another IT position after that.
Did eikaiwa for 4.5 years and studied for JLPT (N2 then N1) on my days off. That got me a handhold for applying for job and I found a rare translating job that accepted people without much experience. They didn’t expect N1 on hire, but prefer you take it after being hired. I’m still here doing IR-based translation 3 years later.
Been here almost 23 years.
Main job: JET ALT->direct hire ALT->ALT supervisor->part-time uni->full-time uni->unemployed
Side jobs: part-time eikaiwa, private English lessons, materials writer, wedding celebrant, eikaiwa co-owner, content creator, run a niche website
Had a BA/MA and no Japanese when I got here, JLPT2 after 2 years, JLPT1 after 8, got a distance MA TEFL from the UK.
Came here as an ALT, now I’m a Software Engineer. I had N3 when I switched, still N3 now. I enjoy it a lot more than teaching, but I miss the energy that kids bring to a classroom.
ALT for 4 years, worked my way up from nothing to an N2 during that time. Got hired as a mechanical engineer thanks to my engineering degree and professional experience (albeit not much at under 8 months) prior to moving here.
Pay was garbage (along with many other things) at that first job, but three years later and now I’m employed as an engineer for a multinational company in the semiconductor industry with much better pay and work life balance. Only been at my new company for about a month but I love it so far.
Moved over to IT. It’s not always a straightforward move. I went to the States for a year to get some experience before coming back
One year as a JET and then joined an international advertising agency. A long time ago…
N3, ALT to ALT manager. Not taking in tons of money, but at least it’s a shain contract.
3 years in an eikawa, then moved to restaurants and cooking. Got a part time job at a brewery recently and I’ll be going there full time this year.
I own my own reverse petting zoo.
You pet the animals.
They pet you back.
I worked as a manga translator for seven years, but I went back to ALT work which paid more.
I know numerous people who moved from teaching to work as recruitment consultants – zero Japanese – and earning 20M+ now.
If you can’t work in sales though – forget that.
This thread Tl;Dr do IT