I’m well aware there have been many posts about foreign people or people who came to Japan after graduation looking for jobs. But I’m sure things will be different if you are also fluent in Japanese and you also went through school in Japan.
I’m a bilingual kikoku in a Japanese uni(not the private international kinds, the average level national or “kokuritsu” uni in a relatively rural area) and I am thinking about career paths.
A lot of people tell me to work as a.. flight attendant, for some reason lol, or more realistically, a trading company, even an English school teacher(my major is education). So I can use my English skills. The thing is, even after going through an internship of school teaching, I realize I do not want to do that. I can also work for a trading company, sure, but I’m not really interested in that field either, to be honest.
A lot of the fields that interest me are translation and clinical psychology, but we all know how those won’t really provide stable jobs, especially as a 新卒. I even talked about it to a career counselor and they said the same thing.
So yeah, as someone who knows ZERO people in the same situation as me given my location, I was wondering what path other people might be taking?
I’d also appreciate it if you could tell me how you went about the whole job-hunting thing as a bilingual, if you still stand by your decision, and if you have ever switched jobs.
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You might want to focus on gaishikei firms because you may quickly get annoyed with how (generalization incoming) Japanese companies operate.
I know you said that you’re worried about career stability if you were to become a clinical psychologist, but looking even just at this sub, a good bilingual psychologist seems both rare and needed.
Kikoku here.
I know this may sound super cliche, but possibilities are endless in what type of work you want to get into. First few years are basically for you to gain experience as “shakaijin” (learning the basics of not to make a fool of yourself in this judgmental JP society).
When I graduated college, I wanted to work in a specific industry but couldn’t. I did time for two years at a completely different industry that was not my
first choice, but eventually went into the field I wanted to get into. Now I work for a MNC in the Tokyo office, working with HQ and regional offices from around the world.
My friend who is also a kikoku was working at a localization company as a shinsotsu, and he went freelance translation / interpretation after 10 years when he thought he was able to maximize his network and connections, and is now making around 6-7x more than what he used to make.
Don’t be in a mindset where you think you have to do one thing for the rest of your life. 終身雇用 is something of the past, and it’s so common to change jobs. Whatever skill set you gain over the years, you can always apply one way or the other.
As for my experience with shuukatsu, I started looking for jobs once I knew I had enough credits to graduate. Everyone is so focused on getting into the renowned big companies, but there’s so little you can do in your first year after graduating. I tried the cookie cutter job hunting, but it wasn’t my style and I stopped doing it after a month.
Best of luck with the job hunt, and march to the beat of your own drum.
If you’re going to stay in Japan, the company you work for is much much much more important than what you do. Try to get into as big and famous of a company as you can. Having that on your resume will open up lots of options in the future.
Companies across various industries are desperately looking for bilingual people. It’s more a questing of what you want to do and what kind of environment you’re looking for.
Clinical psychology… as someone already pointed out, a lot of foreigner here would benefit from having one.
What’s your long term aspiration?
Though I’m ignorant ot your life experiences as a bilingual in Japan. My advice will be based on the world’s direction.
Get into Tech – as an example..AI is the next foundation….all industries will be impacted. In your primary career days…laying a tech foundation will help you be mobile. You don’t have to work for MAANG..you should select a B2B company or a B2C company…forget about government unless your interests are in policy.
Tech is broad…there is alot of technology enabled work with the medical field…seems like you have an inclination to helping people live healthy.
If you want to earn more soon and fast track ..then pick google or azure or aws and do a deep dive of there AI/ML offerings….learn..internalize…get some certifications….cherry pick companies that you wanna apply to…
There is more I can share…DM if you read upto here.
I asked our boys this question.
The oldest wants to be a policeman, because he really likes guns. AK47s in particular.
The youngest wants to be an emergency garbage truck driver, because he likes garbage trucks and driving at a wild speed.
Get into IT sales at a domestic SIer (CTC, Macnica, NEC, Fujitsu, etc.) or legacy gaishi IT company that hires shinsotsu(IBM, Oracle, etc.). Work for 4-5 years and then move to any other gaishi company in your late 20s-early 30s. Profit! If you speak English and Japanese and have good sales record you will have a chance in management in your late 30s with a potential salary range of 15M – 25M JPY.
>A lot of people tell me to work as a.. flight attendant, for some reason lol
Because it’s seen as a glamorous and attractive temporary occupation for women who are fluent in English (before they ultimately settle down and become a housewife.)
Glad to see you know better tbh.
I’m a kikokushijo, graduating university in two months (hopefully) with a job as an engineer at a domestic Japanese company lined up.
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A lot of returnees suffer from not knowing what to do as a career, which is probably one of the reasons why a lot of them drift towards consulting/trading companies as their first job. Personally, I would not sweat too much about your first job. As u/ilovenatto said, the era of working in the same company for the rest of your life is slowly on its way out, and returnees tend to have better job mobility compared to your average Japanese person. I fully intend on switching jobs in the future after getting enough experience in my first company, and from what I’ve seen, a lot of kikokushijo at my university are thinking the same.
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I did shukatsu quite recently (around half a year ago), so if you want any specific advice, feel free to DM me.
“work as a.. flight attendant” I noticed a person slightly bashing this profession “Glad to see you know better tbh.” but I as in intl. businessman know a few intl. flight attendants and they have an awesome life. The first 10 years suck but once you get some seniority things start getting real good. The ones I know only fly like once a week and get to fly all over the place for free (off work hours as well). You don’t make a lot of money but enough to live and save (a couple have condos in California). Working the corporate world… can be good too but it can also be very life sucking.
I’m kikokushijo (technically I think? but never lived in Japan until I moved to Tokyo for work).
Most people have good advices here to which I agree.
But if I were to add, try going to Boston Career Forum hosted by CFN. If Boston’s too far, I believe there’s another one hosted in London, LA, and in Tokyo I believe. CFN hosts these career fairs specifically for JP/Eng bilinguals. Though I admit most companies do have tendencies to hire many 留学生もどきwho barely speaks any real english, this at least would be a good opportunity for you to see what you could do with your bilingualism.
Also, clinical psychology is great, but definitely a rough path to go down to. My close friend who was trying to do that interned in Japan and was devastated at the current situation that she decided to pursue a career in UK instead. So be prepared if that’s what your heart tells you to do.
One personal suggestion is getting into consulting (IT related consulting would be nice and is my personal preference, but any management or strategy consulting would do). Itll let you work with various types of clients/ companies and will buff up your resume if you work for at least 2-4 years. After that you can practically go anywhere/any industry you want, as long as it doesn’t get too technical like certain types of engineering, scientist/researchers etc. One caution is that consulting is tough even though it pays well.
I’m also a kikoku, and graduated 2021, and am currently a フリーター… got dealt some bad cards, and now I’m (still) trying to find my way. I’m doing stuff that I want to, but it’s not seishain, so I’m always living with some worry. Trying my best though.
Hoping the best for you!