I am currently doing a PhD here and will be finishing in 1.5 years.
I plan on doing a PostDoc, but my chances for a competitive postdoc (JSPS PostDoc Fellowship) are small. I also can’t rely on Professors having money to fund a PostDoc by the time I graduate a PhD.
So my questions are: Is it easy or possible to find a visa-providing job so close to my graduation without going through the typical year-long job hunting/就活 period? Id like to live and work in Japan after I graduate.
If you have a similar experience, Id love to hear your story and how you did it.
10 comments
It doesn’t take a year, it’s a year you get to look while still being a student.
I don’t think it will be hard to find a job with a PhD in a STEM field. The hiring process doesn’t have to take a year if you find a job that you like quicker. It’s just the interval until you graduate that drags on, even if you have a job locked down well before that.
Assuming that hiring PhDs will be similar to hiring Undergrads/Masters , this is my answer:Unless you have a specific skill that would contribute greatly to a position in a company, it will be hard. Most companies hire between the period of 1-1.5 years before graduation, and this is your chance to get as many offers as possible.
The difficulty will also depend on many factors. Your actual research, Japanese language proficiency, previous experience etc. It’s hard to say whether it will be easy or not since you don’t provide any details. But in most cases speaking Japanese (at least N1) will definitely make things easier to get a job.
I heard from a friend that private companies does not really appreciate PhDs that much (unless its research related), so you might have a higher chance to get a job in public or academia.
*I’m just a guy who recently finished my 就活 and had several conversations with 人事 (through the hiring process and just casual conversations)
If you’re bilingual and have the relevant skills then you can probably skip the whole new-grad process. That tends to be targeted towards people with close to zero skills or experience beyond their education, often undergrads.
Obviously, the number of jobs available will depend on the field you are in, but companies are constantly hiring, especially foreign companies which usually have slightly freer hiring schedules.
The whole system appears very stiff on the surface, but there are actually plenty of opportunities out there if you have the right skills. Networking with other foreigners working in Japan always helps.
You will have plenty of offers, and I would be very surprised if your university does not have ample connections to various companies active in your field. A lot of hardcore research in Japan happens at companies not universities, so you should have some interesting choices.
Def won’t take you a year..
Good luck!
The year long Job hunting is the shinsotsu route, which I wouldn’t recommend for you. Most shinsotsu recruiting will probably reject you anyways.
Unfortunately, Phd job searching is much more limited in terms of options. Your best bet would be to publish as much as possible, present at conferences, work on your coding portfolio and create as much publicly documented achievements as possible, and hope a prospective employer could look you up and recognize your abilities.
You can try to search LinkedIn or reach out to recruiters to introduce you to potential employers.
Can you clarify if you want to stay or leave academic work?
I think this will make a huge difference.
Also, specifying your field could give better answers.
Also, also, what are your peers doing? what does your professor advise? real life advise might be better because they know you and your skills better.
“I want to get a job in Japan.”
“Is it possible to get a job without doing what companies who hire RCGs do to hire RCGs?”
Sure it’s possible but I’d keep your bags packed because it’s incredibly unlikely.
From the first interview to 内定 it took me two weeks. I applied during second year of phd at Tokyo career forum and enter as 新卒. But it took me several months to find out suitable company and I had 20-30 failed applications. Process can be super short if you are lucky with the first shot.
Look for part time lecturer positions if you wanna stay in academia (jrec-in) is good for this. You can’t find a full time job without experience. Actually if you start looking now you have high chances of finding something as a lot of people quit last minute and the unis need to hire someone asap so they don’t give too much attention to the CV as long as you qualify.