Hi,
I’m a student studying IT in the Netherlands
As part of my curriculum I need to do a 17 week (4-5 months) internship to graduate. And I would love to get one in Japan.
So about my situation of how and why:
* The internship would be from september to december.
* As this might be one of my last chances I can freely go abroad without commitment I would love to do it in Japan as I already did another 5 month internship in my own country last year.
* As the internship would be for academic credits I would be able to get a designated activities visa. (Does that mean that a company does not need to sponsor me a visa?)
However an internship like this isn’t really common in Japan I found out.
* My 日本語 ability is kind of very 下手. I achieved around N4 level from a 1-year homestay in Osaka during High School which is better than nothing but it still excludes a majority of the opportunities.
* I failed the N3 during my homestay and that fact has bothered me until this day. I would love to actually seriously have the ability and the reason to practice the language again, instead of the maintenance upkeep mode I do now, and actually pass the JLPT.
* I’m pretty confident in my Webdev/Backend services and iPhone development skills. (I have some Github stars and forks on my projects so they are at least worth something to some people I guess)
* Paying for an internship does not sit me well as I believe it’s kind of unethical and stupid.
* I found the Kopra website but the jobs are mostly not in my skillset (German language, CG, Gamedev, Robots etc.), I found one or two listings that speak to me there.
* While I don’t expect a complete salary package it would be nice if the company provided a roof or paid enough for a room in a sharehouse and a little bit of food.
* Mercari also had an internship program that looked interesting to me (as did Rakuten but they didn’t have any open positions and are going a little ehhh with their mobile thing right now).
* I also found one for Line but that one was in Taiwan, and while I do know very basic Mandarin I’d rather go to a country where I at least know a little more what’s going on language wise.
* Graduating and moving to Japan (or somewhere else) for one or two years is not something I want to count on as a possibility after graduation I might start another bachelor in another passion of mine, but in a different career path that would lock me to the Netherlands so this might be the final “living in another country”-experience I can get.
* Doing an internship in another country would be really nice as it would help me make a final decision about my career path, as well as me seeing no future being an engineer in my own country during my best years for now. I’m too used to this country’s way of living , the country is too comfortable for me and doesn’t excite me anymore.
Am I being delusional? Am I even on time or is it too late to start looking?
Should I look for another country?
If not: Any recommendations for job sites or companies to look for?
Anyone with a friends’ brothers’ uncles’ mom who might potentially possibly maybe be looking for an intern?
Or just general advice, that would also be welcome.
Thanks for reading!