I’m currently a 2nd year law student in the U.S. and have been trying to think about my post-grad plans. I graduate in May 2024. Disclaimer: I am not trying to be an attorney in Japan…even if I stay in the U.S. I wouldn’t be a practicing attorney I would do a legal advantage job. I have been doing a lot of research, made a spread sheet of jobs/companies I can apply to that I meet the qualifications for (language, job requirements, education level, visa sponsorship, etc.)
My biggest “concern” is the timing of everything. The internship I have this summer is one where there’s an expectation for a return full time offer (nothing is set in stone but based on the industry and the interview this is expected). That would, in theory, be received in July/August 2023 (the only relevance in this is accepting it or not). If I were to stay in a compliance type of job then the ways to get hired are either through an internship, recent graduate recruiting, or having 3-5 years of experience to be able to apply to company without a recent grad program. So it’s either stay in the U.S. and work for at least 3-5 years or try and get a job in Japan at one of the companies that hire new grads. There are some companies I can apply to now since they’re hiring for 2024 positions and even though I graduate in May, they have dates extended for students from other countries. I can also apply for them up till a year after I graduate.
I specifically asked to work with their Japanese and Hong Kong office this summer (doing work in the U.S. for that office since my department does work for all the offices globally) and they said I will be able to. All of my internship experience is relevant, and I’m getting a certification from my law school from transnational business but at the end of the day they’re just internships, I know they don’t add up to full time experience. They’re only really relevant for the university recruiting positions. I have been reading a lot more about peoples experiences and there seems to be a split between people saying they wish they would have gotten more experience/savings before moving and people saying they should have gone earlier. I realize my question is really general now that I’ve written it out. I suppose I can also apply to the jobs that are open now and see how it pans out.
These thoughts were mainly sparked by my thinking I’d be applying for them next year and when I saw that a deadline for a 2024 position I liked was on the day I saw it I realized I would have to be applying to them now.
Mainly asking for what people considered when deciding when to go. Thanks in advance for any insight.