hi everyone! I heard it’s easier to get a job while you’re already in japan than to do an overseas application, so I was wondering if it would be better if I move and job hunt in early december or early january.
I also read that in japan you don’t get paid until like a month or two after you start working. I just graduated university and have around 8,000 usd for moving and for the first month or two living in japan. do you think this would be enough if I live in tokyo?
lmk if you guys have any suggestions
thank youu
6 comments
>hi everyone! I heard it’s easier to get a job while you’re already in japan than to do an overseas application,
Not necessarily.
>I also read that in japan you don’t get paid until like a month or two after you start working. I just graduated university and have around 8,000 usd for moving and for the first month or two living in japan.
For ALTs this was true, but it is due to some sketchy practices they pull regarding upfront costs for providing you housing. This isn’t a normal practice for regular Japanese companies.
>I just graduated university and have around 8,000 usd for moving and for the first month or two living in japan. do you think this would be
It probably would, although ALT work including JET tend to be in more rural areas. Eikaiwas can be anywhere.
> I was wondering if it would be better if I move and job hunt in early december or early january.
On a tourism visa, no. If you got an offer of employment, you have to go home, receive a Certificate of Eligibility from an employer that contracts you, and then come over.
> I also read that in japan you don’t get paid until like a month or two after you start working.
Working with a dispatch company, yes.
What kind of work are you looking for?
What do you want to do long term? ALT is a dead end. I can tell you from experience.
That 8000 usd will take your far outside of Tokyo.
In Tokyo, it could be as simple as entering the wrong hostess bar one evening.
I don’t know what the consensus is on haphazardly spending your money on hotel fees until you can secure a job that may or may not materialize.
You know, it would have been better if you had a friend, or a GF to spot you some free lodging, because while applying from inside Japan there’s also a chance Murphy’s law might activate.
The hotel may have spotty booking.
You run out of funds, before, after, or during landing a job.
You get a bad placement, and you want to quit but your salary hasn’t been deposited yet.
3-4 years back, companies were offering you 1 month of your monthly pay upfront, and would later deduct it from your salary over the course of half a year or so. Now, most of them are not doing it… I wonder why?
Immigration may throw a fit, and ask you to leave Japan in order to get a certificate of eligibility, then a visa. Then may question you as to what were your intentions coming here on a tourist visa when you were participating in job searching as you come back in. lol
The bulk of these *apply from within Japan* tourist goers have roots over 23 years ago, when hotel prices weren’t as ridiculous as they are now, Japanese immigration was more lenient, and salaries were viable.
By the way, I was one of the last *apply from within Japan* of the modern era. But, I didn’t do it knowingly. My dispatch company had lost their contract, and fucked me over. I had a place to stay luckily, and immigration was more lenient with me as I had proof in terms of the letter of invitation, contract, orientation details, and bad news email.
Upon entering Japan, I also ticked the business checkbox, and provided the letter of invitation which permitted me to engage in other activities like job searching unbeknownst to me at the time.
It isn’t worth the trouble honestly. I was working on Japan and in all, sadly, I got nowhere in life.