I’ve been selected as a JET for 2022. I was initially excited but am now somewhat nervous. I am 27 this year and have three years of full-time experience working in national media in South Africa.
One of my fears is potentially having to return to South Africa without a job. The Journalism sector in South Africa is doing very badly at the moment and while I have a solid portfolio of work for someone of my experience, I’m not a household name Journalist in a way that companies will rush to hire me.
While JET can help me to potentially improve my people skills as a deep introvert, my passion has always been media/writing work.
Is there anything in Japan I could apply for while there and will Japan make it easier to potentially get jobs in this field in neighbouring countries?
3 comments
Did you search the sub? Lots of people have asked about this field.
What should you do? Not do JET and find a job in the industry, work for 5+ years and move to bigger companies. Major news agencies do and HAVE been hiring in Africa. Look at AP, AFP and Reuters specifically. Or, consider moving to Europe, where there’s more opportunities.
JET won’t lead to a serious career in media.
Japan media jobs are very competitive — and there are very few for people who are not proficient in the language.
The vast majority of media jobs in Japan unsurprisingly require you to speak Japanese with a high level of fluency. Like “as close to native as you can get”, not “N2 is good enough for a Japanese office.”
The vast majority of English-language media jobs in Japan are unpaid or paid very poorly. Think your Soranews and such.
You actually have journalism experience, so you’re at least theoretically qualified to work one of the (very few) English-speaking jobs, but…
Your better bet would be to get a job with a foreign publication that has a bureau in Japan and then beg/borrow/steal/bribe your way into getting assigned here.
If you can do your job in Japanese then yes.