Moving to Japan in my thirties without a lot of experience in my field

10 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Moving to Japan in my thirties without a lot of experience in my field**

   I’m in a relationship with a Japanese girl. We plan to move to Japan. I have questions about what kind of job I could find. The good thing is that I will get a spouse visa, which could make finding a job a little bit easier. She also helps me to learn Japanese and can make culture shock smaller when we get there.

   I’m a bit of a late bloomer because I started my university studies when I was 30 (it’s not totally rare here to do that, but I think in Japan it’s not as common?). I still have 2-4 years of studies left, depending on whether I do a master’s or not (currently studying towards a bachelor’s degree). Earning a master’s degree here is the norm, but I think in Japan most people don’t get a master’s degree. So I have 2-4 years to learn Japanese before moving to Japan. It’s realistic to expect that I will pass the N1 in that time, but if I get to truly fluent is to be seen. Right now, my Japanese isn’t good at all, I just started learning it again, but I plan to devote several hours daily. I plan to take the JLPT test, and N1 is my goal.

   (My native language is a Nordic language not spoken by many, my English is fine.)

   I study economics and want to work in some economics or finance-related job. What are my chances of finding such a job in Japan, being +30 years old and without experience in my field? I try to get internships here before moving to Japan. My girlfriend isn’t familiar with economics or finance, so she doesn’t know much about this.

   (Not sure if it needs to be said, but I’m not moving just because of my girlfriend. Living abroad is something that I have always wanted to do, and Japan has always been an attractive country for me, so it’s not like I will do this against my will. This might be my best chance of doing this – and of course I want to stay with my girlfriend too)

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2. You’ll get a spouse visa when you get married to your Japanese gf, which makes it easier to find a job, like a clerk or an English teaching job at Eikaiwa(private language school).

   I don’t think it’s easy to get an office job. You’ll be around 40 years old and have no career in the field.
   Decent English teaching jobs are usually for native speakers of English or people who have been educated for at least 12 years in English.

   Generally speaking, it takes a lot of time for non Chinese/Korean people to master the Japanese language. N1 is really hard to reach if you study it by yourself.

3. N1 in 4 years seems like a tall order. Some of my friends got it in 2 years, but they passed the exam based on kanji knowledge, native Chinese speakers, and reading for meaning. On top of regular college studies, I think you could solidly get N2 within four years.

   Being on a spouse visa, you could work as a digital nomad. So, you wouldn’t necessarily need a job in Japan. That might open things up a bit. The rest I can’t comment on. Good luck bro.

4. I think many people will tell you it’s better to get experience in your field while in your home country. Is this not an option?

   Remember you’re competing with younger, native Japanese speakers. So unless you have some sweet connections or make use of other skills it may be rough.
   If your spouse is okay and able to support you while you go through all this is also something to talk about if you haven’t already.

   I wish you the best.

5. I am about the same age as you and I’ve just gone through the process of interviewing for finance jobs in Japan so hopefully my perspective is helpful to you.

   The honest truth is that if you’re not already close to N1 level now then you will struggle to get a finance job in Japan. Passing N1 is not enough. You need to be fluent in the type of language you will be using in the office, and that’s beyond the N1 curriculum. Think about having to churn out investment papers, review contracts, write market research briefs, etc. on a tight deadline with perfect nuanced messaging. It’s hard enough in your native language. If the language is a struggle you will end up holding up the team and that‘a never a comfortable place to be in Finance anywhere in the world.

   The other problem you face is the lack of experience coupled with age. Japan doesn’t respect mature age students as much as other parts of the world do. At your age you’d be less than competitive against far younger local candidates for graduate or junior roles, but you don’t have the experience to be seen as a valuable foreigner who brings specialised expertise.

   I don’t want to discourage you but I think you really need to keep an open mind about what you’d actually do. You will need to consider roles and options that you wouldn’t ordinarily do if you were in your own country. Your typical desirable finance roles (e.g. banking) are probably not going to happen for you. The big 4 might consider you for a graduate role (I don’t know how they view masters students in Japan) but you wouldn’t get an experienced hire role there.

   EDIT: Actually now that I think about it, why don’t you just join the big 4 in your own country and then apply for a secondment after 3 years or so? This would be by far the best and easiest option for you given your age and experience level. I would HIGHLY recommend you to go down this route

6. You might be able to get a job in finance at an international or foreign company on an English-speaking team, which would be much better than e.g. teaching English.

   It’s impossible to say how easy or hard that will be when you actually move, since it’s several years out. I recommend taking a look on linkedin or other sites with job listings in Japan, in your target field, and seeing what kind of experience and Japanese language ability is required across companies.

   It’s also possible that to find such a job in Japan, you’d also need a few years of actual real-world work experience, so that might be something to work into your plan before moving. There’s also the route of getting a job outside of Japan that also has offices in Japan, and trying to transfer within the company.

7. If I were you I’d just live in Scandinavia and take extended holidays to Japan.

8. Hey man.

   First of all, it’s going to be a lot of work. But you seem determined. So let’s say you got this.

   Bust your butt. Finish your degree.

   N1 is possible in 4 if you have a TON of exposure to japanese and also prioritize jlpt by playing the game.

   By that I mean study the test itself and what it means to pass jlpt. There are a lot of guides and examples of past jlpt tests to give you an idea of what to prioritize.

   Maybe set goals along the way too. Take the n2 in 2 years to see where you are.

   Because jlpt doesn’t mean Japanese fluency you’ll want to also force yourself to start consuming tons of Japanese content around n4 and onward. Absolutely get rid of subtitles on videos, unless it’s Japanese subtitles.

   At the same time Start setting aside time to work through “graded readers” and leave the news on in the background when you aren’t studying. Ask your spouse what things mean but then have her revert back to Japanese.

   People are just trying to be realistic with their responses. Not discouraging.

   N1 is a tall order. N2 is what most people acquire before getting a job. Many dont bother with the n1 test after because they focus on conversational skills after getting a job.

   But let’s just say you do It. And on top of that you’ve properly studied and exposed yourself to listening, reading, and speaking practice to even speak with a level of fluency. Which is possible.

   Your work experience and age are huge factors Japanese employers will consider when hiring within your field. Yours is going to look, and I mean this with the best intentions for you and your loved one, pathetic compared to other hires the same age.

   Even if you have an amazing work ethic, are a great worker, a team player, and are loyal to any company who is willing to hire you. They can’t see that based on a resume and 30 minute interview. You have to see this from the hiring departments perspective.

   In a perfect world you’d have lots of job opportunity when you finish your degree. Sometimes the stars align.

   But the field you have chosen is fairly competitive. There’s a lot of people who choose economics, finance, and statistics related degrees. This is absolutely true in Japan.

   The best suggestion I’ve seen was to establish a career outside of the Japan and work digitally so you can still live in Japan. This will at least get you the career and expat life you want. You will get job experience, and this will make your resume look less childish. It’ll even get you business trips back home potentially.

   Another option is to find a different field of work. Economics may be your passion now, but if it seems that you could have a better chance with a similarly professional field that is more sought after in Japan then why not stack the odds in your favor?

   Maybe take a look at your country’s embassy in Japan and see what kind of work they are hiring for. Usually government jobs have more stability and more predictable salary increases. As well as lateral opportunities.

   If you’ve read around you’d see that Japanese companies can be brutal. Also their cultural norms are different, which means we foreigners can get singled out easily. That, and lots of people get laid off suddenly by companies abusing legal loopholes.

   Stacking the odds in your favor is important for anything in life. Especially if you consider Japan to be your home as a foreigner. Especially if you intend on being able to support your family with as little chance for hardship.

   As a family man I’m insanely happy that I chose a field different than my degree that landed me a fantastic salary and the ability to work in Japan. Once you get married and start having kids your life isn’t just yours anymore. You have to be a pillar of emotional and financial support for your loved ones.

   Again, I want you and your loved ones to succeed. Work hard and put your heart into it man.

   But look at bit forward as well. Really consider your options. And do some more research into the work force in Japan, as well as your options.

   Your country may have unique opportunities that others don’t. Consider those. Really dig.

   See what relationship your homecountry has to Japan. There may even be jobs in your field specifically within entities from your country.

   A company from your home country or embassy job may be less critical of your lack of job experience or language proficiency.

   It’s just as important as getting the degree and language skills. Doing research on your options. Making relationships. Networking. Setting intelligent goals and paths to success.

   Again. You can do this. Just keep looking forward and stay updated.

9. “I study economics and want to work in some economics or finance-related job”

   I think this is the first question you need to ask yourself.

   what kind of job will you focus on.

   Do you want to work in a bank ? an insurance firm ?

   Operations ? Sales ? Auditing ? Compliance ?

   Finance is a wide field.

   If you just want to get a job in finance like working in a bank, you don’t need specifically a finance or economics degree.

   Find out what you want and do your research from there.

   Another thing to consider is ageism is a real thing in the work place and even if you get a job will you be able to accept a low entry level pay ? will you be able to humble yourself to take instruction from a younger co worker who is your senior ?

   These are things you have to consider if you want to enter a new industry in a foreign country.

   And language of course will be another issue.

10. Your only reasonable path to getting a finance or economics related job is one of these:

    1. Transfer from a company in your native country or possible a UK/US finance company. Honestly this is 10x more likely to actually work in practice. I’ve met INTERNs who transferred to Japanese branches, so apparently at some companies experience is meaningless for transfers.
    2. Find a job at a Japanese company in econ/fin that emphasis your home country. The language will also likely help here. This might be doable but will likely require some years of experience (like 5).
    3. Learn to program Python/R/C++/etc as it applies to fintech and get a fintech job. Some of these jobs just don’t require much if any experience and are more about proving what you know. This isn’t exactly the job you were looking for but it’s adjunct and there just aren’t enough Japanese people who are learning the skills.
    4. Get extensive experience to the point that you are an Subject Matter Expert in your knowledge domain. Generally speaking Japanese companies will readily hire these kinds of people for any type of Job. This is how people like Automotive Engineers get jobs in Japan.