I was born and raised in the U.S. , my only fluent language is english but i have 2 bachelors, one in econ another in finance from an american university. I worked in small business development and sales for 5 years and in a brokerage for 2 with all the proper licensing (now only have my SIE as i left that brokerage for a career transition). I’ve visited Japan, and I speak just enough to get by with my shopping and travel.
I’m of course here for the same reason as everyone else but I’m worried by what I’ve researched so far. I’ve already lined up an interview in an ALT position with Amity but the stability and longevity of being an ALT seems shaky. I’ve got a few questions to help in my search:
1. Is remote work from Japan a viable option? Working maybe another brokerage (as much as I hated it) or another telecom company and doing remote? I’ve already got a full setup and have worked remotely before in both fields but of course from the u.s.
2. Should I take the ALT position will this be a viable position to transition out of within a year after improving my Japanese?
3. If neither of the above, with my experience and education would it be viable to get a job in finance or sales? I’ve seen advertisements for positions in car sales to u.s. troops as well as other jobs related to sales with the u.s. military.
4. If sponsored housing isn’t available how easy is obtaining residency and residing within an ikuya?
Tldr; I appreciate any advice on the moving process and job prospects for a native English speaker and current u.s. resident with experience in their field.
5 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**I (m27) am interested but scared of the lack of opportunity**
I was born and raised in the U.S. , my only fluent language is english but i have 2 bachelors, one in econ another in finance from an american university. I worked in small business development and sales for 5 years and in a brokerage for 2 with all the proper licensing (now only have my SIE as i left that brokerage for a career transition). I’ve visited Japan, and I speak just enough to get by with my shopping and travel.
I’m of course here for the same reason as everyone else but I’m worried by what I’ve researched so far. I’ve already lined up an interview in an ALT position with Amity but the stability and longevity of being an ALT seems shaky. I’ve got a few questions to help in my search:
1. Is remote work from Japan a viable option? Working maybe another brokerage (as much as I hated it) or another telecom company and doing remote? I’ve already got a full setup and have worked remotely before in both fields but of course from the u.s.
2. Should I take the ALT position will this be a viable position to transition out of within a year after improving my Japanese?
3. If neither of the above, with my experience and education would it be viable to get a job in finance or sales? I’ve seen advertisements for positions in car sales to u.s. troops as well as other jobs related to sales with the u.s. military.
4. If sponsored housing isn’t available how easy is obtaining residency and residing within an ikuya?
Tldr; I appreciate any advice on the moving process and job prospects for a native English speaker and current u.s. resident with experience in their field.
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Holy mother of god don’t take the ALT position. You’re a finance professional; join a finance firm here in Japan.
>Is remote work from Japan a viable option?
In order to have a status of residence that allows you to live and work in Japan, you need a primary purpose that requires you to be in Japan. That primary purpose can be open ended (to live with a spouse, to explore your Japanese heritage, etc) but if the primary purpose is for work, then the employer must be based out of Japan. So for the most part, no it is not a viable option.
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>Should I take the ALT position will this be a viable position to transition out of within a year after improving my Japanese?
ALT work is seen as no skill work for folks fresh out of university looking to take a gap year. As long as you treat it as such, as it’s fine. But the longer you do it the more difficult it will be to find an employer to take your application seriously.
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>If neither of the above, with my experience and education would it be viable to get a job in finance or sales?
The language of business in Japan is Japanese. There may be some positions that are looking for people who can also speak English, but they’d still require that you’re able to function in Japanese. Even in the ‘car salesman near a US military base’ example, the paperwork *may* have English translations, but the offiicial documents would be in Japanese and you’d be expected to be able to read them and explain them in laymans terms in both languages.
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>If sponsored housing isn’t available how easy is obtaining residency and residing within an ikuya?
I’ve never heard this term ‘ikuya’ before. But if you’re not picky there are plenty of housing options available. You’ll probably want to spend your first few months in a guest house while you get used to the area and figure out where you’d like to live more longer term.
>Is remote work from Japan a viable option?
No. There’s no visa for remote work, so aside from some very expensive options like a GEO or marrying a local you’re out of luck.
Plus: There are almost certainly restrictions on working as a broker from overseas.
>Should I take the ALT position will this be a viable position to transition out of within a year after improving my Japanese?
Not really. If you’re qualified to get a “real” job, you’re qualified to do that now. While you certainly have more qualifications than the average ALT, it’s not something that should be treated as a stepping stone.
Many employers actually view ALT experience *negatively* if they see it on your resume.
>If neither of the above, with my experience and education would it be viable to get a job in finance or sales?
Both of those fields would require fairly high levels of Japanese to work on the domestic market.
>If sponsored housing isn’t available how easy is obtaining residency and residing within an ikuya?
You mean Akiya? Zero chance. We’ve discussed that a bunch of times here before. Besides: You aren’t even here yet. Planning on buying/renovating a house is wildly premature.
Housing in general is *relatively* simple.
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