Hello! I’m a graphic designer student in Japan (all my classes are 100% in Japanese and I don’t get treated differently I’m like another student)
I will be graduating next April and since march of this year I have been looking for graphic design Jobs. I did everything as I was a Japanese person (ポートフォリオ、履歴書…) And applied to 10~ companies like as I were a Japanese person. Since I have a pretty high Japanese level I thought I could handle this.
But unfortunately I have never received an interview. About my design skill level, when I told my teacher about my rejections all of them were surprised since I’m one of the best students (my grades are all A). So I was thinking, isn’t it better I apply as a foreigner? Instead of using the Japanese format and through mails instead of the usual route?
If anyone has tips or advice I would appreciate it 🙂
4 comments
Which size of company did you try? I would recommend big companies, as small Studios are probably afraid to take a foreigner new grad without recommendation. Also ask you teacher/uni for introductions through their network.
as a freshgrad I applied to 30+ companies, which resulted in 15 online tests, into 7 interviews, finally leading to 1 offer..
I also recently changed jobs, 25 companies, 10 online tests, into 6 interviews, 1 offer
I would suggest casting a wider net
I still have a few more years until 就活 but my 専門学校 teachers told us a bit about the process. I think roughly you need to apply to a lot more than just 10 companies. Also when it comes to big companies especially, they will judge heavily on your エントリーシート so you need to make that look as best as possible. We are encouraged in my 専門学校 to try and get a lot of 資格, for example 基本情報 or CG検定, maybe there are some graphic design related tests you can try and take if you have time? Also maybe you can ask your teachers for 推薦 to a company if thats possible. Anyway good luck!
If you have not progressed to the interview stage, I think you fall into one of these categories.
– You have no experience in hiring foreigners and are only applying to small companies that do not want to do so.
– Your Japanese level is not really high enough.
– There is a problem with your portfolio.
I work for a mid-size game developer in Japan. If you are interested, please remove your personal information from your portfolio and resume and share me a Private Message, in Japanese.