Moving to Japan after my bachelor in International Business

10 comments

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

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   **Moving to Japan after my bachelor in International Business**

   Hello! I hope this post will make sense somewhat, as I am trying to look around for what I want to do after I finish my degree.

   I am 21 years old and currently in my last year of a bachelor in international business, which I am studying for in The Hague, Netherlands (where I was born). My expected graduation date is ~June 2024. I see two possible options for myself once I graduate:
   A. Do a master in Business Administration, Operations Managements or Supply Chain Managent (as a singular master for one of them, or a dual with 2 of these options). I found a university in Tokyo (United International Business Schools) where I would be able to follow these programs, as I have the English proficiency and am near completion of the required bachelor degree in a relevant field.
   B. Start working full-time immediately

   I have always kind of dreamed of moving to Japan, and looking at my options financially I think it would be possible depending on what job opportunities I can find. My main question here is: how feasible is this plan? Can I find either a full-time job for next September, or a part-time that pays enough alongside a master?
   I heard from a friend that some Japanese companies will assist with visas and sometimes even provide you with housing upon employment, but I am unsure of this. Additionally, I would like to know around when I should be applying for my master/a job if I aim to start around September next year. Would anyone be able to help me out here?

   tl;dr
   – How early should I apply for a master in Japan (Tokyo) starting September 2024?
   – How early should I apply for a full-time job in Japan (Tokyo) starting September 2024?
   – Is it normal for companies to assist with finding housing for internationals?

   ​

   Sorry if this was worded wrong in some parts, I kind of did this on a fly in the middle of a huge japan-research session… haha, but I hope it’s at least partially comprehensible!

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2. Well, it’s Japan, so things start in April, not September. Recruitment is usually for April start (shuukatsu). Universities start in April. Take that into consideration.

   Also English-taught programmes are usually not that good, according to what I read on here.

3. I would say B is a better option, in business field you are more worth because of your work experience tbh. An MBA is worth doing after 4-5 years of solid working experience (even some programs have this as a requirement). The connections you make there are meant to be a jump in your career ladder.

   Also, do you have any Japanese skills? If the answer is no, I would suggest to get some work experience in your country while you work towards perfecting your language skills.

4. Hi OP, here’s a couple of random questions and thoughts that I had while reading through your post:

   * Have you been to Japan before? Moving halfway across the world is no small feat.
   * How did you end up looking at “United International Business Schools”? They don’t seem to rank well and the vibe that I get is that they are more like a business than like a university. Tuition also seems pretty expensive (for European standards), the figure I saw was $18,000/year.
   * How’s your Japanese? Have you taken any JLPT exams?

   I don’t think your second plan (applying to jobs right away) is feasible. You’re a fresh graduate with a business degree, which means that you don’t have much bargaining power when applying to jobs in Japan. Generally speaking companies hire foreign candidates when they are looking for specific skills (often technical skills) or specific experience, of which you have neither at the moment. That’s doubly true if you don’t have decent Japanese proficiency. “Speaking English” is not specifically a skill in this context that will set you apart from other job applicants.

   Which leaves your first option of studying in Japan. I recommend you to have a look at the MEXT scholarships (and the associated conditions & timeline) that are mentioned on the website of the [Japanese embassy in The Hague](https://www.nl.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/e_culture.html). I would seriously consider the possibility of starting a master degree in April 2025 (if you were to go to Japan). Moreover, from your replies in this thread it’s not clear to me whether you’re at a university or university of applied sciences (hogeschool). If it’s the latter you’ll want to contact the Japanese embassy and look at sources like Nuffic to see whether your degree is considered a “college degree”. I don’t know whether it would pose a problem, but better safe than sorry.

5. Without business level Japanese skills, I can’t imagine being able to get a decent job if your qualifications are just a BA in business. Remember, there are many Japanese applicants with the same credentials, and they speak Japanese. Many of the people who move to Japan for jobs that don’t require Japanese (and that aren’t English teaching) are in tech and have programming skills.

   If you’re able to get a job offer, then yes the company handles the visa— that’s standard procedure for people coming over on a work visa (it would be different if it was a WHV, spouse visa, etc.).

   Doing an MBA in Japan is possible, but again since your language is not at the level needed for study, you’d need to do an English language program, and their quality is of great debate in this sub.

   If you are curious about jobs, just look on daijob, indeed, etc and see if you qualify for any. It will give you a better sense.

6. 1. You need to be pretty proficient in Japanese to stand any chance.

   2. seems like you’ve never actually been to Japan. I’d visit and seriously take a look at the living and working environment before even remotely considering moving here.

   Japan is a fantastic place to live, for the right person. It is not what most people think it’s like.

7. I came to Japan after graduating with the same degree as you. First, I studied Japanese at a local university for one year while working part-time and searching for a full-time job. I found a job in international sales right after completing the Japanese course. Perhaps you should prioritize learning Japanese first since it’s quite important.

8. If you’re coming here to do business, the. Likely that business is related to doing business with Japanese clients. The question is, can you speak Japanese? Maybe _maybe_ you can find an English and Dutch(?) only job but the likelihood is questionable in my honest opinion.

   The companies where I’ve worked, granted I work in IT, the business and operations foreign staff, were either

   A) highly senior in their field and were moved here to oversee the development of a new project or business and were supported by at least one staff member who was bilingual

   B) they were bilingual themselves. And not just I can ask for a plastic bag, a pair of chopsticks, and my combini bento microwaved, I mean they are able to read write speak and listen at the level of formal Japanese including industry specific jargon, although I’m sure many of them learned the jargon on the job.

   The most realistic advice I could possibly give you is to found or meet a mentor who had a similar career path or is in the kind of place you want to be in and get their insight on how the job market looks given your skill set and qualifications. Talk to recruiters and get their opinion. Honestly, they will probably just take your resume and put it into their database but they might give you a peek at some job descriptions that they handle and what the qualifications are.

9. Well you are 21 only so you can do whatever you want in this life. When you arrive in Japan make sure you study hard Japanese because that will be the most important key that opens all the doors you want to cross in Japan.

10. Hey OP – it can be quite hard to find work that isn’t in Japanese if you also have no experience in any field. Realistically if acheiving a strong career is important to you, you would be better to start your career in Europe, and then seek a transfer.

    From what i have seen there are basically two types of foreign workers here from the west:

    1. Those who’s skill is being bilingual
    2. Those who’s skill is in demand in Japan despite their low level Japanese

    Group 1 is mostly long term ALT types, they came here either as a language student or ALT at a young age and decided to stay after acheiving very strong business level Japanese.

    Group 2 is mostly older (28-35+) highly skilled people who have either transferred here or been sent here by their company, which may or may not be Japanese. Generally these people have specialised skills either technical (engineering, programming, science etc) or soft (international business, marketing, logistics, management etc).

    Generally group 2 tends to be higher paid, and often the work you do can be in english, though you will 100% need strong Japanese to live and integrate easily into the country, so please learn. Some companies will pay for your housing and so on, but honestly thats not really important at this stage, you’ll get the offer you get.

    Anyway, i feel like group 2 may suit you better based on your post. If you really want to get over there as a younger person than taking a study break and doing a working holiday visa is a good option, and it will help you decide if coming here long term later is worth doing and you can then design your future in way that helps you achieve that.