Currently, I am an international business student from The Netherlands. For this study, I have to do half a year of an exchange program, which I am doing right now in Japan, and then right after an internship. Now, this does not necessarily have to be in Japan but I love the country and the culture and would love to also do my internship here.
I know the work culture is quite intense but I am prepared to do this.
The thing is I heard from my University professor in Japan that internships are not really a thing here and might be hard to find. So are there any tips for finding an internship here in Japan?
I have looked mainly on LinkedIn for now.
Edit: I forgot to clarify that the professor from the Japanese university I talked to is the one in charge of the internship programs of the Japanese university, however they only 2-week summer internships and I need 5 months.
6 comments
The university you’re visiting here would have a career advice desk to help with these kind of things.
You can start looking for company that you like and open for internship. Because it’s small chance that it’s available in their website. Directly contact them, and explain your situation.
And yes, you can ask for help from the University’s administration that help foreign student. Not from your professor
Intership in Japan are mostly just 1-2days job tour, showing around factory/offices/company profile/personality test/etc as a pretense for job interview. The idea of an intership like in Europe is nearly non-existent in Japan.
I did a couple internships in Japan while doing my MBA
Most good companies will post on Linkedin, try searching for インターン or インターンシップ
you could also just google インターンシップ 募集、there are a bunch of recruiting websites where you can apply to them
Your professor is right, but only for Japanese companies. You can try looking for internships from international companies with Japan offices.
There was not enough detail, but are you planning to do the internship after the exchange program is over and continue staying in Japan to do a internship? For internships often you are required to be in Japan as a student for the duration of the internship (meaning you hold a valid student visa for the duration of the internship). Just keep that in mind.
The company I’m at in tokyo has often posted internships here.
https://kopra.org
The site covers east Asia in general, including Japan. Good luck!