So I have seen a number of posts here about people looking to use an ALT job to then transition into a real job or career in Japan but most of them seem to focus on getting advanced degrees in japan/working entry-level jobs or following a teaching certification path. I am young (23) but just finished my M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and I am curious if people here have ever transitioned into a technical field from an ALT? Probably sounds like a terrible career choice but I am curious. I studied Japanese for a few years in high school so I have a base in it where I feel if I took some type of formalized classes while teaching there I could get to an acceptable Japanese level fairly quickly? Or possibly find companies in the engineering sector where English is more acceptable?
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Thanks
13 comments
I’m not sure about the career mobility part of your question, but ALT jobs generally afford you a ton of downtime. If you’re dedicated you can achieve a decent amount of progress studying the language, especially being surrounded by teachers who don’t speak a lick of English like at many elementary schools.
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It will be a LOT easier to get a job in Japan in your field if you spent that time getting experience in your field in your home country rather than being an ALT.
It is possible especially if you can get your Japanese level to N2. Your age is just about right. Whatever you do, don’t try to make a career out of teaching. You are just throwing your life away. I used the teaching to pay for my studies and I have had a long and successful IT career here in Japan.
I think it’s pretty common for people to get experience and language ability in their home country, come to Japan as an ALT or preferably Eikaiwa teacher for the visa and solidify their Jalanese (many Japanese companies don’t want to deal with sponsoring visas for people outside of Japan), then changing jobs by moving to Tokyo or Kansai.
Friend worked for an eikaiwa for about a year during which time he studied Japanese hard (very hard!). He got back into banking which he had been doing in his home country prior to coming to Japan. He now holds a very well paid and ‘high’ position in banking in Tokyo. So yeah anything can be done with hard-work AND a bit of luck (like most things in life)!
It’s a horrible idea. The problem with this idea, is you’re only going have a degree, but absolutely **no experience** in that field.
So ask yourself, why would they bother hiring a foreigner with *no experience* and less then fluent Japanese abilities, over a younger Japanese citizen fresh out of uni with the same degree and no communication issues?
You’re better off staying home, building experience in your field while improving your Japanese, and THEN if you still want to. Move to Japan.
As for
>an acceptable Japanese level fairly quickly
Around an N2 level would be “acceptable” (that won’t include all the jargon specific vocab you would need to know) with the JLPT. However, that still takes several years of some real dedication to achieve. So I’m not sure what you would consider “fairly quickly”.
I worked in marketing before coming to Japan. Did the ALT/eikaiwa job for about 2 years but at the same time I was doing remote internship for companies back home as to make sure there aren’t gonna be random gaps in my resume. Ended up getting a job in tokyo back in the marketing field with good pay. Was brought in as a specialist so the amount of japanese I use is minimal, so it’s not impossible especially for an in demand field like engineering.
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If you have a bachelor’s degree you are qualified to work as an ALT in Japan. Everything beyond that is up to your qualifications and timing.
Others have basically said what I wanted to say already but I just wanted to give you a real-life example. I’m an actuary, which while I don’t have an advanced degree is one of those highly skilled professional fields. I worked for 5 years at home after graduating and was a mid-level manager when I decided to take a break. I came to Japan as an ALT with JET, did it for a year and got bored. Then I found a job as an actuary in an English environment. However, this would not have been possible if I didn’t have at least 5 years experience under my belt. Your field might be different, but there is VERY little chance a company would need an engineer with no experience and no Japanese (expect at least 2 years to reach a level that’s good enough for work, and that still won’t be very good)
Stay home, work a few years, then reconsider this
ALT positions are just a way to get to Japan and search within Japan, it opens lots of doors compared to interviewing from abroad. Even people with non-technical degrees start learning to code while being an ALT and land programmer positions with relative ease. Also, you’ll get better at using Japanese in a day to day basis, it’s usually quite different casual Japanese from what you learn and will make you look way better at interviews.
Also, Happy New Year!
>Probably sounds like a terrible career choice but I am curious.
Not really. If you’re qualified, I’d say that your work history doesn’t matter *that much*. A year or two as an ALT while you get your Japanese up to N1 level won’t hurt you.
The people who are saying to not waste your time are simply inept at interviewing and selling their resume. If a prospective employer in Japan were to ask you why you worked as an ALT for a couple of years, it would be (should be, I should say) an easy task to explain how your ALT experience helped you learn the language and culture and sharpen your preparation and improvisation skills and that your previous experience will benefit you in your future role. See? Easy.