I went to an interview for what I thought was a very basic construction job, stuff like moving materials. In my country it is very common for immigrants to do this kind of job. I am an able bodied young man so I feel like I at least somewhat look the part. But after just a few minutes of talking he basically told me sorry but no. And his reasoning was all stuff about how being a foreigner would make it really difficult. Obviously he could have just had a specific kind of person he wants to hire, but I was wondering if I keep going to interviews is this gonna be a common thing? I was interested in this job because the add made it seem like they had a system where you registered for the days you wanted to work if there were any openings. Anyone aware of any other part time jobs where it is kind of like you can work when you want to?
Edit: forgot to include I am a student with basically no skills. Really willing to do anything except maybe like janitor stuff. Any recommendations for places to work are appreciated.
37 comments
I think industries that require highly skilled labor would be more open to foreigners with international experience.
That means you don’t understand Japanese language and culture well enough to fit in with the crews.
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go to hello work.
google アルバイト求人
if you cant read the above then you need to learn japanese
You will soon learn that in Japan what people say is not what they really mean. They didn’t turn you down for being a foreigner, I’m sure
they knew that before giving you an interview.
They didn’t think you would be a good fit, could be a lack of Japanese ability like someone else said or the interviewer just made assumptions about your ability to handle what is pretty hard unpleasant work and thought you wouldn’t be up for it.
Why not janitorial?
> forgot to include I am a student with basically no skills
I mean this with no disrespect, but why would a Japanese company hire you then? Are you going to take ridiculously low salary, and if so, how are you going to live?
There is plenty of opportunity in Japan for those with employable skills. If you’re that desperate to live in Japan, become someone that a Japanese company would consider hiring.
Your question is “Does *anywhere* actually want to hire foreigners?”
We’re mostly all foreigners on this subreddit… and most of us have jobs… so I guess yeah?
Just being able to do the basic requirements of the job wouldn’t be the only thing the boss is looking for.
If you can’t fit into their working culture, that sometimes is even worse than inability to do the job.
And in another thread, didn’t you say you’re a student?
So you can only work 28 hours correct?
So if they need people to work a little overtime, your limited work hour visa would be a big headache for them maybe.
And then you say you don’t have any money?
You literally have no money, or are you exaggerating?
How would you get to work, if you get a job?
(Your first salary would probably be the following month)
There’s so much to unpack from all your recent posts.
Don’t you also need to attend school and get good results to maintain a student visa?
More questions than answers really.
Hatarako dot net. Try that website. Use google chrome for auto translate. You could find some jobs there that they specifically specify foreigners are ok or students with no experience are ok. Found many jobs there
Teach English part time 👍🏻
The answer to your question is yes, companies do hire non Japanese people. Even in construction jobs. In my area there’s construction on a bridge & I see foreign young guys daily.
Some advice since I was a student here too is let this inspire you to acquire skill sets that could earn you some income while you are here:
* Japanese to a conversation level
* Reading Japanese to be able to at least email back & forth
* Freelance something, acting, design, programming, singing, photography, art etc.
Being broke & needing money was great inspiration for me to improve my design skills years back & do freelancing work.
Keep in mind that construction is one of those fields with insane and useless gate keeping requirements. Just my opinion but from personal experience I had to attend a lecture on how to wear a full harness to get a license so that I could access an elevated 現場. And I’m not even in the field so I guess the average JH graduate construction worker here must have dozens of these ridiculous certifications.
I’ve definitely seen non-Japanese people working construction, but it really is going to be down to individual firms. I’m assuming as a student you have a set number of hours you can legally work per week, but a lot of employers probably assume they have to wade into visa sponsorship etc and can’t be bothered.
Aside from the usual site like baitoru, you can also try hunt in the facebook group.
Usually there’s recruiters that also can speak english there.
Do you have any interests outside of what you’re currently studying? Sign up for Skillshare and start learning a skill that more easily translates to a job here, or as others have said, focus on something you’re passionate about and can develop into a niche of your own.
Convenience stores, night factory work, dish washers usually take on foreign workers with limited Japanese/no work experience.
Naturally, the pay isn’t great, but if you are desperate for work it is better than nothing.
How’s your Japanese? Even in your OP, where you say “he basically told me” which reads as “I don’t know exactly what he said, but it was probably this”.
It sounds like you were painfully under qualified and he tried to let you down easy. I wouldn’t take this one failure as “nobody hires gaijin! <insert rant about Japan being racist>”
Sometimes this stuff takes self reflection:
– do you speak Japanese?
– do you read Japanese?
– do you have experience?
– how is your availability?
– references?
– visa type? (This is actually extremely important since some visa types lock you into certain types of work)
– etc
Oh mate I had this happen. All set-up from hellowork, they’ve been told I can barely speak except basic greetings and counting. Get to the appointment and within 5 minutes it’s done. And pretty much all they’d ask is where I’m from, it was like a meet the gaining or that they had to accept a certain number of applicants from hellowork or something like that.
Edit; gaijin not gaining
If you have some basic Japanese I suggest places like fast food , family restaurants, convince store, etc. If you don’t know any Japanese then teaching English is your best bet.
You are probably not the target demographic for construction work in general (seeing as you are studying in university) but also you need to be able to complete communicate in Japanese to do these jobs as your lack of understanding could be a hazard to other coworkers (lots of dangerous materials / tools).
Convenience store clerk? Being able to work someplace very close to where you live is usually the best. I think they’ve been hiring more and more foreigners nowadays.
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Why do people always go to the “CAUSE IM A FORENGER” reasoning when they don’t get what they want?
you already said it yourself. You have no skills, and im assuming one of the skills you lack is something critical, Japanese speaking ability.
You clearly would not of fit in and made things difficult. You say these are foreigner “jobs”, but even foreigners in America have basic English/Spanish skills enough to:
1. understand simple directions given by the boss or manager
2. communicate simply.
They aren’t gonna hand hold you and tell you what to do.
if you really have no japanese skills, join an Eikaiwa or something like that. It requires no Japanese at all and is really for foreigners with no prospects like myself.
Construction is a pretty serious and well-respected career around here. Maybe go for more “student” type jobs. Think conbini, cafe, conbini, teaching your home language, conbini, etc.
This is only a sample of one experience. I’d do at least 3-4 more interviews for similar jobs before jumping to any conclusions. Could just be this guy is racist. Or maybe you are presenting yourself in a really bad way to the employers or something else. More data would help you figure out what’s going on.
What’s your Japanese level?
Even to pick up garbage you need to be an N3 to navigate the office paperwork and changes in planning around holidays, etc.
The gastronomy workfield will gladly take foreigners for the entry level jobs. They don’t pay much but if you need a job now it would do.
If you want something blue collar, the auto parts industry is a good place to look. I’ve heard that it’s not the most pleasant environment but I’ve seen many immigrants from different countries working there.
Op obviously speaks English, why not eikaiwa or something? Just as demeaning as manual labor, but they love it more the less Japanese you are.
I know an American who’s been doing carpentry, demolition, and construction for over 20 years. He got turned down ONCE for being a foreigner. He was super upset about it and couldn’t believe it.
Do you speak Japanese? Do you have construction experience? These are the two most important things I think.
Construction is far from unskilled labor. The basic immigrants you see doing it are probably very good at it and busting ass. My friend who gets hired gets hired because he’s very good and smokes the Japanese guys. The people he works for vouch for him so he has no issues finding work.
I don’t think being a foreigner itself is an issue 99.9% of the time.
I was with him once and we popped into a shop to borrow some tools. These tools were worth a lot of money and they generally don’t lend them to individuals. He called one of his big shot bosses, whom everyone in the construction business would know, he’s 社長 of a pretty big company, the boss vouched for him and boom, we (2 gaijin) got a truck full of tools, from people we’ve never met. Because I was with him then And we didn’t have any problems I can also now rent from them and that shop will vouch for me. Reputation is worth a lot in Japan, especially in construction.
How good is your Japanese? If you are able to understand orders and technical stuff then he was just racist. If your Japanese is awful, miscommunication in construct is what gets people killed or gets things built wrong. Also what’s your visa? That’s another hassle most regular companies don’t want to deal with.
Hello Work, NHK tv shows (if you’re in Tokyo-that’s what I did).
Modeling (also something I did a little of).
Bridgestone hires foreigners, so I’m sure other international companies do as well.
Considering that back in the day I was hired for a kitchen job with no skills and N3 Japanese, and a lot of my classmates with even N5 and also no skills found jobs packing bento in factories or cleaning hotel rooms and the like, there’s plenty available. I don’t understand why one rejection made you think or even question if all Japanese companies reject foreigners.
Have you tried Townwork? Hellowork? Asking your friends? Asking the jobs and careers counselor at your school? If not, go do all that first.
The answer to your question is yes , otherwise we d all be homeless.
I know these kind of jobs you are talking about. I’ve done a couple of them over the past few months. The registration system, moving the materials on the construction sites. Trust me you haven’t missed out on anything. A few reasons. This work kills your body! If you aren’t in incredible shape it’s like doing a serious gym workout for 9 hours a day! Also you mentioned that you didn’t understand 100% of what he said at the interview well imagine how difficult it would be on a site with constant noise where it is difficult to hear. Lastly, the first place I worked for like this didn’t pay me!
Good luck on finding something that you enjoy! Hope it works out!
Not part-time, but I have interviewed into full-time gigs. Pass the HR interview well, then the hiring manager just straight up saying that they want Japanese people. So yes, some of these are like this. Even if your Japanese is good enough, they dont think you’ll gell well with the team. And honestly, would you want to work with a bunch of racists? Nah. you can find places, many, that will take you if you have the skills they want though.
As a foreigner that lived half of my life in japan i would say, go to job agencies
They will put you on alot places than if you try to get a job by yourself, usually the have alot of jobs oppenig that requires little to no japanese at all
Places like aichi, shizuoka and mie usually have alot of factory work,
Yeap its a boring work, ussualy filled with gaijins but i can assure u, you WILL get a job
Uniqlo will hire a lot of students part time. Maybe some jobs through your school as well.