How to Get a Job in Japan

Don’t let anyone tell you that you must live an unremarkable life.

There is a great big world out there, and nobody is making you miss it. You can get out. You can see what’s on the other side. And you can get paid for it.

Are you unsatisfied with the direction your life has taken since college?
Are you tired of serving coffee to annoying yuppies who think they are the center of the universe?
Does your local karaoke bar have a limited selection?
Have you ever wanted to do something that nobody you know has ever done?
Do you worry about growing old without having seen the world?
Are you struggling to get by with college loans hanging over your head?
Are you tired of stale sushi?
Have you ever felt that your life was meaningless?
Do you love robots?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you owe it to yourself to keep reading, because I created How to Get a Job in Japan for you.

I’ve Been There, and I Can Help You

Maybe you’re already actively looking for employment now.

Are you tired of trying to sift through all the crap information online wondering whom to trust?
Have you spent an hour reading something that claims to be “all about finding a job in Japan” only to get to the end and find it’s copyrighted years ago?
Have you tried consulting internet forums only to find them full of trolls, flames, and complainers?

I’ve been there. Over the past several years, I’ve had dozens of people asking me for the exact information in this guide. These have been people who were tired of wading through all the outdated and contradictory information floating around online. People who tried to figure out what they needed to know by reading internet forums but couldn’t distinguish the good advice from the misinformed.

After rewriting the same series of emails over and over again for years, I finally decided to collect all of my knowledge about Japanese Jobs in one place. The result is How to Get a Job in Japan. Creative title, right?

Before you start thinking that this is just some guy writing theories about the Japanese job market, I want to prove to you that this course consists of tried and true strategies that are proven to work.

After living here for several years, I had to return home to the US for a few months. All the while, my girlfriend and I racked up tons of frequent flier miles (and a sizable credit card debt) trying to stay together. Eventually, Japan won out, and I was faced with finding a work from overseas again.

To compound the difficulty of finding a job, this was in late 2007 - just a few months after the English conversation mega-chain NOVA went bankrupt, leaving thousands of desperate English teachers without employment. Talk about a flooded job market, this was a tough time to be trying to apply for a job in Japan. But I did apply, and I was offered an interview. The recruiter and I talked over instant coffee and some kind of cookies, and after a couple of hours, he offered me a job on the spot. I accepted, and moved back to Japan a few months later. If I can pull that off in the toughest job market Japan has ever seen, I can help you find work.

Why You Want to Live in Japan

I know that work isn’t the most important thing in your life. After all, we work to live, not the other way around, right? For most people, working in Japan is really just a means to an end - living in Japan.

Let me tell you, living in Japan is great.

This is an amazing country, and there are tons of interesting things to see and do.

I have a heated toilet seat in my apartment.
The neighborhood karaoke joint has songs in Japanese, Korean, and English.
In the summer, I can see fireworks from my balcony, and there’s a park about a block away where I invite friends over for BBQ.
There is virtually no violent crime.
There are 1001 flavors of ice cream (I’m on a mission to taste them all) and other local delicacies everywhere you go.
Japan has one of the best public transit systems in the entire world.

But I don’t think I have to convince you that living in Japan is an experience you want. You already know that, and it’s the thing that lead you here in the first place. So the question is, why aren’t you here already?

There could be a number of things holding you back:

You don’t speak Japanese.
You don’t have any work experience.
You’re afraid you won’t be able to find work.
You’ve never been out of the country, and you’re nervous about being able to live here.
You’ve heard that living in Japan is expensive.

But those are just excuses. Everybody starts with no experience, and most of us didn’t speak much, if any, Japanese at all before moving here. And let me assure you that there are jobs. Excuses should not be holding you back from living your dreams - especially if those dreams include living in Japan someday.

Japan is a modern nation that has all the things you’ll find in the rest of the world. Sure, Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but nobody is saying you have to live in Tokyo. There are several other cities throughout the country where you can enjoy a high quality of life on very modest means. You can watch movies in English, eat fried chicken, and shoot hoops at the local gym. If you’re concerned that you won’t be able to adapt to a Japanese lifestyle, rest assured that you have nothing to worry about.

Let’s look at what you should really be worried about:

Finding a job after graduation that pays more than $8/hour
Paying off student loans
Missing out on the opportunity to change your life
Growing old without having traveled the world when you had the chance
Being unsatisfied with your current options
Living an unremarkable life
Always wondering how things could have been

There are opportunities for you here that will pay you good money while allowing you to experience far more than you would where you are now.

You’ll Never Be the Same

Your experiences here will change the way you look at life forever. I can promise you that.

You’ll start out thinking how strange Japan is, but then you’ll start to notice how similar people really are despite their cultural differences. You’ll also begin to see what your own culture looks like from the outside and gain perspective on things back home that you would never have even noticed otherwise. You’ll have the chance to gain professional experience: teaching, speaking and communication skills, cultural sensitivity, not to mention language. How valuable you make your experience here is only a matter of your motivation to learn and how well you leverage those lessons.

What’s Included

A lot of effort and attention to detail went into the organization, layout, and design of this guide.

How to Get a Job in Japan gives you:

7 steps to applying for work in Japan from abroad - so you know what your primary objective is at all times
specific strategies for passing the JET Programme application and interview stages - from a former JET interviewer - that give you a serious edge in being selected
5 little-known ways to find a job if you’re already in Japan - because the best jobs are not posted on the big boards
16 (non-obvious) steps you can take to make your move easy and painless - to take the uncertainty out of your trip overseas
a thorough understanding of how communication skill is the most important “qualification” for getting any job
2 ways to leverage non-paid opportunities while traveling on a tourist visa - to make the most the skills and experience you do have

I’ll also tell you:

how to research potential employers so you can avoid those with a reputation for taking advantage foreign workers
how to compare job postings so you don’t get thrown off by misleading or vague information
the best ways to contact a potential employer - hint: it doesn’t include clicking a “submit” button
whether you should fly over to search for jobs or stay home
how to get university teaching experience without an advanced degree
what area of the education industry is about to experience a dramatic increase in available positions
what Japanese resumes always include that Western ones do not - and how doing it right will help keep your application on the top of the pile
how to craft a cover letter that speaks to recruiters in their own language so your name gets put on the interview list
how to make the best impression on interviewers to make sure you get called back
what points you need to check on a typical contract before making a commitment
everything you need to know about getting a visa that allows you to work in Japan
what you need to get started in Japan and how much money you’ll need to bring with you
To help you adjust and look like a pro when you get here, I’ve included a section on what it’s like to work for a Japanese company

…and loads more. This really is the most comprehensive guide to finding work in Japan ever created.

Why You Really Need This Guide

The regulations for securing a visa and moving to Japan are available on several official websites. But you’ll need to weed through a lot of dense and complicated information in order to discern what you actually need to do in order to obtain a visa. Even then, it’s nearly impossible to get a work visa without first obtaining a Certificate of Eligibility, and that has to be done from Japan.

Job boards with positions in Japan are widely advertised. These sites will tell you what jobs are available, but beyond the basic qualifications, they won’t tell you what recruiters are really looking for. Over the years, I’ve built relationships with several companies that hire foreign workers, and I can tell you the best ways to impress the people who will read your resume and interview you.

Of course, Google can also guide you to several FAQs covering working in Japan. Some of these pages have a fair amount of information, covering everything from applying to moving to getting ready to go back home.

There’s just one problem: most of them are out of date. Very out of date.

Go ahead and look for yourself. The best one (hosted on a popular forum) was last updated in 2007, and I’ve seen others from 2002. I even found one from 1997! That’s just not going to be good enough. NOVA collapsed in 2007, and it’s a whole different job market now. Information from over ten years ago simply isn’t going to be very useful at all today. Important changes to Japan’s immigration laws and huge changes in the educational system (that directly affect anyone thinking of teaching English in Japan) have occurred in just the past couple of years. More are on the horizon.

Don’t Get Taken for a Ride

I’ve met my fair share of people already living in Japan that felt they were being taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers. Japan’s labor laws aren’t very clear when it comes to protecting the rights of foreign workers, so most of these people found themselves stuck in unfair contracts that they couldn’t get out of. Some companies are notorious for making misleading and even false promises in their recruiting materials and on job postings.

I’ve been telling my friends how to avoid such tactics, but these companies still manage to take in new recruits each year. I wrote this guide, in part, because I got sick of seeing people make the same mistakes year after year.

In How to Get a Job in Japan, I go into detail about how to check up on companies, how to scrutinize job postings, and how to spot an exploitative contract. In today’s market, these are essential survival skills. Some recruiters see overseas candidates as easy marks because they have little or no Japanese skills and little or no understanding of their rights under the Japanese labor laws.

Your Strategy for Success

Owning a bandsaw does you no good if you don’t know how to use it. In fact, you’ll probably just cut your thumb off.

I’m not going to stop with just giving you the links to a few job boards and telling you to check the immigration website. Anyone can do that. I’m going to give you the benefit of several years of experience and a number of successful job searches to teach you how to distinguish yourself as a candidate and communicate with potential employers. And those last two are the most important “qualifications” you can have for any job - especially with so many competitors.

No Hype - Just a Solid Strategy

Click to Order from Amazon

Let’s be totally honest. I’d love to be able to tell you that How to Get a Job in Japan can help you save the day, get the girl (or guy), and be a rock star all at the same time, but this guide is not about those things (stay tuned for a future release…). What it absolutely will do is walk you through finding available positions in Japan and presenting yourself as the ideal candidate to fill them. This is a strategic guide, and no amount of hype can equal the promise of a proven strategy.

Don’t sit there in front of your computer thinking your life is going to change on its own.

Click the book image to the right to get your copy of How to Get a Job in Japan for only $14.95 on Amazon.

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Look. Honestly? What do you have planned for the next $15 you spend?

Rent the season 3 of LOST from NetFlix?
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Some other waste of your time and your life.

For $14.95, you have a choice:

the same old crap you always blow your money on

… or …

the chance to make a significant change in the direction and quality of your life.

Change Your Life for the Better

Of course, If you already have the perfect life, How to Get a Job in Japan is not for you.

Here are a few more reasons this guide might not suit you:

You can’t imagine life without super-sizing.
You like the idea of being born, growing up, growing old, and dying in the same place.
Your idea of “Japanese culture” is limited to sushi, anime, and karate.
Change frightens you.

Who can benefit from How to Get a Job in Japan ?

: Click to Order from Amazon

Anyone who finds it rewarding to share their knowledge and culture with others.
Anyone who love to learn and try new things.
Anyone who isn’t afraid of a challenge.
Anyone disappointed with their job prospects after college.
Anyone who has ever wondered what life in other countries is like.
Anyone who has ever wanted to try pizza with mayo and squid.
Anyone not who has ever fantasized about dong something totally different with their lives.
Anyone who has ever thought that maybe the things that seem to satisfy everyone else won’t be enough to make them truly happy.

And of course, anyone who has ever just dreamed of living in Japan on its own merits needs to read How to Get a Job in Japan.

If that sounds like you, How to Get a Job in Japan has everything you need to get started and to take you straight through to the conclusion of moving here. There is simply no other resource available that is as complete, up-to-date, or filled with useful strategies as this guide. I give you all the tactics and show you how to avoid all the traps.

PS - Just so you know, I am a JET alum and have been an interviewer selecting candidates for the program. I devoted a whole chapter to acing the application and interview for JET that you owe it to yourself to read and understand.