How to get a job in Japan as a non-native English speaker

If you want to work in Japan there are plenty of options. The problem is that if you are not a native English speaker it almost impossible to get a visa as English teacher. Or you might not be interested in teaching English and searching for alternatives. The main alternatives in Japan besides English teaching jobs usually recruiting and IT related jobs. These two industries usually do not require a high level of Japanese. In case of IT related jobs, you need an IT background. In case of the recruitment industry you probably only need a University degree for the visa.

I am a non-native English speaker and was able to get a job in Japan as a salary man. In this article I will tell what I did to get a job in Japan.

My story

If you want to work in Japan and you are a native English speaker or you majored in English you probably have a 99% chance of getting a job in Japan. Also if your Japanese is very good (JLPT N1 or N2) you probably can get a job as well. If you want to work in Japan and you are non-native English speaker and don`t speak Japanese very well (like me) it can be very tough to get a job in Japan.

For me it took me about 6 months to get a job. At first I tried it from my home country for about 4 months and after failing a few interviews, I decided to go to Japan. As it shows to the company how serious I am to work in Japan.

Before going to Japan I applied to as many companies as I could and told them that I would come to Japan soon. Some of the companies told me to contact them again when I arrived in Japan for a face-to-face meeting. I also tried to plan to go to as many job fairs as I could. Even if you think that you don`t meet the requirements of the job, just apply as they might be interested in you.

At each job fair, I applied to every company to try to get a job or at least a first interview. A company which I thought I would not have a chance with, showed interested in me. I went to the job interview and after three interviews I finally got the job.

Below is a list of job fairs that I visited and the websites that I used.

Requirements

There are a few requirements to be able to get a working visa. The main requirements are as follows:

〇A University degree or 10 years' professional experience in the field
〇The job matches with your background(education, experience and language)
〇The company should be financially stable

Keep these requirements in mind when you start searching for a job. If you don`t meet these requirements then there is no way you can get a job in Japan, unless you marry with a Japanese.

If you want to read about the procedures to get a working visa, click here.

Job fairs and seminars

Before you arrive in Japan start searching for job fairs that you can attend. The biggest job fairs that I attended were as follows:

〇Daijob Go Global Career Fair

〇Job Haku

〇Works Japan Global Job Fair

www.global.worksjapan.co.jp

The best timing to come to Japan to search for a job is from February to April/May. In this period they want to hire new staff as it`s before the beginning of the next year (the new year for companies start from April). The job fairs are also usually held around that time so make sure that you time your visit right.

Websites for finding a job in Japan

To not just wait for the job fairs, you can also apply and check jobs online. I applied to companies every day and sometimes was could get an interview. I wrote a detailed article on websites that I often used to search and apply for jobs in Japan, which you can read by clicking the link below.

If you are looking for a job in Japan or want to change your job make sure to check out our article about the top recruiting sites that can help you find a new job.

In case you have any questions about finding a job in Japan, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.

 - How-To

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