Is It Easy to Find Job After Jet Program

Gear up yourself up for meaningful employment outside the English language teaching industry in Japan.

Recontracting time has come and gone. For personal or professional person reasons, yous've decided to move on from your time as an banana language instructor and find another job in Japan. The matter is, you may exist living in the remote countryside (similar many other ALTs), so the only real resources you have at your disposal are the internet and local networking to forge your style to a new job hither.

While it may seem like an uphill battle, the future is seemingly brilliant for foreign "skilled workers" in Nihon. With a declining population, the land wants to hire more foreign talent. For highly skilled foreigners, information technology may be less competitive in certain markets, as Japan ranks dead terminal among Asian countries for the number of skilled foreigners in the workforce, according to the 2017 IMD World Talent Ranking.

The jobs are in that location — you just have to work to get yourself in prime number position for them. So if y'all're an ALT wondering when the optimal time is to start a job search or where to fifty-fifty brainstorm, hither are six simple notwithstanding effective tips to help you move forrard.

i. Starting time early and do your research

If y'all have decided not to re-contract — even earlier you sign the necessary papers and plow them into your school — first the task search.

First things first, bookmark GaijinPot Jobs, which is one of the largest databases of jobs for foreigners in Nihon. While education positions are offered aplenty, others like those in the It, human resources and recruitment sectors are gaining traction for foreigners here. In addition to the GaijinPot job board, there are also more bilingual jobs in Japan on Career Engine, which has bilingual employment and recruiting services and works with 11 foreign chambers of commerce in Nihon. The two job boards list recruiting companies in greyness that volition attempt to place you into their clients' openings. Some other choice is simply a direct-hire position, where you go an employee of that company without a middleman.

Beyond that, stay tuned in to what's bachelor in your surface area and allow people know you're looking for new opportunities. Some ALTs finish up working non for the same schoolhouse, just for the government in their area or elsewhere in Japan with a local tourism agency.

Don't underestimate task postings on regional Facebook groups (like Nippon Jobs, Jobs in Japan or the JET Programme's JETA Jobs board) or, if you really feel like you demand more guidance, find a recruiting company to help you lot out. For example:

• PlayNext Lab Inc or Inbound Technology – both specialize in IT jobs
• Asuka or Asisai – both help find positions ranging from teaching jobs to sales to PR

To that end, be certain to brush upward your Japanese resume skills.

2. Don't underestimate networking

Many ALTs make strong bonds within their plan or firsthand community, only often lack a broader connection to the foreign professional community in Japan. Cheque out groups (online or in person), Meetups, conferences or at the very least, do some networking on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn worked incredibly well for me in Japan to make connections in Tokyo virtually, when I was living far out in the inaka. I would as well suggest taking some time to curate posts on LinkedIn during your daily social media routine — swapping out those Instaselfies and FB-complaints for posts about future career goals and sharing your latest work so that people in your LinkedIn network can encounter what you're up to (other than belatedly-nighttime karaoke).

Even if y'all tin't make events in person, join an online clan or group.

Putting in the inquiry to discover what'south out there and connected to your field of interest is half the battle. Once you lot've plant a few choices, and then you lot can accomplish out to people or amend empathize what might exist right for you. Actively search out groups and events that pertain to your particular field of interest, and it'll pay off.

Every bit an example, I was interested in the travel industry in Nippon, so I attended a free event from the Tokyo Chapter of a worldwide network chosen Travel Massive. From there, I knew I wanted to be more than involved, then I ended upward contacting the leader and asked if they were looking for volunteers to aid with events. Later on a meeting, I joined this group equally a Tokyo Chapter leader and helped plan and coordinate their side by side tourism events. The experience, although information technology took some extra piece of work and fourth dimension, opened upward my network and gave me the chance to interact on a more meaningful level with CEOs and board members in Japan.

Hither are a few other resources to consider for expanding your network:

• Savvy Tokyo — One of the only websites focusing specifically on strange women in Tokyo and in Japan in general. Check out this article on networking for expat women, too as other pieces written past and about women working in Nihon.
• Expat Conference — This website provides a great list of more than 10 groups to consider joining. Check out their list on business groups and associations in Japan.
• Definitely attend an event or two of your country'due south sleeping accommodation of commerce here in Nihon. For instance, here's the American, British, Canadian and European (Eu) chambers' sites. What's more, reaching out and connecting to people in your country's chamber is easily done via LinkedIn. (Chambers of commerce are networking machines and often accept chore listings that crave very little Japanese ability and may not exist posted elsewhere.)

three. Always take a side hustle

It's never, always too tardily to start a side hustle in addition to your role every bit an ALT.

Peradventure that means you start keeping a blog of your experience in Japan. Maybe that means you practice comics, photography or fifty-fifty start your own YouTube channel on the side. Peradventure you pitch an commodity to and write for GaijinPot or one of the other numerous blogs and publications in Japan. It doesn't have to be a replacement for your work, just a way to proceeds meaningful feel doing something your specifically suited to, interested or practiced in.

If y'all don't have much prior work feel, you lot'll want to have some type of side project to give definition to those "highly motivated" adjectival expressions you lot put in your cover letter. Even if you practise accept prior feel — for example, working equally a journalist in your home country — you lot notwithstanding demand to prove that y'all can do it hither in Japan. Your side hustle (whether it's paid or not, depending on how worried you are almost limitations on your current contract) tin give you an edge on other applicants. Added bonus: applying for a task you already have a chip of experience doing makes you more confident, besides.

Demand some ideas? Check out this Japan Life Reddit forum on none other than side hustling.

4. Interview for jobs you think you won't get

Life, my friends, is just practise. Job interviews are no unlike. It's kind of crazy to call up you're going to ace your dream job interview on the commencement try. Then — much similar finding the right match in dear — finding the correct job is going to have a few trial runs.

Apply for positions that might be out of your league, get the interview and then do your best. It helps to go through the process and get some of the jitters out of the mode, even if the interviews come earlier in the twelvemonth in winter or spring and your contract isn't up until Baronial. (To that stop, be sure to dedicate some of your vacation time to travel for out-of-area interviews.)

Moreover, practise for the interview, whether in English, Japanese or both — out loud. This may seem a elementary piece of communication, simply a lot of people just run the answers through their head without speaking a word. Once again, even just the rehearsal of speaking, gesturing, making heart contact and perfecting your bow volition only benefit you in the cease. Muscle retentivity, people!

For some more practicalities, cheque out this GaijinPot article on tips to ready for a Japanese interview.

5. Don't be afraid to negotiate

Some ALTs effigy they tin't go out their task until August, and so why apply for a position that starts in April? Here are a few things to consider on that betoken:

1. An early on prospect is ameliorate than no prospect. There certainly are cases where ALTs interview in spring and the company agrees to hire them in Baronial subsequently their contract with their electric current schoolhouse. That being said, this isn't exactly a detail to pb with.
2. Permit's say you practice get a job slated to start in April and they cannot look for you until August. If this is a job you can actually see a future at, it'southward time to take a existent conversation with a trusted teacher or superior that hopefully can understand your predicament. Afterward all, you didn't make this strict rule of an April hiring season, did you? Nor did y'all brand your contract strangely not attach to this rigid custom. You may be leaving your schoolhouse high and dry for the next few months if you lot take an April job, just the alternative may leave yous packing your bags. It'south a tough one, and so handle with intendance.
3. There is another option. Let's say you become the Apr job, but you can negotiate to have it start a scrap subsequently. Not 4 months later on, only perhaps ane-to-ii months later on. Setting yourself up for a June-July start date may work for both your school and your company, equally you'd miss less classes than leaving in April. Of course, leaving early may complicate the moving out and other processes for y'all, so if you don't take a neat relationship with your teachers or supervisor, that's another thing to keep in listen.

6. Utilize, utilise, use

This ane is cocky-explanatory. It may come up downwards to a numbers game, and then get applying! Here are just a few links to the numerous chore opportunities out there on the GaijinPot Jobs board.

• Entertainment
  • Dancer/Vocalist

• Tourism
  • Nihon Travel Planner

• Recruitment
  • Recruitment Consultant

• Media / Translation
  • Video Game Scenario Writer
  • Public Relations
  • Video Game Translator

• Hello-Tech / It / Internet
  • Game Designer (No Japanese required)
  • Mobile Applications Engineer (No Japanese required)

• Hospitality
  • 2019 Rugby World Cup Staff

• Drivers
  • Taxi Drivers

By because your options and taking action with these six tips, you'll exist ready to get hired in Nippon and get ahead of the stress and overwhelm that may arise when the fourth dimension comes. So get started now!

And if you haven't already put your resume on GaijinPot Jobs, what are yous waiting for?

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Source: https://blog.gaijinpot.com/6-tips-start-post-alt-job-hunt-japan/

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