Civilian Jobs on Okinawa

Ask for a transfer?

Ask the military what they need for you to get that job
(this link may help Jobs on military bases in Okinawa )

and how to transfer your SOFA status accordingly, if needed.

Search it out

Well guys, I went and did it! Thanks to everyone for your advice and information, and no thanks to anyone who said it couldn't be done -You were Wrong-. I moved to Okinawa, Japan for a year, and Absolutely Loved it. I miss Okinawa now and want to go back soon.
I started out by finding a side job on JapanUpdate.com and moved there on that. I ended up finding a job working for the DOD, with some help from a friend, as well as teaching English on the side later on (which I wish I had done sooner). There are multiple job opportunities for someone who is ambitious enough to find them, and many ways to go about being able to stay there for longer than 3 months. One thing I learned is that if I had been hired from the states, the military/DoD or whoever the hiring company is would likely pay your airfare and shipping of your belongings to Japan. Someone who worked in my office did that. That would have been nice to know before I left! However, this would be much more easily accomplished for someone with a BA, my education only extends to an AA. There are many loops to jump through to accomplish that though as well, I am not trying to say any of this is easy. It was far from easy for me, but it was oh so worth the trouble. I will say that, from my experience, once you are there it is definitely easier to find out which companies will sponsor your visa and what areas need employees. A website that you can look on if you would like to try the 'hire from the states' route is USAJobs.gov and take a look at the sites I listed on a previous post on this thread. Each base has their own positions they need to fill, you can look at Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and DoD jobs.
I am trying to pack everything I learned into a couple paragraphs, but I don't want to make this to long. Let me know if there is anything I can help out with. My number one advice is, Do Not Give Up. Where there's a will, there's a way.

jettlees said:

I was wondering how i could go about getting an engineer job with the us military in Japan. I work for a military contractor here with a year of experience. I also have a four year degree in engineering.

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So, are you saying that you got a work visa off-base or on-base with only an AA degree?

I am curious only because of this statement, which isn't completely clear to me.

once you are there it is definitely easier to find out which companies will sponsor your visa and what areas need employees.

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And, exactly what type of visa was it?

jobs in Okinawa

Hi there! My husband is trying to find a job in Okinawa that will allow him SOFA status.
He was recently terminated from his company and has worked in the field of Public Accounting for 10+ years. He also has a Bachelor's degree in Accounting.
My parents are both DoDDs teachers on Kadena AFB and we just want to be near them. We have 5 small children and are in tough times so we are anxious to get over there.
If anyone has any tips, tricks, or advice about what to do and who to contact we would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks much.

You have 5 kids and want to move to Okinawa, where the standard of living is lowest in the country? Uh, ok. Don't say you weren't warned.

You (or he) don't need SOFA status to work here. But I can understand why you might want to look into it. Not a heckuva lot of call for an American accountant in Okinawa. How are either of your Japanese skills?

My family already lives there and they are willing and very able to assist us. Been there for 10+ years. My dad is a Pastor there so we already have a good "family base" there. I also homeschool my children so schooling is not an issue either.
Basically our concern is my husband working all the other stuff is taken care of.
Thanks much!

I would say that it is still a VERY serious financial matter to consider. Homeschooling is not free, and there are other costs associated with living, of course. When you want to leave the country for any vacation, it will also be a huge chunk of money.

Unless there is something on base he can do, I strongly recommend rethinking about this plan. What kind of job does he want/expect? How good are his / your Japanese language skills (written and spoken)?

Hi there. I have read some of your other posts and you are very knowledgeable about Japan so I appreciate your input. I don't think I need to continue to go in to detail about how we'll make it and how it could potentially suck bc there are so many of us.
I've been homeschooling for 2 years now and I know it's not free or cheap. Anyhow... basically my parents have opened the door and said, come live and enjoy. Being a stay at home mom for all these years now without my parents being near has been trying so yes I am attempting to run in to the arms of mommy and daddy with 5 children and a husband in tow.
BUT we know the details are a lot more complicated and that's what I need help with because even though they can sign us in on base as visitors we'd still like to have SOFA status for ourselves. So that is what I needed help with. I've read a lot of other folks' questions regarding the same issue and you've been quite helpful in your bold way (I like that by the way) so thanks much.
I'm not going into this stupidly thinking it's going to be a piece of cake but going nonetheless. Right now America is my only alternative and quite frankly this place is making me tired right now. Proud to be an American but man is it depressing (for the moment).

what?

If America is depressing for you, I suggest you find any place but Japan to reside. America is huge, why not move somewhere else...in America?

Message for Cash

Mike Cash said:

With your educational background you're pretty much going to be limited to working for the military, with the DOD sponsoring your visa. I'm not knocking your educational achievements, which outstrip my own. It's just that the immigration folks require a bachelor's degree in most cases.

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Dude are you the same dude that was driving rigs here in Japan? Are you still driving?

ebthes07,
It is my understanding that SOFA status is for people who actually have a tie to the base/military. That is, unless you are military or a direct relative, you would have to be a civilian contractor of sorts.

Ask your DoDD parents to look into the former, because I don't know if there is an age limit for child dependents (that is, you, not your own kids) and whether dependency includes your own family. That should be easy enough for them to determine.

Ask them for any advice about jobs on base, too. If they or the military can't dredge up something (and jobs are posted, although I don't have a link off the top of my head), then you or your husband is going to have to get a regular job in order to qualify for a work visa.

BTW,
If you want advice about homeschooling here (a bit early, but who knows?), look up a Yahoo! listserv group. I forgot the name, but there is one for homeschoolers.

Most of the jobs on the bases for Americans (please read my post carefully because its very annoying to have to go back and retype in a follow up post something that you should of picked up on the first read) fall between two catagories, the low end or the high end. The low end being recreational assistant, child care provider, cook, gardener, educational assistant, automotive helper, etc. The high end being enviromental engineer, doctor, procurement, some sort of analyst, accountant, etc. Everything in between is done by the Japanese. Examples- all the refrigeration mechs, all the facility shops, or anything that requires a skill or trade. Your options are getting into one of the low end aka dead end jobs and dreaming of making manager, knowing a manager and really kissing up to him/her and making manager or join some sort of lottery and hope to get into the MLC system or one of the high end jobs.