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Foreigners in business

xPerrin

後輩
17 Jun 2011
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In a few year I will be leaving University with a degree (hopefully) and I want to do something in a large business/corporation but I also want to travel.
So I was thinking that I would look around for companies or jobs that I could apply for that would mean I could travel to Japan and work there for a few months a year, or a permanent job there.
Could anyone help me with any information on this?
I don't speak, read or understand Japanese (probably a major problem :sorry:) but I am happy and enthusiastic to learn.
2nd question, are there any big businesses located in Japan that you know are also big in the UK? It would make it easier for me to approach the business.
Lastly, are foreigners that come to Japan to work treated with hostility by local Japanese people? I have never gotten that impression about Japan but it is a sad fact of life that there are groups like that in the UK.
 
Try looking for Japanese-based companies that have branches in other countries (i.e. Sony, Sharp, Toyota, etc). I don't know the situation in the UK but you can always check their websites. If you start at the branch in your country that could get you a foot in the door.

I never went to Japan to work, but as a university exchange student I was never met with hostility by locals. Maybe the occasional glance because I was a foreigner, but admittedly I found myself giving the occasional glance to other foreigners.
 
Most companies, as you have surmised, will want someone who can read/speak/write Japanese to some level. Sites like daijob.com and careercross.com will show you ads to support that.

Moreover, just graduating college says you probably have zero work experience in your field. This is also a major weakness in your plan. Why should a Japanese company hire someone they can't communicate with and who has no experience? They are not in business to train you that much. They hire Japanese graduates based on their university ranking and advisors, not on GPA or anything else. Times for J grads are very tight here, and many are choosing not to study abroad because they know they will miss out on recruiting back home.

You could consider looking in your country for a company that has a branch in Japan, but you will run into the same issues as above. No language ability, no work experience. You would be a high risk person to consider sending abroad. If the branch has an office where English is spoken/written a lot, that would lower the risk a bit, but I really don't think there are all that many positions available for fresh college grads here.

Besides, if you want an intracompany transfer visa, you have to work for a year in your home country for that company first.

Look into internships in Japan. They won't pay you a salary (perhaps something very minimal), but it'll be direct experience. I'd say get some language studies under your belt more than anything else, but even so, don't get your hopes up until you can bring something far more substantial to the bargaining table.

How would you figure a company in your own country would view the following situation?
eager applicant who cannot communicate verbally or in emails and other written dispatches, and who has no training in the job, nor who has any experience with the culture.

You wrote that you would like to work "for a few months". Unless it's an internship, I'd say forget it. You'll have to think of a year-long contract minimum.

Hostility? Uh, no. What exactly are you worried about? Are you outwardly a type of person people would hate?
 
:D No im not the kinda person that is easily hated.. at least I hope not anyway.
I've looked at it from the side you suggested and I have seen the pointlessness in any company hiring me. I think I'm probably going to finish university and go into business, learn some Japanese while working over here for a few years then see what happens.

I asked about the hostility because in Britain there are some extreme national political parties (very, very small groups that get more publicisity than their size would suggest) that preach about foreigners coming to Britain and taking jobs that should be going to British workers. I think its a load of pants tbh but I have no experience of living in another country so I have no idea if its the same kind of thing in other countries such as Japan.
 
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