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Work open to foreigners in Japan

1 Dec 2005
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Aside from the obvious English teaching, what other areas of work are open to foreigners with the required Japanese language skills?

Also, how transferable are foreign qualifications in Japan? Do Japanese employers recognise foreign qualifcations and accreditation or would a foreigner pretty much have to retrain to qualify for employment in many professional fields of work in Japan?

I guess it essentially comes down to how likely a Japanese company is to sponsor a foreigner for a work permit. Which fields of work are more open to sponoring foreigners for visas?

Also, what level of the JLPT would be expected? Would 2 be ok for most fields of work, or is having JLPT 1 really the only way a Japanese employer would take you seriously enough to offer you an interview?
 
Would a passing familiarity in English be enough to get a job in "most fields of work" in the UK? Or do I really have to be fluent?
 
I've never seen a needle buried more deeply in a groove.
 
Would a passing familiarity in English be enough to get a job in "most fields of work" in the UK? Or do I really have to be fluent?

From what I've seen you don't have to be fluent to get a job in the UK. I'd say most companies expect upper intermediate proficiency in English and are usually forgiving of thick accents, grammatical mistakes, etc, as long as you can handle most situations you're likely to encounter, particularly relating to your field of work obviously.

In fact, particularly in the Nursing sector I've come across foreign Nurses who struggle with their English. Obviously, they can speak it to a proficiency high enough to communicate with patients, doctors and other hospital staff, but they are clearly by no means fluent and often have a poor English accent and make frequent grammatical mistakes.

But then again, I guess it all depends what you consider fluency. Is fluency a state where you make mistakes no more frequently than a native speaker would, or is fluency a state where you can express anything you want and people will understand you, but not neccessarily always in a grammatically correct way?
 
I find it kind of odd that in one post you claim:

If you go to the interview and make grammatical mistakes in your Japanese, and generally not speak it to a near perfect level then quite often that alone will be enough of a reason for you not to get the job.

and yet ask:

Also, what level of the JLPT would be expected? Would 2 be ok for most fields of work, or is having JLPT 1 really the only way a Japanese employer would take you seriously enough to offer you an interview?

Some jobs only require JLPT 2, others 1, some need more than that. I've heard that mostly coding jobs only require a JLPT2 since programming languages are universal. Have you tried checking gaijinpot for jobs? You can sort by language requirement and that can give you a rough idea of what sort of jobs you could get with your language ability.
 
Funny, I have not recalled a job in Japan requiring JLPT proficiency on any level in regards to skilled labor. Instead, having the necessary qualifications in the field that was advertised IS a requirement. So if you want to be a nurse, you need to pass the exam for nurses here, if you want to be an engineer you need to obtain your licence for engineering , etc,etc,etc,etc.....
 
That has already been explained to him. After all these years, if he were going to do anything he would have done it by now. I think he just uses inability to get his foot in the door on Japan as a convenient excuse for not getting on with life and that nothing would scare him worse than an actual job offer and visa. Then he'd be out of excuses for his own inaction.

The people who are going to show up in Japan tend to just quietly show up. The more and longer people talk about doing it, the more sure you can be that talking is all they ever intend to actually do about it.

And I have yet to work for a Japanese employer who had so much as heard of the JLPT, let alone give a damn about what level of it I had.
 
Infection,
This thread is just another one of your other ones that has been recycled. I mean, really! Look at what you wrote in the one asking about becoming a paramedic here:

I guess the biggest thing that foreigners fall short on is language requirements in order to function in a role aimed at Japanese workers?

However, in general do foreign qualifications cross-over in Japan to any extent, or for the purpose of recruitment are foreign candidates expected to have Japanese qualifications?
Both questions were answered there, so why in God's name are you asking them again here?
 
A lot of people are asking the same questions again and again.

Just put yourself in the position of a Japanese employer! Why should they hire someone for something a Japanese person could do just as well?! Right!
So, what jobs are there that might require something that Japanese people cannot do so well? Or, where would it make sense to have foreign people as well?
Of course, if you work for a Japanese company in your home country you might be lucky and they transfer you to Japan.
Apart from that I know a few foreign people who have made it as voice actor, actor, model, manga artist, journalists and photographers.
There's also translation work, but for that your Japanese ability has to be top, obviously. In most cases the pay isn't great, though.
 
I imagine the biggest problem with getting a job in Japan is most employers will require you already live there. But unless you're rich, you can't move there without a job.

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