Getting a job in Japan as fresh graduate?

I am currently studying for a bachelor's degree in a technical subject, I still have 1 year until I finish. My Japanese is currently intermediate, but by time I finish I will hopefully be at advanced level.

I am wondering what are my chances to get a non-teaching job in Japan as a foreigner? I mean by applying with Japanese graduates. Sadly, due to economic situation in my area, I am not likely to be able to get a graduate job at home to gain experience first.

Would getting a master's degree, either at home or in Japan, improve my chances a lot? It would be cheaper at home (EU) but I may be able to get a scholarship as I have very high grades. I'm just wondering if Japanese companies are even willing to hire a foreign fresh graduate (that requires visa sponsorship) or will I be automatically overlooked?

It depends on what your specialty is and what you can offer that a Japanese worker can't. You'll most likely have to focus your search on companies that require someone who can do your particuar skillset in your native language since it would be rare that a company would hire a foreign worker over a domestic one if they are equally qualified.

Given the expense and trouble of hiring foreigners (i.e. the need to sponsor visas, etc), and the greater risk involved with hiring non-Japanese - Japanese employers know what they are getting from Japanese college graduates, but they don't know well about foreigners and foreign colleges - then it might be difficult unless you have very high level skills, and preferably experience.

Thanks for the answers. My field of study is computer science/IT, not so much the engineering part but programming and general IT, which I understand is a big field in Japan, but they also have a lot of their own graduates.

I should mention I am multilingual - I actively speak (not at native level, but at least intermediate/business level) 6 languages, one of which is Japanese - the others are different European languages, which may be the one thing that differs me from many Japanese graduates, so perhaps if a company is internationally focused they could have an interest in me. But I am not looking to get into teaching, translation, etc.

Of course, I totally understand it from a company's standpoint - they have many Japanese graduates, who speak the language better (even if I speak Japanese quite well by then), know the culture, etc. and need no sponsorship. But I am still hoping there might be an option for them to consider me, even if I need a visa sponsorship.

Does anyone know of anyone who managed to get a job in Japan as a graduate? I would be really interested to hear from/about them if they did.

Hi Aya,

I graduated last year in Engineering and am working full time as a Systems Engineer in Japan at the moment (originally from Australia).

It's definitely possible to get a job in Japan as a fresh graduate if you're in the IT/Engineering industry - to be honest, it was way easier for me to land the job in Japan than the ones I was looking at back home.

First things first, in order to be eligible for the visa you need to have at least passed the N2 JLPT qualification. Depending on where you live they're held once or twice a year: http://www.jlpt.jp/e/

Most of the Japanese people I work with have a Masters Degree, while the foreigners went into the work field right after getting their Bachelors - I don't think either option will hurt you. The main issue I imagine will be your experience - e.g. internships, research/design projects - and in the IT field the programs and codes you can use competently. A lot of the larger maker companies (cars, microcomputers, etc.) have a large foreign workforce, and as long as your Japanese is up to scratch your ability with English and other languages can obviously be a huge asset.

Without knowing your home country - though I assume Europe :) - I'd look around on the web and look at the career fairs. Companies like Rikunavi hold career fairs internationally to connect Japanese companies with International students who are interested in Japan/Japanese students abroad. There might be some in your general area. Quite a few companies put ads on foreign job boards as well, not doing a big recruitment drive, but as a place for interested people to submit their resumes. Since you still have a year to go, you can always start making a list of companies who you would be interested in, and check on them when they start opening up their graduate recruitment next year.

Basically, while not overly common, it's very possible to get an Engineering/IT related job. If none of the above work for you, and you're not able to hit the N2 level, you can always graduate, and come and study at a language school here for 6-12 months to improve and be able to job search more actively/attend local career fairs/do face to face rather than video interviews.

*I assume somewhere in Europe
- which after rereading you do say (EU) :)

First things first, in order to be eligible for the visa you need to have at least passed the N2 JLPT qualification.

That's not correct. It may be a requirement from your employer, but not from immigration.

Akix2, thank you for your encouraging reply! I am glad to hear from someone who successfully landed a graduate job in Japan as it makes me more optimistic about my chances.

I think JLPT N2 is definitely a realistic goal until then, and I might as well decide to do a master's, and continue to improve my Japanese as well as CV (internships etc.) in that time.