Finding a job with Working Visa sponsorship

Hello,

I've been looking fora job in Japan for the past 5 months, but even though I get so many scout messages I can't work in any of them since none of them can provide visa sponsorship. My English is perfect, I have a degree in Industrial Engineering, have JLPT N2, and 2 years of experience in international trading.

I'm Turkish so finding a language teaching job is practically out of question, I can't get a proper job in engineering since I don't have any experience, and I think trading is not a job type that you can get visa sponsorship with.

Does anyone have any suggestions? So many companies have told me they would hire me in an instant if I had visa, and I should contact them in case I somehow get it since they can't give me visa but they can extend it easily. So I'm willing to work at a low paying stupid job for a few months if necessary.

Thank you

There is no visa category available for a "low-paying stupid job." And even if you somehow managed to get a visa for "skilled labor" or something, if you want to change to another employer with a new job, the employer has to take some sponsoring procedure (to change to a different kind of visa/resident status) unless you work in the same category of work.

I was told by a recruitment agency that once you have any type of working visa, the rest is much easier. They suggested i find a language teaching job firat and then they would hire me a few months afterwards.
And the way I heard it Japan hires a lot of blue collar workers from outside, so I think there actually is a visa for stupid low paying jobs. Or maybe internships after which the company can hire me as a real employee. I couldn't find how to do neither though.

And the way I heard it Japan hires a lot of blue collar workers from outside

Yes, that's right, mostly Vietnamese, Chinese, and Indonesian used by the Japan "trainee" program. A blue collar work visa? No, it does not exist; the list of all Japanese visas is available on Ministry of foreign affairs website.
http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/

As I already said before here, a lot of Turkish citizens are living in Japan as "asylum applicants", actually it is the majority of their status last time I check details from the Ministry of Justice website. If you file for asylum, you can get a permission to work after a 6 months wait. No sarcasm here, just facts.

So many companies have told me they would hire me in an instant if I had visa, and I should contact them in case I somehow get it since they can't give me visa but they can extend it easily.

What kind of companies are these? Trading? Small scale or reputed?
Any company of repute should not find it so hard to submit few papers for visa sponsorship
These companies may have never had a foreigner working for them, I wonder that it may be so difficult to work for such companies even if you get a visa

I heard Japan turned down around %99 of the asylum requests, no exaggeration. Might have been easier in the past, but I'm not sure now. And I feel like that would hurt my chances of getting a real work visa, wouldn't it? I kinda am actually seeking asylum by the way...Kinda.

Yes, many of them were small scaled companies but the websites/job postings I checked were all targeting foreigners, and the recruitment agency that contacted me is a branch of a well respected agency known all around the world, their Turkey branch had actually contacted me once for a job in Turkey before. They still might be small scale companies though. All in all I think it's pretty hard to bring someone in when it's a work doable by a native (I mostly applied to international trading and engineering related jobs), and my work experience and diploma is unrelated so that doesn't help with finding a job either. An obvious position to bring a foreign worker is language teaching, which I heard is the easiest way to get a working visa, but if only I was from a country the language of which would be useful in Japan.

The part about once you have any kind of work visa: if you find a language teaching position, which requires either a bachelor's degree or three of more years of that language teaching experience elsewhere, and your employer applies for a type of work visa for that, let's say Instructor, immigration's review will include a review of your bachelor's degree. Once you have that visa and start working in Japan, and you want to change to another job in a different field, let's say engineer, which is covered by International Services/Humanities status. The visa/resident status also requires a bachelor's, so immigration's review might be shorter, as your educational background has already been checked.

But if you want to switch from "skilled labor" to "international services/humanities," which have different requirements, for example, the immigration process won't be any easier.

Another thing about recruitment agencies. Don't know which one it is, and I don't have to/want to know, but some specialize in recruiting for smallish companies, and the recruitment agency might hire and dispatch you to a company, or the company might hire you directly. Either case, recruitment agencies want to save their clients the hassle of sponsoring a visa.

"University degree or three years' experience" is the requirement for language instruction or translation jobs under E/SH/IS status. The requirements for Instructor are different. http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=1927&vm=04&re=0...

Being in the engineering field in Japan myself, what I can tell you is that the visa is usually not the problem. Of course there is an effort to process the application and a waiting time that many companies don't want to deal with, but is not all that difficult and time consuming, and when you have the proper qualifications, you can be almost sure that you'll get the visa. So, in my experience, when a company here in japan truly wants to hire someone from abroad, they will not care about processing a simple visa, they'll just do it. The problem with you, IMHO, is the lack of experience as an engineer. You have to prove that you've been for a while in the field and that you can bring something additional to the table, otherwise it makes more sense for them to hire locally. What I have seen so far, is that engineering companies don't consider bringing people from abroad with less than 5 years of experience, unless you have really impressive skills.

My alternative suggestions are the following:

- Look for internships in Japan. Companies are more flexible with these. If you do a good job, many will want you to stay and might extend a job offer. Alternatively, during your time here you can do some networking with recruiters and find a different job. Whether you have a visa or not, being physically present in japan makes a big difference for employers.

- Join the branch of a japanese company in your own country. With your N2 level, and if you do things right, you might be able to negotiate a transfer to Japan in the future.

- Come and enroll at a japanese language school and bring your level to N1. You'll also have a good excuse to live here and do all the job-hunting during that time. Like i said, it's much easier when you are already here.

Hope this helps.

I kinda am actually seeking asylum by the way...Kinda.

Thank you for recognizing that most of Turks asylum applicants in Japan are bogus. Turks pretending to be Kurds�cThe Japanese asylum process it is actually a complete mess because of bogus asylum seekers from Turkey, Nepal, Indonesia�c.Thank you for at least recognizing what we already knew.

I talked to more than one agency, and they both told me that I can move to another job after working as a language teacher for a period of time. And I'm pretty sure no degree is needed to be a language teacher, as people from English-speaking countries apparently do it all the time, a lot of my friends have native teachers that come work a year or so as sort of a hobby, and go back to their countries when they get bored or something.

Well, I do have an engineering degree from the best possible school in Turkey, but like I said I don't have any working experience in that field, so doing an internship on engineering really seems to be the way to go. Thanks for the suggestion. But would physically being there really make a difference for finding a job? Sure, doing an interview would be easier, but I don't think that would make that much of a difference.

And yes, I know they are bogus, they go because can't find a job here. But what I was talking about is that I'm trying to not go to the compulsory military service, since I morally object to it before all else.

JLPT means you can read/listen, but can you speak and write?

also, being resident and in the country helps (a lot)

Sounds like Japan might not be the right destination for you - so why do you actually want to come here?

BTW - read the comments in the linked article - I watched the riot vans heading to the scene.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/25/national/seven-injured-cla...

Yes I can read and write too.

And what I'm trying to do is being a resident in the first place.

You sound like you don't want me inside Japan...

And I'm pretty sure no degree is needed to be a language teacher, as people from English-speaking countries apparently do it all the time

You generally need a degree (or a minimum of 3 years of experience) to be eligible for a Specialist in Humanities / International Services visa. Not so much for the job. However, you will be competing against native speakers for jobs, which puts you at a severe disadvantage. People from some countries could get Working holiday visa etc.

You sound like you don't want me inside Japan...
We are also foreigners. It is not up to us to decide who can live or not in Japan. The problem is that Japan is a calm place not like Europe and if trouble occurs here, all foreigners including the legal one like me will pay a hefty price.

they go because can't find a job here.
You and other Turks should check out the UNHCR website and read the definition of what a refugee is. Hint: being jobless or poor is not in the definition. And you wonder why the Japanese reject 99% of the demands? My guess is that in Turkey you feel that the refugees market for Turks is overfilled in Europe and you are trying a new target. It is all just marketing. Business as usual.

But what I was talking about is that I'm trying to not go to the compulsory military service
And you think Japan should grant refugee status to anyone who wants to avoid the compulsory military service in his/her home country? If yes, I guess we should not be surprised if we wake up one day with more foreigners than Japanese living here.