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Job hunting 2010/7/12 14:26
I'm a junior majoring in literature with a minor in religion-philosophy at a university in Tokyo. I study at the international faculty, so all my classes are taught in English. I'm not just an exchange student, I'll actually graduate next year and I'm starting to worry about what I'm going to do afterwards! Does anyone have any advice for someone like me:

-I would be interested in jobs that involve writing (ex. magazines, advertising), culture (ex. museums, tourism), or working with children.

-I'm a very creative-type person; finance, IT, and business are probably not for me.

-I don't really want to go to grad school.

-Teaching English as a second language is something that I'd be willing to do temporarily, but it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life.

-I have no serious job/internship experience.

-My current Japanese ability is probably around JLPT level 2; I haven't taken the test yet, as I'm hoping to improve until I can pass level 1.

-I'm female and an American citizen.

-I plan to stay in Japan long-term and get my first job here without going back to the US to live/work.

Does anyone have any advice on job-hunting for someone like me? Has anyone else been in this situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!!
by Anonymous (guest)  

You've probably heard these before. 2010/7/12 15:05
You've probably heard this from people all around you but all I could say is:

1. Look for and complete an internship in your field of interest.

2. Attend as many job fairs as possible such as the Tokyo Career Forum as well as the smaller ones.

3. Send out as many resumes as you can. You're not in a position to pick and choose at this point, especially considering your current position and struggling economy.

Those are such basic tips but unless you've got those bases covered, you've got absolutely no shot. I tried to find a job in Japan right out of university a couple years ago. (I'm educated in the US, completely fluent in Japan, hold dual citizenship) and I came out empty handed after looking for about six months.
by Psycho Mike (guest) rate this post as useful

More details on job hunting please... 2010/7/19 15:04
@Psycho Mike:
Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but could you elaborate a bit on what kind of job you were looking for and what steps you went through? I'm also a dual citizen fluent in Japanese that's about to graduate from a US college with a Bachelor's in Software Engineering, so any advice would really help.

Also, how much do Japanese employers value industrial certifications? I know that in looking in the classifieds for US jobs, a lot of companies have listed certain certifications as a big plus (or even a requirement), but I haven't seen a lot of companies on rikunabi.com or mynavi.jp do the same.
by gh6 (guest) rate this post as useful

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