Canadian looking for job (long read)

Hello!

So I had a question regarding possible jobs in Japan. Ideally I would like to get an answer from someone in the industries, however someone who is very confident in their answer is more then welcome to!

So first off, I am a 24 year old Native American male from Canada. Native English speaking, learning Japanese but I am not quite at the conversational level. I am currently in school for computer repair and networking. I will be attain my CCNA (Cisco networking), Microsoft Windows Server 2008, 2008 r2 and windows 7 server. I do not know any java or C++ or any other kind of coding. I have my A+ for computer repair and will also know some Linux server (SUSE). I will be getting my CSS (customer service specialist). I will have 1 year of college after these courses and no Bachelors at all.

Now that you know my qualifications heres my situation. I will be traveling to Japan in about 8-12 months and staying on a 1 year Working Holiday Visa.

According to my budget calculations I need to make AT LEAST 110,000 yen a month. So my question is... Given my qualifications and currently low Japanese skills. What kind of job can I obtain that will pay at least 110,000 yen/month.

Ideally I would like a job in the IT industry, however I am not opposed to any kind of job really, as I am there to learn the culture and the language. Keep in mind that I do not have a bachelors in teaching English or a bachelors at all.

So? How likely is it that I will obtain a job that pays that well and do you know of any positions specifically? (IE. teaching English is a decent answer, but giving the name of a school that hires foreigners without bachelors is a better answer)

Sorry for the long read, and thanks for any help you guys can give me!

Your chances of getting an IT job without JLPT N2 is slim to none. You'll be much more likely to find an English teaching job. Even then, you'll have a hard time finding a job since English schools won't want to hire someone who has to leave Japan after their working holiday visa ends (assuming you don't have a Uni degree).

Ya I do not have a university degree. I would like to get a job in either teaching English or IT, to see if working in those fields in japan is something I would like to go for as a career. I have not heard of the JPNT or whatever but I could look it up if it may help.

JLPT stands for Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Level N2 requires you to know 6000 vocabulary and 1000 kanji. Without either Level N2 OR a ton of connections in Japan, it will be nearly impossible to get an IT related job.

You can be an English teacher, but I don't see any school hiring you (who can only stay until the end of the Holiday visa) over someone (with a degree) who can renew their work visa.

Dalatain,

If you are trying to find out if you want to pursue either of those as a career, and if possible continue in Japan, you definitely need a bachelor's degree, as mentioned by previous posters. If you come on a Working Holiday Visa, it's fine for six months/a year, but the employer (even if they wanted to continue to hire you) cannot continue to employ you as you are not eligible for an employer-sponsored full work visa without a bachelor's degree or several or more years of work experience in the same field. This is an Immigration requirement.

If you have some good amount of savings and want to try traveling extensively/living in Japan for a while, while having the means to earn some pocket money along the way to help with your travel expenses, which is the original intent of Working Holiday Visa program, then WHV is THE program for you. But it does not lead to a continuing career as it is in Japan.

Thanks for the great answers guys! I know that a bachelors would greatly improve my odds, however I would like to get a taste for teaching english before I devote 4 years or so to get the degree only to find I don't enjoy it. With that in mind is it possible to get a job as an ALT or something to kind of get a hint of what it would be like for only a few months at most a year? Or am I better off finding a different job. Anyone have any jobs in mind? I would like to make at least 120,000 a month (with as little work as possible obviously :p).

Thanks again for all the help! You guys rock!

You can take your degree in anything, it doesn't have to be related to teaching English.

The only job you have a chance of getting with just a Working Holiday Visa is an English teaching job.

Another thing to keep in mind is those jobs you will be trying to land while on a working holiday people with degrees will be trying to get too so guess who they will pick. Also 120,000yen a month isnt very much you do know that right?

That's a low price. The normal amount for an English teaching job is about 250,000/month.

That aside, as pointed out, you'll definitely need to have a Bachelor's in order to continue working here if you do land a job, because the WHV will expire (to my knowledge). They can't continue to employ you legally because you wouldn't be able to renew the visa, like someone with a Bachelor's could.

You can also get a Bachelor's in pretty much any field. Seems the main requirements for these kinds of jobs are English as a first language/native speaker of English and a Bachelor's in something (immigration requirement). You should try for your BA while studying Japanese. Maybe you'll be able to pass level 1 or 2 on the JLPT and can actually get into IT work.

@ SSJ, I actually didn't even think about that. The 120,000 a month is more so for ANY job, dishwasher, english teaching, waiter, etc. I am not that picky so if there is a job out there that would be super easy for a foreigner to get I would be ok with that. Does anyone know off by heart how easy it is to obtain a job at a hostel (by the looks of it most hostels have only a few employees and keep them for a long time, but I would love that, meet new people all the time!)

As for the BA, If I enjoyed it enough I would do what I can to get a BA in something and get a work visa, my main concern right now is getting a job to enjoy my 6-12 months in Japan for right now. If I love it (I visited but that was just a 2 month vacation without work) then I will do what I need to to get back into Japan for good.