dizmox Wrote:Anyone doing it or doing it soon, or done it recently? In Japan, of course.When Japanese people start so early they are doing a lot of things that won't actually land them a job. In the beginning it's a lot of job hunting seminars and company introduction meetings. If at all possible you should attend a few of these especially if there are going to be large international companies there. In particular the job fair style ones are good because you can talk directly to the companies and get right down to the point, do they hire foreigners who speak your level of Japanese.
In addition you should start hitting up some of the networking events that are attended by both foreigners and Japanese. Start with generic "business in Japan" type events and use those to find out about other events to attend. Also don't let the event titles scare you off. For example there is an event in tokyo for executives. If that's a career path that interests you then definitely go there and talk to people and find out how they got where they are. People love to talk about themselves so it's super easy to get this kind of advice.
Always wear a suit to everything when you are job hunting. You can never be out of place in a suit and appearance definitely matters. Make two resumes so that you have one in all Japanese and one in all English that match modern layouts for each. Also definitely consider submitting 履歴書 (the handwritten kind) for Japanese and Japanese-style companies. Business cards can be a worthwhile investment as well because a company that might not be hiring today might change their mind in 6-9 months.
That was a bit of a brain dump, but if you want me to ramble further or you have any questions just ask.
dizmox Wrote:I'm in an awkward situation where I graduate in the middle of the academic year (September 2014) which doesn't fit into the native schedule.It's worth knowing that you can get your student permission stamp renewed for up to six extra months after graduation in order to job hunt. The application process is fairly trivial just make sure you bring your official graduation certificate and some kind of proof that you've been doing interviews and going to job seminars.