Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone had experience doing any kind of engineering work in Japan as a foreigner, and specifically how they got into that position.
I graduated with a Master's in civil engineering last year, and have been working for a large highway contractor for a few years now. I'm interested in trying to do my job in Japan in the future, and was hoping I could connect with others trying to do the same, as well as others who have done this, or know of people who have. =)
Currently I consider myself about N2 level reading/grammar/kanji, but N3 for speaking/listening/writing - clearly I'm not ready to leave for Japan and FT work tomorrow, but in the next few years I hopefully will be.
Thanks in advance!

I would say this is probably one of the fields that would be incredibly difficult to break into (civil engineering). Engineering in IT is far easier. The biggest problem is that I don't think I've ever seen a job posting on any of the major job boards for something like that and quick search shows there isn't any right now. Best bet for finding a job post would be on Indeed.jp or some other job search site in Japan that I don't know of.

The other thing to be aware of is that there are probably test(s) you will need to pass that will be in Japanese and will be jam packed full of specialized vocabulary. You'll have to pass these tests before anyone will even consider hiring you. Many of these tests might be regional as well.

The other thing that might be hard, and this is pure speculation on my part, is the fact that I think many of these civil engineering positions are probably fulfilled by new grads. Also, the pay in general will probably be far below what you would get in the US.

If this is something you want to do, then I'd recommend asking in Japanese web space about it. There is a "job" board on http://www.2ch.net and there may be a board specifically for civil engineers to ask. You could also try asking the question on http://www.okwave.jp as well.

@vix86 - Source for any of your info, or all speculation?
I appreciate the response, but you don't seem to be familiar with contracting or engineering. I will take your advice on searching Japanese job listings though - thanks. =)
Anyone who is more familiar with the industry able to weigh in?

[s0apgun]

I also graduated with engineering but I am now teaching myself computer programming in hopes of landing a job in Japan outside of English teaching. I just don't really see a need for an American engineer working in a Japanese company unless its very specialized or involves translating/exporting to the west. I think the best option is working with a Japanese manufacturing company in America and then working towards finding some kind of position where you can spend time doing work in Japan.

The Boston Career Forum (the world's largest Japanese-English bilingual job fair) is in a few weeks (November 7th-9th).
Take a look at the companies attending and brush up on your Japanese.

http://www.careerforum.net/event/bos/?lang=E

Not exactly what you are asking about since I don't know anything about civil engineering (electrical here), but here are some avenues that I've heard of that might be useful to someone.

I have had a few (three?) friends work for Honda, at their plant in Marysville, OH. One of them, a mechanical engineer, double-majored in Japanese, did exchange study there, and used his Japanese daily at his job. If I recall correctly, he was often sent over to Japan for business. There's a large contingent of 日本人 in Marysville/Columbus too, due to Honda: they have a Japanese school there so the kids don't have any break in their education (otherwise nobody with kids would be willing to leave Japan for the six month, year-long posts). No civil engineering, probably, but if you're good with BOM, CAD, FEA...

Another option is US Government. I've only heard about this through ex-government colleagues, and next time I meet a guvvie, I'll ask them about it too: there's a thing called PCS, permanent change of station, where you can apply to be posted abroad for anywhere between 6 months to 2--3 years. It sounds like a pretty sweet deal: you don't have to pay for housing wherever you're posted and if you stay out of the US for >11 months of the year, you don't pay federal income tax, plus they will help your spouse find work too, and pay for your kids' education. You apply for the posts: the really popular posts are apparently Britain, Germany, Pacific Islands. But lucky for Koohii, there are apparently often posts in Japan and Korea. You don't have to be military (though military people have their own ways of doing this, though I think with less freedom in where they're posted?), the people I've heard about this were all civilian. If you're not super-set on working in civil engineering proper and are good at "systems engineering" or related engineerings like mechanical or aerospace, this could be an option. The downside here is that these posts appear to be rarely listed on usajobs.gov, you have to get into an agency to get access to the internal job listings and go from there, so I'd ask the recruiters for these agencies very specific questions.

Finally, something more in line with what you are asking: search LinkedIn for jobs in Japan. It's easy to find them in computer/electrical engineering, e.g. LinkedIn is showing me this sponsored listing https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/2483...nmp_rj_job basically they want an iOS/Android/front-end developer, nothing about Japanese skill mentioned there, though I do wonder if they offer a relocation package to help you move from the US.

がんばって！

RobotChris Wrote:@vix86 - Source for any of your info, or all speculation?
I appreciate the response, but you don't seem to be familiar with contracting or engineering. I will take your advice on searching Japanese job listings though - thanks. =)
Anyone who is more familiar with the industry able to weigh in?

The part about tests I came up with when I googled for "土木技師" 採用 and got a ton of results about 試験. Also knowing how Japan is, if you are planning to do anything beyond grunt work, there are probably tests involved at the public works level. Most government/civil servant based jobs in Japan require you to pass some kind of test.

The only civil engineer guy I knew about was a Japanese guy, and that was from another person. A lady working as a teacher in Japan was married to a Japanese guy who was a civil engineer for NHK back in the 70's and 80's.

@s0apgun
All the best, I hope you're able to make it work out.
@chamcham
Seems like a great opportunity, thanks!
@aldebrn
Some interesting info. Can you be any more specific than US gov't? I've looked into the US ACoE where I've seen openings in Japan in the past in my field, but I didn't know civilian workers working in the US could relocate like you described. Something I need to look into! The LinkedIn tip is a great idea, and something I haven't looked into yet. Thank you!
@vix86
I'll do the search myself to be sure, but I'd bet those hits were for test prep for licensure. Also, I think you're confused about what a civil engineer does..while it's true that there are civil engs at the city, state, federal, etc level, there is actually very little - if any - actual civil eng work done by these folks. Public works - highways, water treatment facilities, dams, rail, etc - are (ACoE aside) designed and built by private firms - the gov't engineer is there to protect the city, state, fed's interests. I wonder why the NHK had civil guys on staff? Maybe a nomenclature thing.

One thing surprisingly no one's mentioned is working for a large US (or Canadian, UK, Australian) firm that has offices in Japan. Or the inverse - a Japanese firm with officies in the US/Canada/UK/Australia and trying to transition to Japan. This kind of work is very common in my field, not specifically in Japan that I'm aware of, but I've worked abroad for my US based firm in the past, and know of many others who have as well. Hope to run into someone who's made it to Japan!