With graduation looming in under 12 months, I'm torn between being responsible and starting work after graduating from my Masters next year, and doing further study and possible research in Japan, then hopefully find a job there.

I was hoping to do a PhD in Japan starting next year but it seems like they expect research experience before starting, so I'd probably have to devote 2 years to a second Masters, and even then I don't know if I'd get onto the PhD program. I'm not even sure how much tuition is and how hard it'd be to get funding. If I couldn't get into a PhD or a job there and came back to the UK after 2 years I imagine employers here would question why I spent 2 years just to get another Masters. |: So it feels like a risk.

My Japanese is good enough to be a student I guess, but not really enough to get a job there now (especially since I'm not experienced in my career apart from one internship). Even with experience, I get the feeling it's pretty hard to find any work in Japan if one's outside the country so this might be my best chance to get out of here (aside from hoping I end up in a company that will transfer me).

Blargh, don't know what to do. What do you guys think? I'm probably being too cautious.

Two important questions and a statement.

Q1) Why will you get your masters/PhD in?
Q2) Will you use this to work in Japan or England?

S1) Japan is notorious for looking down upon "higher, higher education"

dizmox Wrote:I was hoping to do a PhD in Japan starting next year but it seems like they expect research experience before starting, so I'd probably have to devote 2 years to a second Masters, and even then I don't know if I'd get onto the PhD program.

Are you sure you need research experience in addition to a Masters? It seems a bit much. Won't you do research in your final year anyway?

I had a friend who did a funded PhD in the UK and then got a post-doc position in Japan. Is that something you could do?

Ryuujin27 Wrote:Two important questions and a statement.

Q1) Why will you get your masters/PhD in?
Q2) Will you use this to work in Japan or England?

S1) Japan is notorious for looking down upon "higher, higher education"

1) Some area of probability theory/statistics, seems to be in pretty high demand in the finance industry. I'm doing some work in that area atm.

2) Preferably Japan, if I can find a company there. Otherwise wherever. I figure there are always foreign companies in Japan who don't look down on graduate students.

I guess I can find a job back home no matter what happens..

Quote:Are you sure you need research experience in addition to a Masters? It seems a bit much. Won't you do research in your final year anyway?

I had a friend who did a funded PhD in the UK and then got a post-doc position in Japan. Is that something you could do?

That's what a member of staff from one university in Japan told me.

We actually don't do any research here in our final year... for some reason. S: Just really high level lecture courses.

I think I'd rather get work experience then try to find a job there rather than do a PhD in the UK really. I'm not really thinking of doing a post-doc right now, seems like getting ahead of myself lol.

How is your Japanese? I think you have a decent chance finding a regular job in Japan if you have JLPT N1. Even with JLPT N2 you may still have a chance, but not nearly as high. I'd recommend travelling to Japan and looking for a job while you are there, of course you should set up interviews beforehand.

As for a PhD, in my experience almost every PhD program in any country (especially US) will require research experience.

I just saw you're from the UK. Why don't you just get a Working Holiday Visa and then see what happens? That'd be by far the easiest solution. You would have enough time looking for a job, no working/visa restrictions and if you are in need of money you could always teach English until you have found a "real" job.

I think I passed N1 this Summer... we'll find out in September! Though I've only spent 6 weeks in the country in total ever so I need a bit longer to brush up my ability.

Maybe I'd take a year out (possibly after gaining some more experience here) and look for work there, but I guess I could do that while doing a Masters and just drop out if I find something. How hard is it to get a working holiday visa?

dizmox Wrote:I think I passed N1 this Summer... we'll find out in September! Though I've only spent 6 weeks in the country in total ever so I need a bit longer to brush up my ability.

Maybe I will just take a year out and look for work there. How hard is it to get a working holiday visa?

Getting a WHV is a piece of cake. Just fill out a a couple of forms, give them your picture and you'll have your visa a few days later. I think that's definitely something you should make use of, not every country gets the privilege ; )

Congrats for passing N1. I think with a Masters from Cambridge and N1 you'll definitely find a job. That being said, I don't know much about the finance industry in Japan so take my words with a grain of salt..

Quote:Maybe I'd take a year out (possibly after gaining some more experience here) and look for work there, but I guess I could do that while doing a Masters and just drop out if I find something.

Wait, I don't get this now. Why would you drop out if you are almost graduating?

Sorry, I meant, I could apply to a Masters program in Japan to get my ass into Japan after I graduate in the UK, look for work, then get a work visa, then leave the Masters. If I couldn't find anything at least I'd have the Japanese Masters under my belt.

But I guess you're right, a WHV would have less restrictions.

Thanks for the help.

I see. Yeah, a WHV is probably the best way. Once you have found a job you could switch to a regular working visa. Good luck! Oh, and good job passing N1 without having spent much time in Japan. Did you take classes or self-study all the way?

Well, in case you don't find anything (which I don't think will happen), can't you apply to a Japanese Masters Program while being on the WHV? Of course that requires some coordination in terms of timing..

I looked at going to Japanese universities too and I found that if you've done a Bachelor's they ask that you've also done some research but otherwise a Master's is fine.

Quote:I see. Yeah, a WHV is probably the best way. Once you have found a job you could switch to a regular working visa. Good luck! Oh, and good job passing N1 without having spent much time in Japan. Did you take classes or self-study all the way?

Well, in case you don't find anything (which I don't think will happen), can't you apply to a Japanese Masters Program while being on the WHV? Of course that requires some coordination in terms of timing..

I think I passed N1, so don't congratulate me yet, haha. >< Last time I got 91/180 and this time I feel I did quite a lot better, but we'll see.

I just self studied, but as a result my speaking isn't as good as my IMing.

Maybe I could do the WHV thing for 9 months or so after graduating, then start a Masters in the spring if I didn't find anything, yeah, that'd be good too, thanks.

Quote:I looked at going to Japanese universities too and I found that if you've done a Bachelor's they ask that you've also done some research but otherwise a Master's is fine.

That's reassuring. ^^

What's the background of people in this thread?

Tell them your mic is broken and ask for IM job interviews : )
My Japanese friend actually had an IM job interview once, I couldn't believe it.

Quote:What's the background of people in this thread?

Right now self-employed in Japan on WHV. Probably going back to the US for my PhD afterwards though.

Cool, what field?

Do you think you'll go back to Japan?

Computer Engineering. Might be going for an MBA though, still haven't decided. It also depends on which schools I'm getting into though. If I don't get into top MBA schools it wouldn't be worth it for me personally.

I love Japan but I'm not sure if I can spend the rest of my life in this country. Especially when I think about career opportunities or raising children. I could make so much more money and have lots of better opportunities in the US. Plus, I like being self-employed and I wouldn't want to work for a traditional Japanese company because of company culture and long working hours. It would be perfect if I could somehow split my life between the US and Japan but I'm still figuring out the best way to do this in terms of visa (hopefully with something that doesn't include the word marriage )

dizmox Wrote:What's the background of people in this thread?

Physics BSc, going to start an MA in interpreting and translating.

If you love Japan, that's great. Enjoy the language, culture, etc. But do not think of this place as a career path. This isn't America, where anyone can make it, and if they can'T something is done about it. This is a monoculture, where only Japanese males are permitted (by other Japanese males) to advance, but only after showing their worth by decades of subserviance and overtime. Are you prepared to do this? It might be harder to make your way in places like Iran or North Korea, but not by much. Don't let the politeness and cute characters fool you. They are not about to give the place up. Study Japan from your own country, visit Japan if you like, but the system, the culture, everything, is designed to keep people like you out. Then again, you may like banging your head against a brick wall. In that case, you'll love it here.

Mennon is correct

Go for the expat company transfer to Tokyo route. It's way better.

I completely agree. I can enjoy Japan because I am going the unconventional route of being self-employed and not not being forced to be another brickstone in this "brainwashed" society. Working for a Japanese company on the other hand would mean resigning myself to a monotone and mediocre life.

Mennon makes a very good point. In America (and most likely the UK as well) what you make out of your career and life is all up to YOU. In Japan it's not. Most of it is decided for you and you can't do much about it, no matter how hard you try. And being a foreigner makes it even worse. That is the reason I would never want my kids to grow up in Japan (or at least not using the jp. education system) as it would severely limit their ability to be independent, think out of the box and be internationally successful.

Before deciding on getting a job with a Japanese company stay in Japan using a WHV and get real work experience. If, after one year, you still think you can spend your live here it may be worth a try.

Sorry for the rant ; )

How does one engineer oneself in a position to get a company transfer? :/ I could be stuck here my whole life hoping for that to happen. >_> I'm definitely going to go about things more pro-actively.

I'd probably only work for a foreign company anyway. I doubt there are many Japanese companies in my field.

Look for a company with links in Japan. Many big corporations advertise the fact that you could work internationally as a perk for working for them - or you can just google it.

It certain came up in the interview I had with Sony (SCEE); I'd be able to transfer to Japan after a year or two if I did well. Sadly i didn't get the job

I think it's rather difficult to "engineer" being transferred to Japan. You don't want to come across as only wanting to work for the company because you want to go to Japan. I also doubt that it will be advertised in the job description, even if it's possible. At the same time it's something that's out of your hands. A position matching your skills must be available in the jp. office and the company must think highly enough of you to trust you to be able to handle the job well. It's often not something you can do within a short period of time. So if you want to go to Japan ASAP foreign companies in Japan are probably your best bet.

That's just my speculation though.

I did have an interview with one company about working in Hong Kong. I might get in touch with them again. With my current company I could probably get transferred somewhere like... Singapore.... but it's still not exactly where I'd like to be.

If you're interested in finance and Japan, there are a handful of people who post in the Japan Megathread over at the Something Awful Forums who have experience in that area, so if you don't mind shelling out 10 USD for a Forums membership you could ask around there.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthr...id=3425295 is the Japan Megathread's most recent iteration.

Also look into the Boston Career Forum. There are Boston, Tokyo, and London events, among others, but I hear the London Forum is very small and not a patch on the Boston one (some Japanese people actually flew from my uni to America to attend the Boston one instead). It's mainly aimed at expat Japanese looking to start work in Japan after they graduate from foreign universities, but it's also open to foreigners with an advanced level of Japanese. http://www.careerforum.net/ is the US version's website, the London version http://www.careerforum.net/event/ldn/ has already taken place for this year.

Im in a very similar boat here. Ive been in Japan just over 3 years teaching English and looking to switch it up now. Ive also heard that the ideal route to working over here is being transferred from your home country. Not quite sure how to do this myself but was planning on applying to major Japanese companies when I went back home. Sony, Panasonic, Toyota etc. You think this would make it easier?

Now I think it's a lot more difficult to transfer over with your company, but I'm just going by what I think I read in a newspaper. It's still worth giving it a shot though!
I hope someone with actual knowledge of this can come in and give you a better answer!

Oh and if you haven't already, get the highest level of JLPT certificate that you can. Often when I speak to recruitment agencies they want to know if I have JLPT 2 or 1. That's just the minimum requirement though.