Today is the first time I am writing a blog, and the reason for this is my profound despair sensation I've fallen in.
I am a westerner, currently in my fourth year at university in Japan. I hope this article can help other westerners to know a little about Japanese job hunting process.
I started preparing for job hunting from my third year and started to apply to companies in the spring of my fourth year.
As recommended by the Job Hunting Support Office, I started preparing for job hunting from my third year.
My other Chinese and Korean friends started their preparations in April (So late).
But...Before I knew it, I found out that they were moving on to the final interviews and I was still in the first round of interviews.
It wasn't easy, I hadn't been able to pass the written test or the aptitude test,even though I had properly prepared for the SPI. Time limit it's just too short...
Well, even though I am enrolled in a Japanese university, studying with Japanese people in Japanese, studying the same things that Japanese people do but.. i cannot be faster than a Japanese in a test thought for Japaneses!
It's just not possible.
In the first place, if a company really is looking for foreigners, they should not make written exams at all.
Well, that's okay. We are in Japan, so let's follow the Japanese rules again! I thought.
But it was impossible. Everything was a waste of time. I lost my confidence. And now I am completely helpless.
Just before I started job hunting, I was very positive, I loved Japan, and I was going to be a working adult, so I was feeling a sense of fulfillment and excitement about the future. But now.. I just feel completely useless. A trash.
Here is the first pitfall!
Because I am a student at a Japanese university, I have to go through the same route as Japanese people to find a job = SUICIDE.
When I went to university, I didn't take the same exam as the Japanese, but a "Japanese check?" kinda exam for foreigners.
According to my research, if you have three to five years of experience in a job after graduating from university abroad AND NOT IN JAPAN, you can apply for a mid-career job IN JAPAN and have a HIGH chance of being hired IN JAPAN. Talking about being 100% hired even if your Japanese is a shit.
I'm 95% fluent in Japanese, but I don't have any work experience, so I can't go that route and no one will hire me the traditional way, they just don't give you a "chance". "A chance", it's all I ask. Nope.
Here's the second pitfall!
Job hunting navigation sites (such as MyNavi, etc.) are useless. They are a waste of time, and if any other Westerners read this, I hope they quit now. You don't even need to participate in internships in Japan. Everything is a waste of time.
Even if it says "international students welcome" on the website, that "international students" refers to Asian students NOT TO WESTERNERS.
So, if you're French or something, just forget about it!
It is better to use an agent (Global Leader, RYUKATSU, etc.). All you have to do is actively participate in their job fairs for international students and pray for them (they have special routes).
But that didn't work for me either.😅
Or rather, I just let myself get my hopes up as if everything was going well.
I met my first choice company through that very special route.
Information session-> written test-> first interview.... and so far, I passed! It took over two months, but finally, the final interview!
It was hard, but I finally managed to get a job offer too! I thought to myself.
I was so naive. So what the hell was the point to set multiple interviews in a more than two months consuming process?? This is something I'll never know.
If they didn't want me, they should have dropped me early on. It's all a waste of time.
There's something terribly wrong with job hunting in Japan!