JET Programme & job hunting in Japan tips/resources
While finishing up my 5th year on JET I was thinking about “what is next” for me. There were four possible routes: Apply for graduate school, job hunt, go to a Japanese language school, or return back to Australia. I didn’t really want to go back to Australia and it was too early to apply for language school, so I focused on the first two routes. I applied to Doshisha University’s MBA program and also started job hunting – because I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. Fortunately, I was able to get into the MBA program and am currently in the process of balancing studying and working part-time. Although I am working part-time at two jobs as well as freelancing I am still on the lookout for jobs and actively applying.
I think it’s important to keep up to date with job hunting trends and sites in Japan (outside the most visited sites like Gajinpot and LinkedIn), particularly because many foreign students feel they are behind their Japanese counterparts, so I decided to write this post summarizing what are the preferred sites used by alumni in Japan looking for jobs. In my previous post about job hunting in Japan I wrote how as foreign job seekers we are in competition with recent graduates, that became much more evident to me when using Japanese job hunting sites.
Disclaimer: Please don’t take the information on this post as legal advice. This post’s intent is to give some generalised perspective regarding job hunting from a jet alumni perspective – it may not be the same for everyone across the board and some people’s experiences may be totally different than what is mentioned here.
This post is split into several parts
Job Hunting Categories
Hiring in Japan can be put into two categories 新卒採用( fresh grads hire ) and 中途採用 (mid-career hire). Essentially 新卒採用 is aimed at those who have just graduated from university, have no experience, and need to be trained. While it is predominantly aimed at people who have finished their bachelor’s degree (4 years) master’s students can also apply for it. Sometimes you can still be counted as a fresh grad if you graduated within 3 years of applying for a position. Whereas 中途採用 is for those who have worked 3-5 years and want to change jobs or careers.
Kemushi-chan’s video with Chika Alice does a good job of explaining this under the title “Is over 30 too old to move to Japan?”
Personally, I feel like I do not belong to either category. I graduated 6 years ago and while I do have quite a lot of volunteer experience in marketing, I do not have proper full time work experience in that field. I do have 5 years of experience working as an ALT and in many ways my skills as an ALT are transferrable, but I believe that the lack of proper work experience in the field(s) I’m applying for does hinder my job hunting prospects.
I also am not at a confident enough business Japanese speaking level so I hope through taking Japanese lessons while studying the MBA at Doshisha University and doing part time jobs I will be able to properly qualify for 中途採用 positions. Additionally, since technically I would be a new graduate with a master’s degree, I should be able to also apply for 新卒採用 positions. But I’ve heard that many 新卒採用 positions have some age restrictions – namely you need to be under 25 however there are still some which don’t have that restriction.
While many think it’s totally dumb to apply for fresh grad positions when you’ve completed their masters, I know of a few JET alumni who did that and were happy with their decision – particularly because fresh grad positions usually have on-the-job training depending on the role (a lot of new grad positions may be generalist positions and after you get trained you get a more specialised position). While it may be believed that fresh grad salaries are lower than mid-career salaries, in some cases, it can be the reverse – mid-career salaries can be lower than fresh grad salaries. Some articles state that in these cases it’s usually dependent on the skill scope and level of the mid-career hire. Additionally, sometimes mid-career hires won’t get the same benefits such as raises or bonuses as fresh grads do.
Average Salary for New Grads
“I’m a JET, not a new grad why is new grad information important to me?” – Because a lot of companies will treat us as new grads in the hiring process, especially those of us who want to switch industries and have no industry work experience outside JET. Also, it’s important to be aware that salaries are pretty low/stagnant in Japan for a while. If you’re unfamiliar with wages in Japan I recommend reading these articles 1,2,3,4
Typically the average annual salary for fresh grads in Japan is 2 million yen, with average monthly salaries in the first year being 206,250 yen [approx 1480USD$] (according to Labor Administration Research Institute). Annual salary can vary per industry -according to this website in 2023 fresh grad consultants’ average annual salary is 4 million, and IT-related positions are 3 million and foreign company positions are 6 million yen. The website also notes that a high starting salary does not necessarily mean continuous high income in the future too. It is important to check whether the job provides raises/bonuses – this information isn’t typically listed on job descriptions so you have to research it on your own.
Additionally, it is common now for job postings to not share salary information at all (in Japan and overseas), there are a few reasons you can read about it here, here and here. Jobs that don’t share salary information aren’t necessarily low paying, in fact, they can be pretty high paying.
The most important thing to do is research the company and reviews. The biggest advice I hear from alumni as well as senpai job hunters is research research research/ don’t take job listing information at face value.
While the average monthly salary for new grads (even outside new grads) is very low, especially if we compare it with the salaries some of us would be getting in our home countries, there are usually some benefits attached to it. For example, the company covers transportation, rent, health insurance, utility costs, tax and so on. This of course doesn’t apply to all job listings – it is important to check the company’s information page and see what they cover. I know of someone who had a starting salary of 200000 yen per month but their only expenses were personal ones such as eating out, buying things from Amazon etc because their company covered pretty much everything for them (again, this doesn’t apply to all companies). Higher salaries sometimes do not have as many benefits as lower paying salaries, it is important that you think about what is more important to you – everyone will have different preferences.
One thing that catches a lot of people (especially ALTs) by surprise on JET while job hunting in Japan is that companies usually offer fresh grad salaries despite their experience on JET. This can especially be seen at the annual career fair. This is usually attributed to the company thinking that the generalised population of JET lacks experience or training for the specific skills required for their job options – and hence are better hired as fresh grads so that they can train us in the way they want. This is more likely seen and experienced when a JET wants to switch industries e.g. being an ALT to becoming a translator or marketer/management.
In some cases, you can try to negotiate with them by showing how your skills can be transferrable. However, I should say that some alumni have had their offers rescinded when they asked for higher pay – while some have been successful. Another way is asking if they can match your previous salary (note: they will ask for proof from your previous CO).
I couldn’t find adequate information regarding the average salary for mid-career hires so I’m thinking of trying (keyword: trying) of making a survey to analyse the average annual income of JET alumni in Japan. It largely depends on the amount of time I have / I also have to be careful of how I approach it, if you have any ideas feel free to comment or contact me!
Skill Building
In order to keep my skills up to date I am doing some online courses, in particular data analysis in hopes it will benefit me when I graduate. I’m doing the Google Analytics course on Coursea , which is very similar to what I did in university so I’m speeding through it, and will probably move on to the IBM Data Analytics course afterwards because I want to learn the basics of Python (the Google Course doesn’t touch on Python). In my last year, I also started freelance copywriting in order to build my portfolio.
There is a lot of debate about whether the certificates are effective/ whether companies acknowledge the certificates (overseas and in Japan) but I personally think it can help, especially if you want to make a portfolio to show a future employer. How effective these courses are depends on how you apply and use them in the job-hunting process.
Portfolios are a huge asset when job hunting, especially in IT and industries such as translation, design, marketing and so on. One of the biggest reasons I was able to get freelance clients (as well as internships during my time in university) was that I made this website and wrote some articles to show what type of content I could write.
Linkedin can act as a semi portfolio, I’ve heard from some recruiter friends that being findable – having a website, LinkedIn, substack etc / having your work experience findable can bring you ahead of other candidates. Make sure your Linkedin is up to date and has relevant information that demonstrates your experience and skill set. In house recruiters have also said that is common for them to pre-judge your personality based on your online presence – they will look you up on Facebook,Instagram or Twitter if you use your name as a username to sus out if your personality fits the company. If you don’t want your personal profiles judged it would be better for you to private it, or make it so your full name isn’t visible in your profile. Instead, curate your public profile with LinkedIn or another website so recruiters will see what you want them to see.
Thoughts update 2024: Having certificates can definitely improve your job-search options and can potentially help get you a higher salary. However the type of certificate does matter for some companies, some will accept online certifications while others would prefer technical certifications (of which are in Japanese).
I mainly started freelancing in my last year of JET – I didn’t tell my workplace, but at the same time I didn’t make any substantial income from it. For me income wasn’t important – building up a portfolio was and it was worth it.
If you’re worried about tax and stuff you can ask your workplace if you can do freelancing on the side. Although it is widely said you can’t do a second job on JET it isn’t true all across the board. Some JETs get permission from their CO to do other jobs like translation (if they are an ALT) or teach at other places. It doesn’t hurt to ask! Every JET contract is different.
Language Skills
I hope to eventually pass the JLPT N2 exam (I’m really bad at exams/tests in general T_T). I’m not sure if I’ll take the N1 because I am interested in the BJT exam and I want to see how that goes. Some career seminars I went to said that the BJT is becoming more known and some companies prefer it to the JLPT.
A thing to consider doing is TOEIC. Some companies, not only in education, require employees to have a TOEIC score regardless if they are native English speakers or not. In some cases, it may also allow you to get a salary raise.
When it comes to job listing sites a lot of them tend to have vague information regarding Japanese language ability, usually, they are separated into 0 Japanese, basic Japanese, conversational Japanese, business Japanese and native/fluent Japanese. Occasionally some will include a JLPT N-Level in their requirements. I know a lot of people get put off by native/fluent Japanese however that category doesn’t always necessarily mean you have to be a native Japanese speaker by birth to apply. A few alumni have told me that while they aren’t native they applied for such jobs and got in — what that category is really looking for is that you can work fully in Japanese / work in a full Japanese setting. Of course, this doesn’t apply to 100% of all job listings but if you come across one and have high-functioning Japanese abilities in speaking/listening/writing and reading it won’t hurt to apply.
Advice from some alumni JETs I’ve heard is that just having an N# Level certificate won’t help you get employed (even if it’s N1) it’s important to have a specialisation or experience in regards to what you translate/interpret – having a portfolio can also help employees grasp your specialisation/experience.
TESOL/CELTA
Personally, I do not see English Teaching as my future career – but if I did, I would’ve done TESOL or CELTA during my time on JET. One of my previous ALT co-workers did CELTA on JET and managed to find a teaching job at a Private Highschool teaching science in English despite not having a Degree in English Teaching – he had a science background.
AJET does provide a TEFL discount for JET Participants. If you’re completely unsure of what to do after JET I recommend you do it! If you end up wanting to stay in Japan and continue teaching English it will make your resume stronger. However, the AJET site is currently under renewal so some links may not work, if you’re interested please email resources@ajet.net
Recommended Job Hunting Sites
It is common for non-recontracting JETs to focus on more English-based Job hunting sites but I think it’s good to look at Japanese sites too (if you have the language ability). Here are the 2023 recommended sites by various Career Sites for fresh grads and mid-career hires. The two main styles of job-hunting sites are navigation and reverse recruiting. Navigation is where you search for jobs yourself whereas reverse recruiting is where you post your resume and recruiters contact you themselves.
This table has sites targeted towards Japanese speakers as well as English speakers.
| Sites | Type of Site | Link | Number of Companies | Type of Company | Type of Hiring | Industries | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MyNavi | Navigation | https://job.mynavi.jp/ | 20000 | Large Companies, SMEs, Venture Companies | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
| Wantedly | Reverse Recruiting | https://www.wantedly.com | 20000 | Venture Companies | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | Tech, Business, Design, Hosptiality | Japanese, English |
| Recruit | Navigation | https://www.rikunabi.com/ | 30000 | Large Companies, SMEs, Venture Companies | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
| One Career | Navigation, Reverse Recruiting | https://www.onecareer.jp/ | 40000 | Large Companies, Venture Companies | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
| Caritas | Navigation | https://job.career-tasu.jp/ | 20000 | SMEs, Venture Companies | Fresh Grads | All industry | Japanese |
| Offer Box | Reverse Recruiting | https://offerbox.jp/ | 10000 | Large Companies, Venture Companies | Fresh Grads | All industry | Japanese |
| Bun Navi | Navigation | https://bunnabi.jp/ | 7800 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads | All industry | Japanese |
| Diamond | Navigation | https://www.shukatsu.jp/ | 3500 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads | All industry | Japanese |
| Asagaku Navi | Navigation | https://www.gakujo.ne.jp/ | 2000 | SMEs | Fresh Grads | All industry | Japanese |
| Access | Navigation | https://job.ac-lab.jp/ | 600 | Large Companies, SMEs, Venture Companies | Fresh Grads | All industry | Japanese |
| Career Ticket | Reverse Recruiting | https://careerticket.jp/ | 200 | SMEs | Fresh Grads | All industry | Japanese |
| Kimisuka | Reverse Recruiting | https://kimisuka.com/ | 2000 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads | All industry | Japanese |
| Doda | Navigation, Reverse Recruiting | https://doda.jp/ | 6000 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
| Re Katsu | Navigation | https://re-katsu.jp/career/ | 7000 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
| JAC Recruitment | Navigation, Reverse Recruiting | jac-recruitment.jp | 20000 | Large Companies, SMEs | Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
| Enworld | Navigation, Reverse Recruiting | https://www.enworld.com/ | 1000 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese,English |
| CareerForum | Navigation, Reverse Recruiting | https://careerforum.net/en/ | 50 | Large Companies | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese,English |
| Career Cross | Navigation,Reverse Recruiting | https://www.careercross.com/en/ | 850 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads,Mid Career | All industry , education | Japanese , English |
| JREC | Navigation,Reverse Recruiting | https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekTop?ln=1 | n/a | Public/Private Universities, Highschools, Elementary Schools | Mid Career | Education | Japanese, English |
| Ninja (next in Japan) | Navigation,Reverse Recruiting | https://nextinjapan.com/ | n/a | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
| DavesESL cafe | Navigation | https://www.eslcafe.com/ | n/a | Public/Private Universities, Highschools, Elementary Schools | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | Education | English |
| JALT Job listings | Navigation | https://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/career-development-corner/jobs | n/a | Public/Private Universities, Highschools, Elementary Schools | Mid Career | Education | English |
| Ohayo Sensei | Navigation | https://www.ohayosensei.com/ | n/a | Public/Private Universities, Highschools, Elementary Schools | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | Education | English |
| JobsinJapan | Navigation,Reverse Recruiting | https://jobsinjapan.com/ | 72 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads,Mid Career | All industry ,education | English |
| TokyoDev | Navigation | https://www.tokyodev.com/ | 150 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads,Mid Career | Tech | English |
| JapanDev | Navigation | https://japan-dev.com/ | 280 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | Tech,Business | Japanese,English |
| Green | Navigation,Reverse Recruiting | https://www.green-japan.com/ | 9000 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | Tech | Japanese |
| Indeed | Navigation,Reverse Recruiting | https://jp.indeed.com/ | n/a | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
| Bizreach | Navigation, Reverse Recruiting | https://www.bizreach.jp/ | 100000 | Large Companies, SMEs | Fresh Grads, Mid Career | All industry | Japanese |
For some Japanese sites, it can be very hard to unsubscribe from their email newsletters – it may be a good idea to make a new email so you can avoid getting spammed with multiple emails.
From the table here are some of the sites suitable for those who mainly use English
General Job sites
Career Cross has a wide range of jobs in various industries, compared to sites like Daijob and GajinPot I usually feel CareerCross has higher salaries and better companies listed.
CareerForum
CareerForum is mainly aimed towards students so a lot of their job listings are for fresh grads. However many companies also accept mid-career hires. Career Forum also hosts career fairs in Tokyo, Osaka and overseas – usually in Boston, Los Angeles and London (useful if you are outside Japan).
Tech-based Careers
Wantedly
Wantedly hosts a lot of startup companies particularly related to tech roles but also includes marketing, sales, hospitality and translation roles too. It is available in both Japanese and English but most postings are in Japanese. Typically companies don’t publish direct job listings (some do)- instead, they talk about what they do and invite you to suggest what you can do for the company by requesting a meeting with a company. This style may not sound attractive to a lot of people but you can read this JET alumni post about how they got a tech job through Wantedly to get a better idea of how it works.
JapanDev
Japandev is a great resource for tech roles in Japan because each listing is vetted for company quality and job salary. You can read more about their vetting process here . In addition to tech roles, there are sometimes some business and marketing roles available too. Their blog also has great information about working in Japan.
TokyoDev
TokyoDev is similar to Japandev but it is more software engineering specific. Also as the name suggests, the roles are based in Tokyo – though may offer remote positions.
Education Careers
Across-the-board jobs (kindergarten, elementary, high school, university etc)
JALT Job Listings
JALT has a range of job listings from elementary to university to daycare and so on. The job listings are occasionally in only Japanese.
Ohayo Sensei
Ohayo Sensei has similar postings to JALT but the job listings sometimes can occasionally be more diverse.
Dave’s ESL Cafe
Dave’s ESL cafe is an international ESL job board, if you type Japan in the search box you can get Japan-related results. Usually, there are listings there from some companies all year round which you can find anywhere but occasionally there are job listings related to teaching that aren’t found anywhere else too.
University Jobs
If you are looking to teach at a university, JREC-IN is a good site to visit. This site lists jobs available at public and private universities, colleges and occasionally high schools and elementary schools. It is important to note that a lot of university positions require at least a Masters or a PHD with at least 2 publications – occasionally there are positions that are fine with a bachelor and X years working as an ALT or similar role. Additionally, the pay system of universities is not usually disclosed, a lot of the time it can be age/seniority based – you get paid the older you are, rather than the experience you may have. Public universities typically pay lower than private universities – you can expect salaries starting from 2.3 million yen despite having a Master’s or a PhD.
There are some jobs available at university that aren’t teaching such as administration or research-related jobs too, requirements for these vary greatly.
Positions at universities usually are posted 1 year before the starting date. So if you’re looking at the site now (2023) most of the job listings will be for the starting date of April 2024.
Wild Card
Craigslist
Craigslist is definitely a wildcard in terms of what jobs you can find there. A lot of the time there are short gigs there but occasionally there are full-time jobs available there too.
One of the more interesting job listings I’ve seen was on craigslist
Career Fairs
It is important to visit career fairs, even if you are not intending to finish your contract. While many career fairs have limitations – such as needing to be a fresh grad, some do not. In the very least by going to career fairs, you can look at what positions are available at different companies.
Usually, Career Fairs will list what companies are attending, when the list is published be sure to check what companies are attending and how they are rated on sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed. The Japanese versions of Glassdoor are Open Work , Lighthouse, Job Talk and Career Connect.
It is also important to remember that not all companies that appear at Career Fairs are good companies to work at. Once a list of attending companies is published make sure to look them up on Glassdoor or the other equivalent websites.
It’s also good practice to look at the company’s website and learn about what they do.
If you want to go a step further, look them up on LinkedIn and see if you know anyone working there or has worked there – and shoot them a message asking about their experience. This extra step might even help you get the job.
The value of internships
There are two thee types of internships in Japan one day, short-term and long-term.
One-day internships essentially act as company information sessions.
Short-term internships typically go from anywhere between 1 day to 2 weeks. Long-term internships can go from 1 month to 1 year. All are very important and can improve your chances of finding a job post-JET. Whether overseas internships have as much value as “in Japan” internships isn’t very clear but I wager Japanese companies probably will prefer “in Japan” internships over other countries ones (depends largely on the company of course).
According to a survey by Diamond Human Resources in 2022, 80% of companies that have 500 or more employees have internship programs.
CLAIR does offer some internship options but you will need to have at least a JLPT N2 or equivalent certification.
Additionally, you would most likely have to take annual leave for it too. Based on Alumni feedback I’ve heard, that the company you get can be a real hit or miss, depending on the career path you intend to take.
From Japanese Job hunting websites, the merits of doing an internship are as follows
- It gives you experience working in an industry you’re interested in / majoring in
- You can meet people of different ages
- Learn about yourself
Online Internships have also become popular because of COVID-19 and are something that job hunters should consider, although they’ve become fewer since businesses are looking to return to normal operation.
2024 thoughts update : While doing my masters I have completed one internship and have recently started a new internship. Both internships I found through friends or through networking. The first internship I learned via a senpai of Doshisha , he had completed it a few years prior. However, the scope of what he did and what I did was very different. I worked there for a year and I was able to branch out my skills in writing and creating promotional material (things I did as a freelancer/volunteer).
The second internship I learned about through a networking event. Actually, I already knew of a friend who worked there – but their job was mainly related to the translation of government material and it wasn’t something I saw myself doing. However, I learned a different side of the company via the networking event and became interested in it. The 2nd internship is more intense than my 1st one but I am learning a lot, especially in the advertising realm of things.
As JETs can’t take on long-term internships , the lesson here is that your friends and network can hold the key to what you may end up doing. Don’t be afraid to stalk people’s LinkedIns, see where they work, and apply via the recruitment page (although you should probably ask them how working there is like, if you’re close with them).
Networking
Having networks/connections is very valuable in job hunting, you’re more likely to get a better job if you have connections than if you don’t. Building connections on JET may be hard, especially if you stick to your city JET circle but it’s good to get out of it sometimes.
In Japan JETAA Western Japan and JETAA-Tokyo host casual networking events throughout the year, where you can meet alumni JET who established themselves in Japan and ask for pointers! Join their Facebook groups to see when their next event is!
Another networking source is your country’s Chamber of Commerce’s networking events. The majority of these are in Tokyo but depending on where the country’s consulate is it can be in Osaka or other prefectures too.
[…] One of the most stressful aspects about finishing your time as a participant on the JET Programme is finding a job and/or career whether it be in Japan, back in your home country or another country altogether.You can read my latest post on advice for post-JET job hunting here […]
[…] One of the most stressful aspects about finishing your time on the JET Programme is finding a job whether it be in Japan, back in your home country or another country altogether. To read my latest post on post JET job hunting advice, please visit this post! […]