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To work in Japan, you need a high level of Japanese language proficiency, of course, but you also need work experience and skills.
There are several ways to improve your Japanese language level.
① Work in your home country while attending school and learning Japanese
② With the intention of going to Japan, quit your job and study Japanese at a Japanese language school in your home country.
③ Go to Japan and learn Japanese at a Japanese language school (university)
All three of these study methods will help you improve your Japanese language skills, but do you know which of ① to ③ is most likely to help you get a job offer from a Japanese company?
Among these, there are methods that are most recommended and methods that are not so recommended.
In this lesson, you will learn in detail which method is best.
By putting the recommended methods into practice, you may be able to get a job offer from a Japanese company, so please use this as a reference.
Which method is best?
We have summarized each study method and its advantages and disadvantages.
① Go to school and learn Japanese while working in your home country
Advantages: You can study Japanese while improving your work skills
Disadvantages: It takes time to learn Japanese because you study while working
② Quit your job and study Japanese at a Japanese language school in your home country, with the assumption that you will go to Japan.
Advantages: Since you don’t have a job, you can concentrate on studying, and you will learn Japanese faster.
Disadvantages: Since you don’t have a job, there will be a gap in your studies.
③ Go to Japan and study Japanese at a Japanese language school (university).
Advantages: It will be easier to find a job than if you were living overseas.
Disadvantages: Since you will be studying at school and searching for a job at the same time, it will be very difficult to balance both.
So, which method is best? ① Go to school and learn Japanese while working in your home country.
This is because in the case of mid-career hiring, companies want to hire people who can contribute immediately without any gaps in their work history.
(If you are already working in your home country and you are transferring to a company in Japan, it is considered mid-career hiring.)
It may be very difficult to study at a Japanese language school while working.
Also, if you have to work overtime, you will need to take time off school, so it will take a long time to master Japanese.
However, since you will still be working, you will not have any gaps in your work history, but will be able to learn Japanese while gaining experience and improving your skills.
As mentioned above, in the case of mid-career recruitment, companies only hire people who can contribute immediately, but if you have had too long of a gap in your work history, you will not be seen as an immediate asset and may not be hired.
It may be very difficult, but while you are honing your skills at work in your home country, you should also learn Japanese, and once you can speak the language to a certain extent, actively apply to Japanese companies.
So, here’s the method I don’t recommend:
② With the intention of going to Japan, quit your job and study Japanese at a Japanese language school in your home country.
③ Go to Japan and study Japanese at a Japanese language school.
These are the two.
The reason is that ② if you quit your job with the intention of going to Japan and learning Japanese at a Japanese language school in your home country, you will quit your job, so there will be a gap during that time.
If there is a gap, you will no longer be an asset and may not be hired.
Also, ③ if you go to Japan and learn Japanese at a language school in Japan, you will not be working in the same way, and there will be a gap, so you may be judged as not an asset and may not be hired.
Also, you will need to switch from a student visa to a working visa, which takes time and costs money for companies, so they mainly hire Japanese people and foreigners living in Japan who have working visas.
This means that unless you have exceptional skills and experience, it will be difficult to work for a Japanese company.
But don’t worry. I’m going to explain how to work in Japan, so let’s learn together.
It is important not to stay in school for too long
I don’t recommend quitting your job and going to a Japanese language school/going to Japan to study Japanese at a school because you will have a gap in your studies, but as long as the gap is not too long, there is no problem.
On the other hand, if you are careful not to have a gap in your studies too long, these methods will help you learn Japanese quickly, so you can aim for JLPT N2 or above in the shortest time possible, and as a result, you may be able to get a job offer.
The period of study at school should be between three and six months.
You should acquire the Japanese language skills necessary to pass N2 in six months.
You can quit your job and study for more than a year, but it will be difficult to get a job offer because of the gap in your work history. However, a gap of six months is within the acceptable range.
You cannot work while you are studying Japanese at a Japanese language school.
Even if you obtain JLPT N1, if you have a gap of more than a year, your work knowledge, experience, and skills will be reduced.
The longer the gap, the lower your chances of getting a job, so limit your gap to six months at most and study Japanese intensively.
In reality, it’s difficult to pass the JLPT N2 in six months, so you should start studying on your own before you start school.
To get a job offer
This may sound like a silly thing to say, but even if you study Japanese at school and get JLPT N1, the reality is that the employment rate for foreigners is still low.
Companies still mainly hire Japanese people, so even if you pass N1, you’re not a native speaker and you can’t beat Japanese people in terms of language ability.
So how do you differentiate yourself from Japanese people? Let’s compete with the experience and skills you have in your home country.
By highlighting your unique experience and skills that Japanese people don’t have during the interview, your employment rate will increase.
For example, let’s look at some points like these to see how they differentiate themselves from Japanese people.
*These are points of differentiation for IT engineers.
Not only can you speak Japanese, but you can also speak multiple languages such as your native language and English.
You can contribute to the globalization of your company by expanding your overseas sales channels.
You can use development languages that are not used much in Japan but are used all over the world.
Let’s communicate clearly that instead of quitting your job and going to school to study Japanese and creating a gap in your career, you can make full use of the experience you have in your home country and contribute immediately.
Summary of the lesson
To work in Japan, you need high Japanese language ability and high skills.
To do that, you should go to school while working and aim to pass the JLPT N2.
It’s fine to go to a Japanese language school, but to avoid a gap, you should take 3 to 6 months to master Japanese.
This is because Japanese companies tend to hire foreigners who have more than 3 years of work experience and JLPT N2 or higher.
Also, the fastest way to improve your Japanese is not to learn from school teachers or textbooks, but to learn by actually using Japanese at work, so the best environment is one where you can use Japanese at work.
If you don’t think you can pass JLPT N2, it’s probably best not to change jobs yet.
Study Japanese every day while working at your current company, and once you pass N2, apply for jobs in Japan.