I'm fine teaching and all I just wanted to know if there are any other possibilities open to Westerners? I have a BA degree. I'm mainly wanting to come for the cultural experience of Japan, the work is just basically to help me get by financially, and is of secondary importance.
Japan - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
There are other "non-teaching" jobs in Japan. e.g. IT fields, Finance Fields, Entertainment field, etc. I would recommend checking companies in these fields that have branches in Japan and ones that you can apply your BA degree in. You can also check with recruiters that can look for jobs for you in your area.
2 :
It's simple. You need to be good at something employers want AND speak Japanese. Or you can do a crappy service job. Or you can do freelance work (but you'll have visa issues). It's very much the same as in any other country, including the US. The one thing not really open to you is the life-time employee track at the big manufacturing companies. They hire from Japanese university graduates, and need people brought up in the Japanese way of co-operating. (A foreigner brought up in Japan would/should have no problem here, although some companies still have bad practices.) If you're fine teaching, but your goal is Japan, then come to Japan and spend a few years building contacts in the profession you want, while getting the skills you need for that.
3 :
Try going to the web site below. You need a good command of English to teach English.
4 :
If you have fluency in Japanese and English, you can work basically for any company and make a killer salary. Finance (Goldman Sachs, etc) is always looking for beautiful, confident, educated people with Japanese language ability. Anywhere else you can leverage a US degree plus the ability to function in a Japanese setting for way more than you'll make as an English teacher. If that doesn't work, though, be a private tutor---they make way more than English teachers and you get to pick your own hours.
5 :
Too bad the only job for westerners is teaching English. If you were Indian like me, you could work in the IT field or Mechanical field.
