I.T Jobs in Tokyo

As English is the most common spoken language in the world. Even if you go to Europe you will be able to use English to get by and maybe learn a little of their local language like how to say "Hello". But most people forget the fact that the reason why people can speak English in these countries is because the country has a long history of dealing with the commonwealth society many decades and hundreds of years ago. For example, a lot of people in Hong Kong speaks English is because it was colonized and governed by the British government for 156 years before being handed back to China in 1997. However Japan, a country of it's own has never been under the control of any other foreign country in its entire history, a country consisting of 4 main islands and surrounded by sea. The country has its own native language, Japanese, and a culture of it own that is unique to the rest of the world.

In particular if you are a foreigner planning to come to Japan to look for a job for whatever reasons like your Japanese wife wants to return home with the kids or for cultural challenges or for working holiday, etc. You must absolutely do research on understanding the Japanese culture and learn Japanese. Although Japan alone has more English schools than any other countries in the world, any foreigner should not expect to get by in Japan without learning a single Japanese word. Especially when it comes to finding a job, there are now more and more bilingual Japanese speakers in Japan compare to 10 years ago, and they will be competing with you in finding a job in international companies here in Japan. Any local/international company will prefer to hire a bilingual Japanese person over a foreigner who speaks little Japanese even if the foreigner has better skills. The reason being is because cultural fit is more important than the experience and technical skills as no matter how experienced you are if you don't speak Japanese then it is difficult for you to bring your experience to the business. For example, an experience System Administrator from the States who only speaks English will have difficulties in configuring Active Directory in a Japanese version of windows. This is simply because he can't read the instruction and guessing what the buttons in the windows means is just not wise at all. However, if you are a foreigner who speaks fluent Japanese and English and coupled with your years of experience and skill set, then your chances of being hired and finding a job will increase dramatically.

So to those who are planning to come to Japan, please learn about the Japanese culture and it's language in advance before you come. If you're Japanese level is not at the business level, be prepared to accept that finding a job in Tokyo will not be an easy one.

Throughout my recruiting career I have met many expat who tells me that they love Japan so much that they want to stay, or they found a partner and has decided to stay. When consulting with these expat, the question they are most scared of is "Are you willing to sacrifice your expat package?", and the expats response will be "..." pulse "..."

Anyone who is on an expat package are very well looked after by their parent company who sent them there, and usually for very senior level positions or major projects. To the parent company they are sent there because of their expertise in the companies business culture, system, procedures and trading secrets and to ensure their business in Japan runs smoothly. But there are moments where it's time for the expat to pack up and go home, they realize they want to stay in Japan because of the culture and reasons beyond. What expats usually find most difficult to accept is the harsh reality in find a job outside of their comfort zone, where other companies sees them as the same as any other candidates/employee.

For expats wanting to stay in Japan they must be prepared to do the following:

• Give up your expat package and incentives like housing, living cost, child eduction support.
• Understand that most jobs in Japan requires a high level of Japanese speaking level, and even as an expat you maybe rejected on the screening stage because of this. A company won't be able to communicate with you if the main language used is Japanese only. Even though you may have great exciting ideas, it might not be a working culture fit for their business line or operation.
• Lower base salary.
• Change in living style such as paying for your own rent.

Although the changes are hard to give up, once you start living in Japan like most people does you will get to enjoy and understand the Japanese culture in more depth and enjoy the beauty for the culture and its people.