Job Edge – Take the Edge in the Job Market

I’ve been contemplating about pursuing a career of some sort and living in Japan for quite a while now. I am an Asian American undergraduate at UF currently majoring in EALL. I am fluent in English and Chinese-Cantonese, but I am not literate in the latter (I cannot read the kanji). I am planning on spending a year in Osaka to study abroad during 2008.

This may be a broad question, but what studies should I be focusing on to get a good career in Japan? I’ve done alot of research on the subject, and I know that many gaijins first enter the country through various work visas and most predominantly, the JET program. These foreigners usually also go on to become entertainers, English teachers, or bartenders, none of which suit my tastes. My general interests lie with computers for the most part: stuff that involves IT and networking. Grabbing a translation job for a gaming company of some sort would be a dream come true for me, but I’m not sure what current job situation is over in Japan.
I’d also like to know how native Japanese view Asian foreigners as well, although I hope that I’ll be able to "blend in" better than say a white or black foreigner.

Too many foreigners here rely on their Japanese language skills but, in reality, almost without exception you will have to be able to communicate in Japanese at a business level to work here. It’s not enough. Study business in college and study Japanese on your own.

If you want a real career in Japan, you want to work for a foreign company. With few exceptions (Sony, e.g.), a Japanese company may hire foreigners, but you will never receive the recognition and reward of your Japanese co-workers. So study the things in school that will make you attractive to a foreign multinational – marketing, finance, accounting, etc. IT skills would be the prerequisite if you want to work in that field, but young grads with IT skills in Japan are a dime a dozen. So you’ll need to supplement these with something that distinguishes you – "hard skills" that are sorely lacking among young Japanese grads. And in addition to your other skills, in Japan what you want as a foreigner is to be hired for your Western mindset.

Foreign companies need employees that can communicate with management with the same way of thinking, analyzing problems, and looking for solutions. As we all know, most Japanese students do not acquire these critical thinking skills in the course of their formal educations. So to sum up, set yourself up to be able to market yourself in the future as a native English speaker with business level Japanese who has a solid foundation in analytical skills – all in addition to whatever speciality you are particularly interested in pursuing.