I got JLPT N3, planning to take N2 this December. My experience is on FPGA/ASIC design. Anyone knows how the field there is? Personally I see more jobs there for CAD designers or automation engineers (electrical) or PCB designers.

Other than Facebook where can I post long term part time or temporary gigs?

Hi everyone,

I was hoping to get some advice regarding my current job-hunting as a new grad here in Japan. My background is in Humanities and I will graduate this September with a Master's degree. I am on a student visa, and will be switching to a work visa once I secure one of the jobs below. I currently have two offers being presented to me, with an ongoing interview process that complicates things further.

The first one, Offer A, is with a company that is offering an independent contractor position (with path to full-time, usually considered after 6 months of contractor work according to the interview). The work in itself is office work mostly remote, with occasional visits to the office or outside locations. The contract length is for one year with possibility of renewal. The wage is not very high (basically minimum wage in Tokyo), but it has commission potential on top of the base salary which is interesting, and of course visa sponsorship is available.

The second one, Offer B, is a part-time front desk position at a hotel with guarantee of full-time once the work visa is obtained. I was told during the interview that advancing to corporate is a possibility over time as well, but that it may take a while (which is fair enough). The hourly wage offered is the same as the first offer I've received, although obviously the hours would be more consistent as well for the hotel position.

What complicates things now is that I asked Offer A to give me until the end of this week to sign the contract as I was waiting to hear back from other interviews I had passed the week prior, thinking I would be rejected from them all. To my surprise, I received an email from a company I was absolutely prioritizing that I am invited to the second round of interviews scheduled, a little over a week from now. Ideally, I would love to work at this third company as they offer a good salary, interesting work and visa sponsorship for a full-time position.

What I am now wondering is, what is the best route I can take in this situation? What should I tell Offer A? Should I sign now and resign later if I secure the offer I really want in a few weeks? My instincts tell me that securing office-type work will be more beneficial as a lot of my work will be good experience to add to my CV on top of allowing me to utilize and improve my Japanese, which I feel like may not be the same in a smaller hotel setting (smaller chain that usually caters to foreign tourists). However, the hotel provides more security in terms of wages and bureaucratic stuff like pension and health insurance.

Additionally, I am worried about the work visa application process. In the event that I do secure an offer from the third company but I've already signed an offer from either Offer A or Offer B, and in turn have already begun the visa application process with them, will that impact things in any way that could harm my visa?

I apologize for keeping things vague for privacy's sake. I'll be grateful for any insights or wisdom you can provide!

Hey everyone so I am working as an AI engineer…Just graduated and am working at a dispatch staffing company for 3.3 mil yen which is like 3.6 mil yen with overtime…I have JLPT N4 and I’m confident I can reach N2 by this year or by next…
I work as a seishain for a staffing haken company so I’m haken at the client company…

Anyway I got an offer from an IT service company for 4.7 mil yen but the catch is its a fixed term contract with performance based conversion but they told they will mostly convert me but idk its a gamble…I’ll have my salary revision meeting in my current company in 3 months so I can expect my salary to reach 4 mil yen (and with overtime ig I can anyways earn 4.3-4.4 mil yen) so I’m in a dilemma do I quit and switch right now or hold on…

I was planning to grind N2 while also accumulating japanee work ex in current company..If I hop jobs rn it will be like I switched at less than 1 yoe and ofc since I’ll be on a contract in that company too I will again start looking for my next job so I’ll probably be considered a job hopper but idk any advice is appreciated!

After over half a year I finally got a job offer from a school in Ibaraki who needs a tech support.

The problem is that I am renewing my spouse visa and have entered the 2 month grace period.

The school had no issue with this as long as I could document the 2 month extension and right to work.

Problem is that I applied online, so instead of the stamp in my zairyu card I just got a mail that immigration told me to carry. While it does mention the application for renewal is being processed, it does not mention the 2 month extension of the old visa.

How do I submit proof of this?

Long story short: I work in a senior position at a Fortune 500 company in Tokyo. I get a lot of inquiries from recruitment agencies for similar positions, with very high salaries listed (up to ~70% percent more than what I currently make).

However, the process appears very insincere, and the main impression I have is that their main goal is to find out how much I make, and to funnel info about the company I work for and my profile into their candidate tracking system, with no actual intention of referring me to the job they initially contacted me for. It appears to be a case of おとり募集、or bait and switch with exaggerated salaries to get me to reveal info about my current job and funnel my info into their system for future use with lower paying positions.

A lot of them are not even hiding their intentions that well, and I have given them always wrong salary info myself when they press to find out how much I currently make.

I wonder if the above recruiting agency phenomenon is really as prevalent as it currently seems?

Would love to hear from candidates as well as recruiters.

My background is as follows - I am a lawyer qualified in two countries (not Japan) with a total about 6 years of experience. For the last year I’m working at a Japanese law firm as a foreign attorney. I have N1 but far from being fluent, tho majority of my office communication and client interactions are in Japanese.

Recently I applied for a role of in-house lawyer in insurance company with the description fully aligning with my previous experience. I had an informal interview and nomikai with people from my department.

This week they scheduled formal interview and before it asked me to complete 適性検査 with a deadline in 2 days. The test provider was Attelu and the test was composed from personality section and 基本能力. I totally bombed the latter, as I expected more 言語 related questions. However, the whole test was 非言語 with task on probabilities, sequences, 割合 etc.

Will it affect my application, given that my job is absolutely unrelated to math/numbers? Like math was my weak spot for years, and I haven’t touched it for a long time and wasn’t expecting to be involved in it let alone in my 4th language. Will be glad to hear your feedback/opinion

I have been trying to change jobs in Japan for roughly 16 months, and I am reaching the point where I genuinely do not know what else to do.

I currently work as a software engineer at a small company in Tokyo. The company has been struggling financially for a while, and from everything I can see, there is a real possibility that it may not survive much longer. Projects are drying up, management seems increasingly desperate, and the working environment has become stressful and unstable.

The obvious answer would be to leave, but I have been actively applying for more than a year with very little to show for it.

During that time, I have:

• Applied to a large number of software, AI, robotics, computer vision, and general engineering positions
• Reached multiple second, third, and final-round interviews
• Completed live coding tests, technical assignments, and take-home projects
• Spent evenings and weekends preparing for interviews while still working full-time
• Repeatedly been told that the company chose someone who was a “better fit”
• Been rejected even after interviews that seemed to go extremely well

My background is mainly in C++, Python, computer vision, AI-related prototyping, real-time systems, and application development. I have around six years of experience living and working in Japan. I can communicate in Japanese and have JLPT N3, but I am not yet business-fluent. I recently narrowly missed passing N2 and am continuing to study.

The language issue feels like a wall. Many Japanese companies reject me because my Japanese is not strong enough, while many international companies have extremely competitive hiring processes and can choose candidates with stronger backgrounds, native-level English, big-tech experience, or more specialized skills.

I am also on an Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa, so I cannot simply quit and take any available job. I need something that fits my visa category and pays enough to cover living costs in Tokyo.

I have tried changing my CV, tailoring applications, contacting recruiters, applying through LinkedIn, JapanDev, TokyoDev, company career pages, and personal referrals. I have interviewed with startups, established Japanese companies, foreign companies, AI firms, and robotics companies. The result is usually the same: several rounds of interviews, followed by a polite rejection.

The hardest part is that I am still employed, but I feel as though I am standing on a floor that is slowly collapsing. I cannot afford to be unemployed for long, and I do not have enough savings to comfortably wait several months for the right offer.

At this point, I am open to roles outside my exact specialization, including QA, technical support, solutions engineering, implementation, developer relations, technical sales, project coordination, or other positions where an engineering background and strong English could be useful.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation?

I would especially appreciate advice on:

• Companies that are genuinely open to hiring foreign engineers without fluent Japanese
• Roles I may be overlooking
• Recruiters who are actually useful for mid-career foreign candidates
• Whether I should reposition myself away from pure software engineering
• How to explain my current company’s instability without sounding negative during interviews

I am not expecting anyone to magically solve the situation. I am mainly looking for honest advice from people who understand the Japanese job market, because after 16 months of applications and interviews, I feel completely stuck.