{"id":28836,"date":"2024-09-11T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/?p=28836"},"modified":"2025-07-25T14:29:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T05:29:52","slug":"how-to-find-a-japanese-related-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/blog\/how-to-find-a-japanese-related-career\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s next after studying? How to find a Japanese-related career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Studying Japanese in Japan might be your dream but what comes after that? Starting a job hunt can seem daunting but you\u2019ve already taken a step in the right direction by deciding to learn a new language and studying abroad<\/a>. Why not make the most of your Japanese language skills and make a move into a Japanese-related career<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding a career in Japan or landing a job in your home country that lets you use Japanese is more achievable than you think. Read on for advice on polishing your CV or resume, how to explore opportunities, where to search for roles, and interview preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Person<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Making your CV shine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While it should go without saying that applications should be personalized for each company you apply to, we\u2019re going to tell you anyway. To start a Japanese-related career search, creating a unique CV\/resume and making relevant study or work experience clear is the key to successfully finding a job. The type of CV\/resume you need will depend on the country you’re applying in, and the company you are applying to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japanese style CV<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you want to work in Japan<\/a>, or a company that uses Japanese as an internal language, you will likely need to submit a Japanese-style resume called Rirekisho<\/a>\u00a0(\u5c65\u6b74\u66f8) with your application. If you have previous work experience add a shokumukeirekisho<\/em>\u00a0(\u8077\u52d9\u7d4c\u6b74\u66f8), highlighting your skills and achievements. A key difference between Japanese rirekisho<\/em> and CVs from other countries, aside from the format, is the requirement to include a passport-style photo. Because Japanese-style CVs may differ from those in your country, it’s a good idea to brush up on the best practices for creating both before you begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to include on your CV <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whether you are creating a CV\/resume to work in Japan or a Japanese company in your home country, you will need to highlight your educational history and previous work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next to any diplomas and degrees you have received, your time at language school should be near the top of your educational history. Make sure that the school, location, and period of study are clear. You\u2019ll also want to make sure that the language level you achieved is clear. If you took any proficiency tests such as the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT<\/a>), or the Business Japanese Proficiency Test (BJT<\/a>) add them in the certifications or qualifications section of your CV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, consider any work you undertook if you’ve already had the chance to study in Japan. Be sure to highlight the location of this as much as the experiences you gained and how you made use of your language skills. Always summarise work experience by your achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Laptop<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What types of jobs require Japanese?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Traditional careers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As you might expect two of the main options available back in your home country when it comes to Japanese-related careers are likely to be in tourism or translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation<\/strong> is actually a pretty big industry and covers a few different areas. There are a lot of services that require translators which you may not have thought of, the police, consulate services, web companies, and any global company that is looking to provide its service in other languages. Dual fluency means there\u2019s plenty of choice depending on your other interests as well. For instance, if you\u2019re particularly interested in the games industry but don\u2019t quite have the artistic side you could always look at localization jobs. The anime and manga worlds have similar opportunities too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourism<\/strong> is a major industry that is often seeking dual language speakers. Similarly to translation, there are potentially a few more routes than you may have considered. Flight attendant is a great route if you like traveling a lot but can be a tiring job despite all the glamour. Other options include tourism boards like JNTO, working for embassies undertaking cultural exchange and promotion, and travel writing. You could even become a tour guide for Japanese tourists in your home country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japanese Companies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You may have decided that you don\u2019t want to work in Japan, but that doesn\u2019t mean you have to miss out on a Japanese-related career. Many world-famous Japanese companies like Sony<\/strong>, Square Enix<\/strong>, and Nintendo,<\/strong> have global branches in several countries around the world. Your language skills can be a great way to get into these companies and can also keep your routes back to Japan open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to look for a Japanese-related career<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, job hunting in any country is mainly based online. This is not any different for a Japanese-related career. While it may seem obvious, keywords in your searches should be considered thoroughly before you start looking, and remember to try adapting them to see what comes up. There are also plenty of dedicated job boards out there. Try searching by industry first but remember that there are plenty of specialist sites out there. Daijob<\/strong> is particularly useful and posts jobs for multinational companies looking for bilingual people. It’s a good way to find out what Japanese language careers might be out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t forget to network! When you\u2019re studying in Japan you will have met a lot of new people from all over the world. Make sure you keep in touch! You never know who may have contacts in different countries or different industries that might help you in your search for a Japanese-related career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get out and about. With giant conventions around the world like Comicon<\/strong>, Hyper Japan,<\/strong> and so on, there are plenty of chances to make direct contact with the types of companies that are looking for people just like you. It can be a brilliant opportunity to have fun and meet the people behind the companies who love Japan as much as you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applying and interviewing for Jobs in Japanese <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you’ve spruced up your CV, applied for a few jobs, and have an interview or two scheduled, the last step to your dream of having a Japanese-related career is to pass your job interview<\/a> and impress the company you want to work for with your language skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some professions, it’s still necessary to use the honorific speech, Keigo<\/a>, so make sure to brush up when you have the chance, or take a quick online Japanese business language<\/a> course before having any interviews, so that you’re prepared. Follow the steps on updating your resume, and searching for jobs, and you’ll soon be on your way to building a Japanese-related career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to read more about Japan, keep following our Go! Go! Nihon blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Studying Japanese in Japan might be your dream but what comes after that? Starting a job hunt can seem daunting but you\u2019ve already taken a step in the right direction by deciding to learn a new language and studying abroad. Why not make the most of your Japanese language skills and make a move into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":28840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[404],"tags":[666,690,680],"class_list":["post-28836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learn-japanese","tag-language","tag-living-abroad","tag-study-in-japan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28836"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185972,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28836\/revisions\/185972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogonihon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}