While internships are not for everyone, for Mr. A.M. it helped open new doors and opportunities. He explains here that finding the right company is not an exact science, and since he was hoping to be hired on strength of personality and commitment, he had to find a firm that would hold these qualities as...

2006 was an excellent year for most foreign firms and larger Japanese ones. The economy coasted along on export demand of both finished goods and tools, value-added materials, and corporate profits are at record highs. It was a good year to negotiate pay raises and to look for a new job - but will 2007 be more of the same? Well, financial pundits are saying that things...

Over the last 10 years, I've met a lot of foreigners wanting to get more out of their jobs in Japan, but who are being frustrated either by some old fashioned hard-core company system OR because they lack the skills to take the next step up. Usually you would think that such people are at the...

The poor working conditions of foreign trainees in Japan came to the public's attention back in August 2006, when a Chinese trainee at a pig farm in Chiba complained about the harsh work conditions and was told that his traineeship would be terminated. This of course meant that he would be banished back to...