Interview Technique - Part One

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

While you spend as much time as you can on polishing up your resume, the final decider in whether or not you land a job is your interview. Most companies have a standard for personnel interaction which if you meet, then even if you are a bit under qualified for the job you may still be...

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Foreign and over the hill – Part Two

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

Getting fired is always a traumatic experience. But for foreign senior executives, the experience is particularly humiliating. Tokyo is a small town, and people quickly notice a high-flyer getting shot down. Also, corporate politics is unpredictable, especially if you're the only foreigner in a Japanese managed company – even a foreign company – in Japan. I find that foreign firms often...

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Foreign and over the hill - Part One

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

I never thought of it as a trend, but over the last year, more and more skilled non-Japanese executives have been coming to me asking for help to find a new job after being laid off. Despite the improving economy, these people are getting laid off either because they are aged over 45 - an age over which companies are openly saying they don't want to employ otherwise suitable candidates – or because there is an anti-...

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Remote Work

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

Following on from the topic of off-shoring as a company is that of working remotely as an individual. How do you get and keep a job which lets you live in the countryside, or even overseas? This is a question I have often asked myself, in the delicious anticipation of retiring one day – perhaps to a cottage by the sea, and far from the HEAT of Tokyo. By "remote" I mean far...

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Off-shoring

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

I received an interesting question from a reader in Germany the other day, who is a software developer, and asked me whether he could get business from clients in Japan, but work remotely in Germany. This method of working is commonly called off-shoring in the software industry and as a...

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Overtime Update

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

A reader wrote in and asked about an article on overtime a while back, asking as an employer what the actual practical overtime rates actually are. This got me checking about the latest on the whole overtime issue, now that the economy is starting to move again, and what I found was interesting – it looks like the government is...

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Becoming a PC Engineer While Still in Japan

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

One marked difference about working for a foreign firm in Japan versus the home country is that most of the technology jobs are support and implementation roles than design and solutions oriented. This is because, simply, most foreign firms have their IT standards and requirements mandated by headquarters. Thus, the demand for engineers and PC/networking experience...

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The Gadget Way - Learning Japanese, Tips – Part Two

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

If you're a gadget freak, another really excellent tool for learning how to read Kanji is an electronic dictionary. While there are a number of these on sale at any Denkiya-san, the problem is that most of them are made for Japanese users trying to learn English, not the other way around. There is one that stands out, however, and has been long regarded as...

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Mr. Turtle Head – Learning Japanese, Tips – Part One

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

"Today please permits abrupt impoliteness. The true characteristic package stalk there is no other choice but to operate, reached the point where you can reform by your. The turtle head exposes completely in approximately 2 weeks. We complete also the repayment system when there was no effect. True characteristic package stalk special sight 'crane maquis'..." You must be thinking "oh dear - Lloyd has flipped". Nope, the Mr. Turtle Head passage from above is...

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Executive Director Compensation

Submitted by Japan Inc on April 10, 2007

Recently the Nikkei newspaper announced its annual compensation details for directors of 100 Japanese public companies. The amount being paid, mainly to executive (employed at the company) directors was JPY32 million (US$290,000) per year, not an insignificant amount but certainly lower than many other countries for similarly sized listed firms. According to the Nikkei, the highest director payouts were at...

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