Although the Japanese economy has technically slipped back into recession in the last quarter, here in the recruiting trenches we're seeing ongoing demand for people across the board. It appears that foreign companies at least are bullish about Japan and determined to increase market share here. Anecdotal evidence here at DaiJob Inc., indicates that current demand for...

Have you ever wondered why you don't fit in at the office? Or why you have to work for a boss who knows less than you do, but some how gets the attention of senior management? Or maybe you have a really hot idea for the company to try out - but everyone is either too conservative, or too busy to care. Or maybe as a foreigner, female, or young person, you've hit a...

Probably the easiest way for bilingual people to break into the IT field in Tokyo, if they don't have much IT work experience, is by joining an IT Help Desk. There is a perpetual shortage of Help Desk people because the position is considered entry level and thus people graduate out of it quite quickly, and also because it requires a unique skill set - which can be hard to...

Tokyo is a strange place in a way, because often the senior level job market is not predicated by one's long-term experience but rather by one's skills and proximity. What I mean by that is that I have known a number of senior IT engineers who have gone on to become senior managers in major foreign firms. The reason of course is simple, with the buoyant job market right now, there is a lack of...

First of all, don’t let your eventual rise in salary and job exposure catch you by surprise. Once you see yourself getting more money than other engineering staff, and yet you’re not the Manager, you have to imagine that you’re at risk. As I discussed last week, one way to deal with this is to create an engineering role for yourself within your company. Then again...

I’ve focused a lot on early-stage job finding recently, so let’s now look at career improvement opportunities. This week for senior IT engineers. Software and network engineers in their 30’s are at the peak of the earning and performance curve. They are usually remunerated as a function of their knowledge, experience, and customer interaction skills. Technical knowledge in particular is something that drives most engineers that I know, and most people spend a lot of time...

The question with probation is how to hedge your chances and successfully survive the initial three months, thus putting your future back in your own hands. After you come off probation, there is a power shift in favor of the employee, and legally it becomes much, much harder for a company to let you go, so the objective is to get you to that point. Let's look at probation in Japanese companies, or foreign ones where your department may happen...

Almost every company in Japan has a probation period for new mid-career employees (versus college grads, who are tolerated more). For experienced people, this period represents nothing more than an opportunity to weigh up the new employer and decide whether to stay or not. However, for those new to the country and its culture, or switching careers, the probation period is...

It is a truism for those of us not blessed with genius that we can usually only get ahead on sheer sweat and will power. Thus, one's success beyond that of our peers becomes a measure of how much more effort we put in to the job - or does it? If we follow this logic, due to the fact that in Japan many people work...

One way to come to Japan, especially for younger readers, is on a global placement program. There are a number of such programs, such as AFS, Rotary, or AIESEC - all of which aim to foster international understanding by helping students and/or young adults study and/or work overseas. The programs are easy to find on the web and do a good job of explaining their raison...