When we first founded Daijob as a business in 1998, the Japanese economy was in a deep funk and many foreign firms were laying people off. It was indeed a challenge to be launching a recruiting business in this market! As we started to go out and do sales, we discovered two realities. Firstly, that although the market was downsizing, HR managers were...

Getting a career in IT in Japan is basically a function of three simple but important capabilities: the ability to speak both English AND Japanese, an awareness of computers and how they work, and cultural sensitivity. So if you're thinking about moving into the IT field, you at least need these skills. In particular people keep asking me...

I frequently get e-mail from people who are graduating from university or coming off a JET course, who are wondering what to do next. While you may have romantic notions of careers in international finance, design, or research, by and large these approaches require both an appropriate education and an ordained entry into an industry-related company. My guess is that...

We continue on from the Q&A submitted by several readers about what happens and the right protocol for leaving your firm...

A reader recently asked me some questions about procedures when it comes time to leave a job. I thought these might be interesting to share. As usual, I will make a disclaimer that I am not a legal professional, and if you decide to take a certain course of action based on my comments below, you need to get professional advice first before...

There are two main types of pension programs in Japan for those of us working here. The most common is the Employee's Pension (Kosei Nenkin) which is administered by the Shakai Hoken office and which is withdrawn from your monthly pay packet and paid to the Shakai Hoken office on your behalf by your employer. The other is Kokumin Nenkin, which is...

Shinsei Bank is an unusual mid-sized financial institution in Japan, in that it offers such a wide range of services, covering the Retail, Commercial, and Investment banking sectors. As such, the back office computing systems of the bank have to be flexible and responsive to change, at the same time as being extremely reliable and based on open...

Once upon a time there was a very troubled bank called The Long Term Credit Bank of Japan (LTCB) founded in 1952, went bankrupt, was nationalized and in 2000 was sold to an overseas investors consortium led by the enterprising American buy-out firm, Ripplewood, managed by Tim Collins. Collins hired a man named Yashiro, previously...

For most of us, we envisage a nomikai as being a group of young employees, either the customer's or the boss and some of your colleagues, heading down to a smoky robatayaki or yakitori joint under the railway tracks. Indeed, for many freshly arrived foreigners, this is their first experience of the alcohol-induced "wet" side of the Japanese business culture. The creating and binding of relationships...

One aspect of Japanese work culture that I've never really got used to is the Nomikai - going drinking to socialize. Personally I have a low tolerance for alcohol and for tobacco fumes, so doing one really is 'work'. But having said that, what you can get achieve with a hold-out customer by doing a nomikai is so outstanding, that I know it's...