Since starting to work in a Japanese language-only office one year ago, with only conversational level Japanese I've learnt a good deal of day-to-day office Japanese as well as come to better understand the mentality of Japanese business practice. Like many things, the first few weeks were the most difficult. However, once I had learnt the basics of what was...

I thought this week and next, it would be interesting to hear from someone who has overcome the odds, and found work not only outside Tokyo, but also in a Japanese company without having a degree in the language. Basically DP has come up with some great strategies for making progress in a very different business world than the one he...

So now, NL is about 19 or 20, and she has been working for a Japanese design firm as a virtual slave for the last 18 to 24 months. This is the real test of physical and mental strength. I find that most people move from the honeymoon period to literally hating Japan within the first two years. Take my word for it, if you stick things out for longer than 2 years, and if...

Some regular readers will be getting sick of my message about the fact that ALL foreigners arriving in Japan need to take time to learn Japanese. But the reality is that the competition for jobs for foreigners has been heating up ever since the government opened up the country to Chinese students some years ago (peaking at 70,000+ students in 2003, but down in 2004 after the murders of a Fukuoka family...

This is a letter I received from a reader in Canada, and is typical of many I receive requesting a cook-book approach to getting to Japan and finding work. So, keep in mind that this "recipe" is for low-cost entry, dedication to learning the language, and the commitment to build a career, while you are presently unskilled...

Once you're well rehearsed on what you're going to say in an interview, you can focus on your interaction with an interviewer. Body language is a key feedback mechanism, and will help you change the pitch and tempo of your interaction. Sales people and managers with a sales background learn naturally to read the other...

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...

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...

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-...

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...