Working for a japanese bank

[ontheroad]

A headhunter offered me a great job with a japanese bank (but not in Japan) and I was wondering if anyone was working for one, and what sort of feedback they could give me, positive or negative! Thanks!

[thickmick]

A headhunter offered me a great job with a japanese bank (but not in Japan) and I was wondering if anyone was working for one, and what sort of feedback they could give me, positive or negative! Thanks!
Have you got lots of other jobs in the pipeline ?
If you were head hunted I guess you must have been offeed a good position ,just take it and if they work you to death
(karoshi ) you can always leave ....feet first.

[ontheroad]

I'm already being worked to death! But I'd really like to hear from people who made the big jump from a european or american bank to a japanese one... I'm wondering if the money is worth the risk...
Do they fire people easily etc etc?

[Papa]

A headhunter offered me a great job with a japanese bank (but not in Japan) and I was wondering if anyone was working for one, and what sort of feedback they could give me, positive or negative! Thanks!

Headhunters don't offer jobs...

[Name Deleted]

I'm already being worked to death! But I'd really like to hear from people who made the big jump from a european or american bank to a japanese one... I'm wondering if the money is worth the risk...
Do they fire people easily etc etc?

I hope you are not planning on becoming a branch manager or bank president one day. The bamboo ceiling becomes an iron one when working for Japanese companies.

You may be working in your own country but the work culture within a Japanese organisation (among the Japanese) is not the same as among the locals. You can expect the local Japanese staff are putting in a lot of overtime, after hours schmoozing over drinks etc that the local staff dont have to engage in.

People are not easily fired but they have ways of making you quit of your own accord. It saves them the trouble of firing you- just make your job so unbearable that you quit on your own. Give you a desk with no phone, no computer and nothing to do all day and see how long you last.

[tanmedia]

I hope you are not planning on becoming a branch manager or bank president one day. The bamboo ceiling becomes an iron one when working for Japanese companies.

You may be working in your own country but the work culture within a Japanese organisation (among the Japanese) is not the same as among the locals. You can expect the local Japanese staff are putting in a lot of overtime, after hours schmoozing over drinks etc that the local staff dont have to engage in.

People are not easily fired but they have ways of making you quit of your own accord. It saves them the trouble of firing you- just make your job so unbearable that you quit on your own. Give you a desk with no phone, no computer and nothing to do all day and see how long you last.

-- Yes, there are plenty of people sitting around doing nothing and getting paid for it (even in this age of Japanese consolidation). As a gaijin worker though, you can build a lot of contacts in your industry being a "window man" (not to be confused with an outcast). You have to weigh a lot of these things up. You might also find that working in a Japanese company can be a good springboard for moving into a Western company, particularly if you have little work experience.

[SteadyRollingMan]

You know the OP is going to be working for a Japanese bank out of Japan, so therefore the labour law of the country where he is apply and not Japanese laws. Also most of the people who have responded to his post with the exception of tanmedia, have never work for a genuine Japanese company let alone a Japanese bank. Most of them have only worked as English teachers which is actually not a legitimate profession anymore. So I say to the OP go for it and enjoy yourself. You will find that reading back after a couple of years that most of these people who responded to your thread had their heads up their butt.

Good luck

[nosferatu]

A headhunter offered me a great job with a japanese bank (but not in Japan) and I was wondering if anyone was working for one, and what sort of feedback they could give me, positive or negative! Thanks!

If the headhunter has approached you with a job spec it doesn't consitute an offer. You'll need to go to interviews first. Perhaps that's just me being picky though. Let's assume that the headhunter approached you with this job, you had the interviews and the Japanese bank have made you an offer. I say take it. J-banks have been hiring more and more foreign workers as of late. Particularly in more complex areas of finance (derivatives structuring etc.) as this is an area that they have traditionally lagged behind in when compared to the big western banks. What will you be doing by the way? You must be experienced if you were headhunted..

Many of the traditional Japanese company stories you hear are much less likely to happen abroad. The big financial institutions are not hiring you to do nothing. Shinsei, Mitsubishi UFJ and even Mizuho are all keen to find good people. Working for a J-bank doesn't have as much prestige as it once did but that doesn't really matter unless prestige is something you aim for in a workplace.

If it is some kind of back or mid office position you might not be working with that many Japanese people anyway. But that isn't a good or bad thing, just an observation.

Good luck

[trip_hop]

Also most of the people who have responded to his post with the exception of tanmedia, have never work for a genuine Japanese company let alone a Japanese bank. Most of them have only worked as English teachers which is actually not a legitimate profession anymore. So I say to the OP go for it and enjoy yourself. Good luck

All you need to know....

And from experience, the branches of Japanese companies overseas are NOT the same as working in Japan; many of them now have been employing local management successfully for years now, and the culture is an interesting mix. Many have learned that you cannot transplant the traditional J-office mentality overseas, and of those companies that tried to, they achieved much greater success when they established their own local culture.

They do have strong ties to the local Japanese community, and often employ one senior Japanese guy, or a foreigner with strong ties, to be a chairman or auditor.

Go for it, and enjoy your future.....

[steki47]

I hope you are not planning on becoming a branch manager or bank president one day. The bamboo ceiling becomes an iron one when working for Japanese companies.

You may be working in your own country but the work culture within a Japanese organisation (among the Japanese) is not the same as among the locals. You can expect the local Japanese staff are putting in a lot of overtime, after hours schmoozing over drinks etc that the local staff dont have to engage in.

People are not easily fired but they have ways of making you quit of your own accord. It saves them the trouble of firing you- just make your job so unbearable that you quit on your own. Give you a desk with no phone, no computer and nothing to do all day and see how long you last.
Some Japanese companies are like that, others treat their non-Japanese workers better. I'd suggest doing some homework. Try to find out who else works there. Who's a manager, a director, etc. A decent percentage of non-Japanese in key positions can be an indication that the rice paper ceiling ain't too low.
While you're at it, put in a good work for me. I'd appreciate it.

[ontheroad]

Thanks for all the feedback. Interviews have been had, and it's very tempting money wise...
To answer the questions, I am experienced, and it is in "complex areas of finance"...
I'm giving my answer next week! Still have a lot of thinking to do re: every thing nosferatu pointed out...

[jim1618]

"Give you a desk with no phone, no computer and nothing to do all day and see how long you last."

Are you kidding me? I'd last well into retirement!