Working in Finance Industry

[Wonky]

Hello Wonky,
So you guys generally think a back office position is the easiest way into the Japanese market? Should I try to get a front office or middle office position as quick as possible back home and then move to Japan or the other way around?

Wonky: what do you count as experience? I have 7 months in the bank right now, but I also have about 9-10 months from my internships at the finance side of an MNC and the master thesis project I made for a US B2B financial services company in Shanghai?
Can I add this to my experience?

Finally, How about working permit in Japan?
A future employer would have to apply for working visa for me, could this be an issue when hiring me?
How do you guys plan to solve this problem?

You've got to set your priorities. If getting a front office job is more important than living in Japan, than try and get that first.

Personally, I'm counting my experience as the time I've spent at my current job.

As for visas, my wife is Japanese. Otherwise, yes, your employer would be responsible.

[Blueishcat]

Hi...just to share some thoughts ...My situation is just the opposite...i had worked in New York for a year after graduating with a BS last year, i was lucky enough to get into a reputable i-bank in NY, and i missed the quota for H1B ( hr also had a partial responsibility..); subsequently, i had to come back to hong kong to find a job. Jobs in HK are fiercely competitive, and my 1 yr of experience couldnt get me into any door of the same banking tier ( they usually require 3-5 yrs of exp ); and so i finally tried my luck in japan, and got the interviews through several video conferences and met the head of the group through his business travel to my country. I had applied for a number of jobs ( over 100 submission of my CV, 2 months job hunting in hk, 3 interviews, and eventually no offer ) in HK. However, I applied for several posts in a few i-banks and got a japan offer. I am extremely worried about it because i dont speak any japanese ( may be only being that i can read kenji b/c i am a chinese, thats about it...i cant speak at all )

The job is in the product control/financial control area and they are relocating me from hk to tokyo...the salary is a US ( NY ) rate salary. I would by no means have this pay rate in HK and probably would not be able to get back to an investment bank if i stayed in hk, so i accepted their offer..

This forum is extremely helpful for me to plan on my relocation...i am waiting for them to do my coe and i will probably have to wait for 5 weeks until i get there from now...

can i ask if any of you knows a good language school for foriegners like me to learn japanese? i cant imagine how i am going to survive without any ___. knowledge...

[MagnumPI]

Just to give an update on this thread I opened 2 years ago: I managed to relocate myself in Japan, and now I've been working since September in Tokyo's office of the bank. Same position as before in Europe: fair enough!

[AppleCat]

Just to give an update on this thread I opened 2 years ago: I managed to relocate myself in Japan, and now I've been working since September in Tokyo's office of the bank. Same position as before in Europe: fair enough!

Congratulations!

So what happened before that? Sharing please! )))

[Wonky]

Just to give an update on this thread I opened 2 years ago: I managed to relocate myself in Japan, and now I've been working since September in Tokyo's office of the bank. Same position as before in Europe: fair enough!

Cool, congrats! I told you it was possible!

[zmcnulty]

I know this thread is slightly aged, but I figured I'd share my experiences as well.

I'll start by giving a bit of background about myself. I did study abroad to Japan for a year during high school, a semester during college, and I also did an internship at a Japanese retail bank this past summer. As for my Japanese, I passed JLPT1 last year.

But, besides the introductory classes in school, my internship this past summer is my only experience in finance. At the bank this summer I was in the "Virtual Banking" department, dealing with the bank's website. So not even a really finance-related position: I could have done it anywhere.

In school I studied business, with three majors: International Business, Supply Chain Management, and Entrepreneurship. People gasp when they here "three majors" but combined those three were only 39 hours after the business core. Anyway, the International Business and Entrepreneurship majors were virtually useless from the perspective of finding a job. My job search was basically all in Supply Chain-related positions. Given my previous experience I also wanted to work in Japan. I graduated this month.

When people hear Supply Chain they generally think of manufacturing, which is fine, because I applied for a few positions in manufacturing. But Supply Chain Management at my school also includes "Process Improvement," which is rather broad and can be extended to non-manufacturing companies. Six Sigma, that sort of thing. And that brings me to finance, since a lot of financial organizations these days are becoming interested in it.

In 2006 I went to the Boston CareerForum looking for an internship (and I found one, see above). So, resume in hand, I went again in 2007 looking for a full-time, entry-level job in Japan. I got three offers "mostly" as a result of the BCF: one in manufacturing, one in retail banking, and one in investment banking. I took the one in investment banking.

So based on my experiences I offer the following:

-Speaking Japanese goes a long way. A very long way. That said, if there are positions in Japan for those with limited/no Japanese abilities, they're probably in IT and finance. Most of the foreigners at the Boston CareerForum are sitting on the other side of the interview table, and often many of the interviewers themselves don't speak Japanese. So, I'd say that even at the entry level, the language requirement isn't written in stone. If you look at the Boston CareerForum website, most of the foreign finance/consulting companies list their Japanese requirement as "Business Level" rather than "Native Level." I can't really say which divisions do/don't require what levels of Japanese ability, but at least in Ops my boss said it's about "half and half" of Japanese and English. All of the communications I've received from the company, including my employment contract, are in English. I met a lot of people who worked in the front office too, and many of them had only conversational Japanese. I usually just follow the lead of the emailer, interviewer, or whatever, and speak in the language they speak.

-If you want to work in Japan at the entry level, you're a foreigner, and you don't have connections, the Boston CareerForum is without a doubt one of the best places to go for a job. Fly from Japan to Boston if you have to.

-That said, there are other career fairs within Japan aimed at students who have studied abroad. You may be the only foreign face out of 5000 attendees, but companies are willing to talk to you. Don't underestimate career fairs, and don't go solely because you think it doesn't apply to you or because you think you're underqualified. The career fair I went to that led to my job was specifically for mid-career bilingual professionals, but I ended up getting an entry-level job out of it.

-It seems to me that most of the Japanese subsidiaries are somewhat isolated, with their own HR, own systems, own everything...so it's unlikely that the non-Japan companies can do anything to help you. If you have to, get a few years of experience outside of Japan and couple this with your language abilities to make the move. I'm guessing that's what MagnumPI did. I know that at a certain large business software company, Japan isn't even part of Asia-Pacific.

-This is obvious to some people, but if you want to work in finance, you don't necessarily have to have majored in finance. Especially at the entry-level. A year ago I had no idea it was even an option. Larger companies by nature can afford to be hire more people for specific functions. The interest in the industry, record of hard work, soft skills, and such matter more than your major. Especially for Japanese companies, your major often doesn't matter at all.

-The work visa shouldn't be a problem, even for an entry-level worker. A company of any decent size probably already has a foreigner working inside, so the concept should be relatively familiar to them. Ultimately, if they want you, they'll sponsor your visa. Even the company offering me the manufacturing position for 210,000 yen a month was going to do the visa sponsorship.

For those wondering about the actual process, it went like this:

1. Summer 2007: Attended a career fair while in Tokyo, talked to a lot of companies. Spoke with a representative from this investment bank about jobs in the back office for someone with an education in process improvement.

2. Summer 2007: Invited for numerical and pattern recognition exams. Somehow I passed. This still makes no sense to me, since the other guy in the room (an accountant for a Mitsubishi company) apparently didn't pass.

3. Summer 2007: Invited for a not-so-superday. I just interviewed with a woman from HR and a department head. Nobody from operations, the division I was applying to.

4: Summer 2007: Since I told them during the interview I was planning to attend the CareerForum in November, they asked me to stop by their booth again. I sort of thought they were giving me the cold shoulder at this point; I figured they'd be more forthcoming if they were going to let me continue in the process. I asked about my exam score, and while she wouldn't tell me, she said that it "can't have been too bad" since I was at the not-so-superday. I didn't hear anything else from them again.

5. September-October 2007: I submit my resume to them again using the online thing for the BCF, and don't hear anything. I guess I thought I may get some "special treatment" because I had already been through part of the process, but it didn't happen. No response. Oh well.

6. November 2007: So I go to the company's booth at the Boston CareerForum, and they have no idea what's going on. I explain to one of the booth reps that I've already taken the numerical exam (usually at the BCF you take this exam after your first and second round interviews). She says that since I never received my exact scores, it must mean that I didn't pass. She let me talk to a screener anyway though.

7. November 2007: After I get past the screener, I finally get to talk to the woman whom I'll actually be working for. She sees my resume and her eyes sort of light up. She had been waiting for me, she said. Apparently the process into this particular interview was supposed to have gone smoother, but my resume must have gotten lumped in with those of all of the other applicants. She signs me up for the dinner party that night (which was really, really awesome by the way), and the case study interview the next day.

8: November 2007: A week later I get my offer and take it!

Anyway, so while that process was spread out over a number of months and two countries, it was much easier than I thought it'd be. The investment banking guides on vault.com had me believing there would be like 12 different interviews and goofy questions like "how many golf balls fit inside a 747." Of course, maybe they didn't bother asking me anything technical because they know I wouldn't know the answer anyway...

[Tobyboby]

Cool to hear about your job zmcnulty and congratulations! When will you start and what position will you have?

I haven't started looking for an internal transfer with my bank yet, I will do this in Jan-Feb-March. I hope I can land a good position in Tokyo also during 2008!

I meet up with a few managers and traders at my bank in Tokyo last time I was there. One of them said that during 2006 we had hired 10 people from the Boston career fair and that during 2007 we planed to hire between 40-50 people at the fair! She would personally go there to interview people.
She also said that for some positions they preferred gaijins or at least Japanese that had studied their entire degrees in english speaking countries. According to hear most of the students from universities like Keio or Waseda didn't have good enough english to get by in the BIU at most big US I-banks.
She said that this differed from bank to bank somewhat, Bear Stearns and Deutsche Bank where much more local in their business culture than some of the others for banks an example.

And I know what you mean about a long process to enter some of the banks as a newly graduated student. I applied my grad scheme in London in sept 2006, had my last interviews and assessment centre in Jan 2007 and joined in July 2007. Up until Jan I was pretty much kept in limbo as to if I was still in the hiring process or not.

Any way, good luck in Tokyo and I hope to join you over there in a not to distant future.

Ps. Seems from this tread that relocating early in the career to Japan is far from impossible!

[zmcnulty]

Cool to hear about your job zmcnulty and congratulations! When will you start and what position will you have?

Thanks! I start in March. I'll just be an "Operations Analyst," so no fancy title. However, they've specifically hired me to do process improvement, as the guy in charge of it in the Tokyo office has been moved to the Hong Kong office to improve their operations. So while I'm obviously going to spend a lot of time on the dry day-to-day stuff that normally goes down in the back office, I'll be in an increasingly project-oriented role. It's hard to improve a system if you don't know the system, so I'm looking forward to learning how things work.

I haven't started looking for an internal transfer with my bank yet, I will do this in Jan-Feb-March. I hope I can land a good position in Tokyo also during 2008!

I'm sure you'll do fine.

I meet up with a few managers and traders at my bank in Tokyo last time I was there. One of them said that during 2006 we had hired 10 people from the Boston career fair and that during 2007 we planed to hire between 40-50 people at the fair! She would personally go there to interview people.
She also said that for some positions they preferred gaijins or at least Japanese that had studied their entire degrees in english speaking countries. According to hear most of the students from universities like Keio or Waseda didn't have good enough english to get by in the BIU at most big US I-banks.
She said that this differed from bank to bank somewhat, Bear Stearns and Deutsche Bank where much more local in their business culture than some of the others for banks an example.

Seriously, the CareerForum is no joke. The magazine they sent before the 2007 fair said that 40% of the people at the 2006 fair received job offers at the fair, another 30% were moving onto the next stage. For most people here in the US, career fairs are just about taking a stack of resumes and spamming a bunch of different businesses, only to be told that you should apply for a job on their website or something.

But the CareerForum has pre-fair essay/resume screening, pre-fair phone/in-person interviews (DB invited me to goto a superday in New York a week before the fair), pre-fair examinations, exams/interviews at the fair, dinner parties, breakfasts, and so on. It's theoretically possible to meet a company, go through interviews, take exams, goto a dinner party, and get an offer in the span of 2 days. So if you do well you'll find yourself having to decline dinner invitations. There's a lot of preparation that goes into it by both parties.

Interesting that you mention DB as being more local too. One of my friends from school here (a Chinese-born, Japan/America raised girl) got a job with them in Tokyo after graduation. I emailed her when DB asked me to fly to New York, and she said that for some positions like F/X they only want native Japanese speakers. The rep at the CareerForum disagreed though, she said they consider anyone for any position.

I guess the "challenge" of the CareerForum is there whether you're Japanese or foreign. If you're Japanese, the challenge exists because a lot of the applications, essays, phone interviews, in-person interviews, and such are only in English. If you're not Japanese, the same challenge exists because other companies require Japanese. In the case of the company I'll be working for, they required essays in both English and Japanese before the fair, and my interviews were conducted in both English and Japanese. So the only free ticket would be if you're a native speaker of both.

I think for a lot of companies though recruiting at the CareerForum isn't necessarily just for English abilities, but also because of the go-getter attitude required to study abroad to the foreign country. I guess living in the US isn't easy for Japanese students. So when you take the English abilities, outgoing/proactive personalities, and the fact that most Japanese students want to go back to Japan (not going to jump to conclusions, but I've met very few Japanese students in the US who even consider working here after graduation), it seems like a good match for companies wanting such skills.

Any way, good luck in Tokyo and I hope to join you over there in a not to distant future.

Ps. Seems from this tread that relocating early in the career to Japan is far from impossible!

Thanks, we should get a drink sometime when you arrive.

I'd say it's far from impossible, but it's not "documented" well at all. Plenty of websites and people can tell you how to work in Japan as an English teacher early in your career, and others can tell you about what it's like to relocate after you have experience. But there don't seem to be so many cases of people trying to "skip" the English teaching gig.

[AppleCat]

Thank you for the good news, zmcnulty, and congratulations!

Very valuable info there. I'm at a very early stage here and it's sure helpful to hear about this career forum from you. I'm assuming it applies to chinese with a canadian degree and I'll visit it when I'm ready.

Thanks again and Happy 2008!

[Wonky]

I went to the Boston Career Forum once. I didn't see too many non-Japanese job-seekers, though.

I don't think it's necessary to go to Boston from Japan; doesn't the same company hold a similar forum in Tokyo every year? I think they have one in London, too.

[zmcnulty]

The one in Tokyo is smaller. At least for finance there isn't nearly as good a turnout by companies as there is in Boston. Most of the companies at the Tokyo fair are engineering/manufacturing firms.

[Tobyboby]

Looks like they have one here in London actually, might be worth to check it out. Its not until later this year though.

I think you are right about the career forum. I haven't heard of anyone getting a job at a career event until now. I got the impression that many banks are recruiting aggressively in Tokyo and that they have troubles finding people with international experience to actually committing to a career in finance in Tokyo.

It is probably true also that only a certain type of Japanese people actually takes the step to study abroad and that those people also has the attitude and skill set that many companies want.

Sure I let you know when and if I move to Japan.

[NickW]

I got the impression that many banks are recruiting aggressively in Tokyo and that they have troubles finding people with international experience to actually committing to a career in finance in Tokyo.

Believe me when I say that smart, highly quantitative individuals with good English, local language skills and experience in the front office are next to impossible to hire throughout a lot of Asia.

[OnTheRun]

So my basic situation is that I just graduated from college and while I do have a minor in economics, I do not have any professional or even internship experience in marketing/finance/business.

I've only been in Japan since July of 2007 and I've just been teaching English.

I speak Japanese, but do not have that all important JLPT2 qualification. Of course I am a native speaker and I speak Chinese fluently as well.

My only professional experience is in biotechnology... and I do have quite a bit of that for a recent college grad lol

So, basically, am I hopeless? I've been applying everywhere and nothing so far...

[abcsalaryman]

I enjoy reading the experience of persons who seemed to found their dream jobs in Tokyo by the twists and turns. I must say I have over 15 years experience in engineering, arts, and sales and consulting, and had tried overseas internal posting for many times with many MNCs I had worked so. Of course, with each tries is a hope dashed as I am simply not important for such overseas expat posting or not in the HQ country. Also tried alot of Head hunters (who are just not looking out for your interests), apply to tonnes of internet websites, and job fairs, it just did not work out that way fairy tales do. Really discouraging. Then, of course, the best to work in a big company, and that has good career paths or you can get some experience and move somewhere where you can make a difference. It does not always work out that way, but I seemed to see it happening to the thread writers here. Bravo!

[nabiru]

Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen that moved to Japan about 6 months ago to check things out and seek out business opportunities here in Japan. I came over with NOVA but had no intention of sticking with them after I did a little research online about them. I did Finance and Marketing in University and was wondering how I could get in with companies that would actually fit my education such as GS. Any info would be great.

I am starting up my own business here, in the advertising industry but if it doesn't work out I want to go to one of the big houses that operate out of Japan and use the finance side of my education. I have lots of good experience from Canada in govt and in industry so I think i would be a good candidate for them. So any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[...]

Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen that moved to Japan about 6 months ago to check things out and seek out business opportunities here in Japan. I came over with NOVA but had no intention of sticking with them after I did a little research online about them. I did Finance and Marketing in University and was wondering how I could get in with companies that would actually fit my education such as GS. Any info would be great.

I am starting up my own business here, in the advertising industry but if it doesn't work out I want to go to one of the big houses that operate out of Japan and use the finance side of my education. I have lots of good experience from Canada in govt and in industry so I think i would be a good candidate for them. So any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Nabiru,

Why don't you start your own thread?

Better still, why don't you include the information you put in response to the feedback received when you asked exactly the same question before?



The last person to post on this was back in January.

You're more likely to get some fresh responses if you do.

[luvayu2004]

I can't believe I just spent two hours reading this whole thing. Anyway, congratulations to all you guys who have successfully made it to Japan, as I am still struggling to get my foot in the door to Japan. One quick question though, since you guys started working in Japan, have you encountered anyone in the front office who has completed a similarly arduous move as well? I wonder if it's any different.

I'm not a frequent to this site but is this the longest living thread in the forum?

[Gaijin 06]

One quick question though, since you guys started working in Japan, have you encountered anyone in the front office who has completed a similarly arduous move as well? I wonder if it's any different.

I work in the front office for an IB... whats the question?

[daysv2]

Well, I'm not the guy you're replying to, but I am a Finance student that is going to be looking for a position in Japan in the future. I'd just like to hear how you went about getting your job. Normal online applying/BCF/Transfer from an IB back in your home country/etc?

[Gaijin 06]

I got transfered here a few years ago from another country - intracompany transfer visa.

[daysv2]

Ah, interesting. Did you look for a job there because you knew they could transfer you over to Japan, or was it just an opportunity that came up and you decided to take it?

[Gaijin 06]

Kind of 50/50... I knew I wanted to move so I spoke with some colleagues/friends, they looked around and they created a role for me over here.

[daysv2]

So it is possible. I assume your work at a BB?

btw, Thanks for answering these questions.

[Gaijin 06]

It is definitely possible. It was probably a whole lot easier when I did it a few years ago then now though.

I don't know where you work at the moment but if your company is restructuring there might be chances. I know some banks here are relocating staff from Tokyo to other Asian cities (Singapore/Hong Kong mainly), I don't know if anyone is doing the opposite.

[daysv2]

I'm not working atm, just trying to read about different ways I can go about doing this. Still have some time to go before I graduate/start looking for internships.

[donrobert]

absolutely!!!

[vinod]

I know a Dutch who started his own some three decades ago and did success in furnitutr line.
so pick a line after watching the local scenario
and you will not face any difficulty.
----------------------------------------------

Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen that moved to Japan about 6 months ago to check things out and seek out business opportunities here in Japan. I came over with NOVA but had no intention of sticking with them after I did a little research online about them. I did Finance and Marketing in University and was wondering how I could get in with companies that would actually fit my education such as GS. Any info would be great.

I am starting up my own business here, in the advertising industry but if it doesn't work out I want to go to one of the big houses that operate out of Japan and use the finance side of my education. I have lots of good experience from Canada in govt and in industry so I think i would be a good candidate for them. So any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Tobyboby]

Hey,

Just saw this tread for the first time in years and I go curious to know where all ended up. Wonky, MagnumPI and zmcnulty, I gather you came to Japan all those years ago but what happened after that? are you guys still here, did you survive the cuts and did you manage to avoid forced relocations to HK, singapore etc?

I ended up staying in London for 3 years with my old firm, for a long time there I was just happy to have job, so many friends and colleagues got cut and it was pretty scary there for a while.

Then I got my break trough a head hunter, my firm was willing to relocate me from London to Tokyo but where just too slow in making it happened. I managed to get an offer from another foreign bank in Tokyo and jumped at it. My new role is better than the one I had in London so career wise it ended up not being a compromise for the location. Life is good here and I will try to make it last as long as possible as nothing is given in our business i have found. Since coming here there have been a number of redundancy rounds or functions shifted out from Japan, so we will see what happens in the future.

So I ended up needing more than 5 years of experience before landing a good job in Tokyo (I have only basic Japanese language skills) which was much longer than i thought in the begining of this tread.... I guess during those golden days before 2007 I would have probably been able to do it with less experience when there were more openings. Also salary is decent... far from stellar but enough to live comfortably here in tokyo. And who knows we might have good years in the future again?


If I knew how long time it would have taken from day one I would have probably given up but I am happy I didn't...

[zmcnulty]

Yep, still here in Tokyo with the same firm that hired me at BCF.

I started in March 2008 with 37 other new grads. Today there are about a dozen of us remaining. So unfortunately most of them didn't make it through the (ongoing) storm. Maybe because I am in Operations and not FO, I was spared... guess I'll never know.

[Matt213]

Yep, still here in Tokyo with the same firm that hired me at BCF.

I started in March 2008 with 37 other new grads. Today there are about a dozen of us remaining. So unfortunately most of them didn't make it through the (ongoing) storm. Maybe because I am in Operations and not FO, I was spared... guess I'll never know.

Is there anyway someone already working for a bank or financial institution would be able to help me find a job in Tokyo? I recently graduated with a degree in Finance, International Business, and a minor in Japanese. I am willing to accept any job related to banking, finance, or international business for any starting salary. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[ttokyo]

Is there anyway someone already working for a bank or financial institution would be able to help me find a job in Tokyo? I recently graduated with a degree in Finance, International Business, and a minor in Japanese. I am willing to accept any job related to banking, finance, or international business for any starting salary. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

You post very few information, e.g. have you been to Japan before and how are your Japanese skills ? IT skills ? What is your practical experience so far (internships or similar).
"Willing to accept any job" will usually not get you far as employers assume that you are desperate and have problems finding a job, e.g. due to poor grades. It could additionally mean that you have neither any specialized skills or ideas about your future career. Better check first where your skills are (you should have some, I hope) and/or what area would specifically interest you (e.g. credit, HR, accounting, operations, risk, sales, option theory, ...).

Try to look at this from the employer's side : Why should they hire YOU for a specific job ?

[zmcnulty]

At my level, the best I can do is give information about upcoming career fairs/seminars. All of this information is already freely available on our website though.

Most of my "advice" is already posted in various threads in this forum; feel free to search through my post history.

[Matt213]

You post very few information, e.g. have you been to Japan before and how are your Japanese skills ? IT skills ? What is your practical experience so far (internships or similar).
"Willing to accept any job" will usually not get you far as employers assume that you are desperate and have problems finding a job, e.g. due to poor grades. It could additionally mean that you have neither any specialized skills or ideas about your future career. Better check first where your skills are (you should have some, I hope) and/or what area would specifically interest you (e.g. credit, HR, accounting, operations, risk, sales, option theory, ...).

Try to look at this from the employer's side : Why should they hire YOU for a specific job ?

Thank you for your response. Rather than coming across as highly motivated and interested, I unfortunately came across as desperate for a job. Thanks for your insight. My practical experience was being an intern at Merrill Lynch in 2011 as a financial analyst. I graduated Cum Laude and in the top 10% of the business school (Shidler) granting me the right to join Beta Gamma Sigma. I graduated December 2011 and had some pretty impressive job offers as far as NYC, however I turned them down for fears of relocating halfway around the world and my career never allowing me to work in Japan.

I've also done a lot of stock trading and options trading online for the past year.

I'm interested in credit, risk, arbitrage, option theory, investment banking, financial analysis. I learned the Bloomberg terminal pretty well working at Merrill and I am highly motivated to learn that which I don't know. I might be able to secure a working visa from one of my many Japanese friends who tells me it is much easier to get finance jobs once I reside there.

As far as my Japanese language skills are concerned, I have a minor in Japanese. I currently am the only Japanese speaker at my part time job with Armani and 90% of my clients are Japanese. I would say that I am definitely at business level with my current job and then conversational outside of that. Once I have a position, I will immediately try to learn the most common words in that area of operation. I plan on taking the JLPT after arriving and brushing up for a little bit. It is a personal goal of mine to pass N1, and I will succeed one day. I also lived in Osaka for 6 months and I've been to Japan 3 times.

Once again, thank you for your help and informing me that I should be more specific about my skills, grades, experience, etc.

[Matt213]

At my level, the best I can do is give information about upcoming career fairs/seminars. All of this information is already freely available on our website though.

Most of my "advice" is already posted in various threads in this forum; feel free to search through my post history.

Thank you!

[ttokyo]

Thanks for the additional info. You have basically two choices
a) Starting your carreer in Japan. With an impressive resume and experience and language skills that should be generally possible. You can either apply directly or go via a headhunter. The hiring market is bad, so many also accept entry-level candidates.
b) The alternative is to start in the US and to ask for a transfer to Tokyo after some time.

As you already graduated last December, the obvious question is 'what have you been doing in the last 6 months" and a part-time job at Armani is not necessary a good background for banking. Where are you curently if you turn down Wall Street offers ?
The J-skills are helpful for many roles, but for sales or credit analysis that should be on a near to 'native' level. Keep in mind that the office language in front office is English in the international companies. As a well-eductated foreigner, I'd think that your best chances would be in areas where the Japanese don't shine, such as risk management.

Your problem might be that you're a tad too picky and expect the 'perfect' job that comes to you, but this rarely the case. Couldn't you use your old connections at ML to help you ?

[Matt213]

Thanks for the additional info. You have basically two choices
a) Starting your carreer in Japan. With an impressive resume and experience and language skills that should be generally possible. You can either apply directly or go via a headhunter. The hiring market is bad, so many also accept entry-level candidates.
b) The alternative is to start in the US and to ask for a transfer to Tokyo after some time.

As you already graduated last December, the obvious question is 'what have you been doing in the last 6 months" and a part-time job at Armani is not necessary a good background for banking. Where are you curently if you turn down Wall Street offers ?
The J-skills are helpful for many roles, but for sales or credit analysis that should be on a near to 'native' level. Keep in mind that the office language in front office is English in the international companies. As a well-eductated foreigner, I'd think that your best chances would be in areas where the Japanese don't shine, such as risk management.

Your problem might be that you're a tad too picky and expect the 'perfect' job that comes to you, but this rarely the case. Couldn't you use your old connections at ML to help you ?

Thanks for your reply. I have been living in Hawaii for the past 3 years as it is one of the best places to prepare for Japan other than living in Japan. I turned down those job offers because I want to start my career in Japan, that was always my plan. I had great offers here in Hawaii too but I didn't accept because I am moving to Tokyo this July when my lease ends. If I cannot get a working visa by June, I can get one through some business owner friends. I didn't feel like it was appropriate to accept nice banking job offers here if I knew I was leaving upon my lease ending in July. If I hired and trained a college grad who quit 6 months later I would think twice before hiring other college grads.

I like risk management as well but getting my feet wet in an organization with potential room for growth is all I'm thinking about. I will be in Tokyo for a long time come the end of July. My ML connections are a little difficult ever since they were bought out by BoA but I still have great letters of recommendation from them though.

I haven't tried headhunters because I thought they were only for people with years of experience, but if you say the hiring market is not the greatest right now and they are accepting entry level than perhaps I'll give it a shot. I guess if worse comes to worse I can find a job once I arrive, but I would just prefer to have arrangements made ahead of time. Thanks again ttokyo for your advice.

[ttokyo]

I guess if worse comes to worse I can find a job once I arrive, but I would just prefer to have arrangements made ahead of time.

Entry-level positions are usually not hired from abroad. It's much easer and cheaper to hire people once they are in Japan, regarding the interview process, and the conditions, making it a 'local hire' rather than an international transfer. Banks would not mind if you have a tourist visa, as they would give you a working visa asap.

I have been living in Hawaii for the past 3 years as it is one of the best places to prepare for Japan other than living in Japan. I turned down those job offers because I want to start my career in Japan, that was always my plan. I had great offers here in Hawaii too but I didn't accept because I am moving to Tokyo this July when my lease ends. If I cannot get a working visa by June, I can get one through some business owner friends. I didn't feel like it was appropriate to accept nice banking job offers here if I knew I was leaving upon my lease ending in July. If I hired and trained a college grad who quit 6 months later I would think twice before hiring other college grads.

Plain and simple no. Hawaii might be a good place to 'mentally' prepare for Japan, but your hiring chances in Tokyo Finance would have been much better if you had some experience at a major financial company rather than at an Armani shop. Also, the staff turnover at major banks/security companies is very high anyway, so leaving after 6 months is rather normal. Not sure why you are bringing up these arguments -maybe just mental excuses, but any banking/HR person will rather feel odd if you argue that way.

Also, you might shoot yourself in the foot if you arrive in Tokyo on a working visa with a different company. Then your CV reads : 6 Months at Armani, 3 Months at Joe's Liquor Import. If you're contacting headhunters anyway, pls check- would interest me how they see it.

[Matt213]

Entry-level positions are usually not hired from abroad. It's much easer and cheaper to hire people once they are in Japan, regarding the interview process, and the conditions, making it a 'local hire' rather than an international transfer. Banks would not mind if you have a tourist visa, as they would give you a working visa asap.



Plain and simple no. Hawaii might be a good place to 'mentally' prepare for Japan, but your hiring chances in Tokyo Finance would have been much better if you had some experience at a major financial company rather than at an Armani shop. Also, the staff turnover at major banks/security companies is very high anyway, so leaving after 6 months is rather normal. Not sure why you are bringing up these arguments -maybe just mental excuses, but any banking/HR person will rather feel odd if you argue that way.

Also, you might shoot yourself in the foot if you arrive in Tokyo on a working visa with a different company. Then your CV reads : 6 Months at Armani, 3 Months at Joe's Liquor Import. If you're contacting headhunters anyway, pls check- would interest me how they see it.

Well I suppose I have my work cut out for me then. At least once I am in Japan I can show up in person for job interviews. I don't think people will give me too much trouble about my resume seeing as how I am young and a recent college grad. Some people have loose ends to tie upon graduation and we're not all so fortunate as to always make the 'proper' choices. I shall do my best and as always, thanks for your input.

[NickW]

Well I suppose I have my work cut out for me then. At least once I am in Japan I can show up in person for job interviews. I don't think people will give me too much trouble about my resume seeing as how I am young and a recent college grad. Some people have loose ends to tie upon graduation and we're not all so fortunate as to always make the 'proper' choices. I shall do my best and as always, thanks for your input.

I don't know about Japanese banks, but for virtually all international banks, hiring out of college or b-school is done into a program for analysts / associates (depending on college/b-school). These programs are centrally managed and quite structured. There is virtually no other way to get hired as a new graduate into a bank.

Headhunters will not be interested into talking to you, since banks do not pay referral fees for program hires. Since you have no relevant work experience, not even the more desperate recruitment consultant would be able to jazz up your CV enough to present you as an experienced hire.

Didn't you talk to anyone at ML about how the recruitment process worked? Or did you apply and get rejected?