Mid-Career Job Opportunities are Out of Our Scope, But Here’s Some Advice
First things first: FAST OFFER International, as of now, exclusively helps bridge international talent to the New Graduate Recruitment system in Japan. This means our Japanese classes are available to current university students graduating in certain years, and the job-hunting segment can only take place sometime between a student’s final year of study and their first two years post-graduation. However, we do receive tons of inquiries from people who are better qualified for the mid-career market. Even though said mid-career applicants technically fall outside of our services, we’ve created this career guide to at least push them in the right direction should they still want to pursue Japan. We acknowledge, after all, that our way is NOT the only way to Japan. So, here, we answer all the important questions to the best of our ability regarding the mid-career job opportunities in Japan.
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Japan’s Main Job Markets: NEW GRADUATE JOB MARKET VS MID-CAREER JOB MARKET
To best describe what the mid-career job market, let’s compare and contrast the two job markets in Japan:
The Applicant Profile
| New Graduate | Mid-Career |
| Job hunting starts from the 3rd year during one’s bachelor’s degree, or during a two-year Master’s degree. | Job hunting starts once you have a significant enough experience (about 2-3 years) |
| Applicants must have less than 3 years of full-time work experience/ less than 2 full-time job experience by the time they join the company (NOT when they accept the job offer, which schedules them to join the company months from signing). | Applicants who graduated from their bachelor’s or master’s degree 3 or more years ago. Applicants have 2 or more full-time job experience , ideally with significant 2-3 years tenure each. |
Requirements and Expectations
| New Graduate | Mid-Career |
| Entry-level jobs require minimal experience. You are primarily screened based on your final year project and potential. Some companies are willing to hire you despite a very different educational background. | Mid-career jobs typically look for very specific skills. Most likely will require leadership skills. You are primarily screened based on your recent work experience. Requirements are more stringent. |
| At least conversational Japanese is required (around JLPT N3). | More Japanese fluency is required. |
| Training takes at least three months to a year, in sync with other new hires. | Training post-hire is minimal to none. |
The Job: Training, Scheduled Join Date, Salary and Benefits
| New Graduate | Mid-Career |
| Training takes at least three months to a year, in sync with other new hires. | Training post-hire is minimal to none. |
| Join dates are typically in April, or October, to coincide with other new hires. Candidates often sign contracts several months to a year or so before they officially join. | Join dates can be almost any time of the year to keep up with the company’s ad hoc vacancy. Typically, applicants start earlier after signing the contract. |
| Entry level salary with benefits to help you adjust to life in Japan. | Competitive salary with required or negotiated benefits. |
Availability in Japan
| New Graduate | Mid-Career |
| Mass hiring is common. Less competitive due to Japan’s shrinking local new graduate populations yet continuously growing demand for more new graduate hires. | Highly competitive job market as there is a disproportionally larger demand than number of opportunities. |
| The traditional route for Japanese companies. Japanese companies are more used to this system. | Becoming more common with globalization. |
| Entry level salary with benefits to help you adjust to life in Japan. | Competitive salary with required or negotiated benefits. |
| Companies compete to meet hiring needs amidst limited applicant pool. | Applicants compete to get hired from the limited opportunities. |
Frequently Asked Questions From International Mid-Career Job Seekers in Japan
You can find opportunities on LinkedIn, directly on Japanese company websites, or online job boards such as Gaijinpot, among others. If approaching a company directly, make sure to follow their detailed process: from correctly formatted Japanese resumes to other possible requirements that differ from company to company.
As the market is more competitive, there is less leeway for training, and leadership job descriptions require fluent Japanese. More than the minimum JLPT N2 certificate, you must be able to converse fluently. The interviews will also be in Japanese. Yes, there are some exemptions for some globalized companies—but these are extremely rare and competitive.
-The required skills and experience.
-Alignment with the company.
-Realistic understanding of Japanese culture and etiquette.
-Long-term plans in Japan.
-Properly following formatting requirements for emails, resume, and other documents requested by the -company.
-An understanding of how Japanese companies think and communicate.
The answer will differ on a case-to-case basis, as companies’ experience aiding foreign talent varies. However, at the minimum, they will help you with your Sponsorship Guarantee and Certificate of Eligibility once you get the job offer. Required fees will also differ per company.
As a mid-career applicant, can FAST OFFER International help me in any other way?
Check out our reliable partner organization to master Japanese
As Japanese fluency would be beneficial to your journey to Japan–whether during your application process or to adapting to life in Japan–we can direct you to our India-based Language Learning center affiliate: AtoJ Hirameki. Anyone who wants to learn Japanese is welcome to enroll to AtoJ Hirameki, albeit only those who can still qualify as a New Graduate are shifted into the FAST OFFER International Program.
Follow us for updates!
Apart from that, we apologize, as this is the breadth of how we can help, as mid-career job opportunities are out of our scope. Rarely, we do get the odd company partnership where we look for mid-career applicants. In such cases, existing applicants in our database are accounted for and we also amplify this through our SNS platforms. Hence,make sure to follow us for updates!
If you have a friend or loved one who’s still in high school or university and dreams of working in Japan, please do encourage them to start their journey early. Not only will that allow them to take advantage of our free program, get assistance with navigating a complex foreign process, and access opportunities exclusive to our program, but it is also a generally easier route.
Good luck on your journey to Japan!
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