To Work in Japan

Are you thinking of working in Japan for either a Japanese or a foreign-owned company? You might have heard some working hours problem of Japan, but the situation differs from works,and the advantages of being a foreigner working in Japan will outweigh. In the monetary aspect you may get a higher annual salary, better welfare like more holidays and more allowances than in your home country except for some western countries. In the non-monetary aspect, Japan has a lot of famous brands, companies,and products in many industries and it will be a terrific chance for you to obtain specific skills and knowledge about them by working in Japan.

Also you are living in Japan at the same time, which means you are able to enjoy the delicious food, polite service,safe city, convenient infrastructure, rich culture and so on of Japan. So now you want to have a try for finding a job in Japan, while firstly you must be wondering what kind of works there are.

Employment kinds in Japan

Different kinds of employment exist in Japanese business world according to the contract.

Full-time regular employee

After establishing a full-time employment contract with the company where you are going to work, you will become a full-time regular employee of the company. Currently in Japan it will be a lifelong employment, which means that you will be required to work in the company until retirement. You have to work a full day according to the rules of the company.

Normally you will get an annual salary and of course you are granted for welfare and insurance from the company. If you can speak Japanese, there are many websites and apps designed to help bilinguals to find full-time jobs in Japan in almost all industries.

Part-time employee

Other than working for a full-day,some people prefer to work only a few hours a day like students who need to study. In this case a part-time job will be a good idea, that you can choose when to work and get paid by hourly.

However there may be no welfare except for some special allowances for working late as an example. The common part-time jobs for foreigners in Japan are customer service staff at convenience stores, restaurants, teachers at language schools or to do translation works.

Dispatcher

A dispatcher is an employee who establish a contract with a dispatch agency instead of with the company where he is going to work at. Then he will get introduced to work in a company by the agency, receive tasks from the company, but the salary will be paid by the dispatch agency directly including welfare and insurance. The employment contract will begin when a dispatcher starts work in the company and end when the work ends, which on average lasts for 2 years.

Well-paying part-time jobs in Japan

Part-time jobs are mostly paid by hourly, and for sure those with higher hour salary are much more attractive. Actually you can find them with the following features.

Jobs in high minimum-salary cities

You may have known that there are differences in minimum salaries depending on where you work. Tokyo, Kanagawa and Osaka are the top 3 highest minimum- salary cities, while Okinawa and Kyushu are those with the lowest.

In 2018, Tokyo has a minimum salary of 958 yen while Okinawa and Kyushu has a 737 yen.So it must be clear that you will get a higher hourly salary if you try to find a part-time job in high minimum-salary cities like Tokyo, Kanagawa and Osaka.

Jobs in pinch time

There are many short-term, daily or weekly paid part-time jobs with high hourly payment. The reason is that usually this kind of jobs are required by companies in their pinch time, like a factory faced of a production deadline, or a post office during the New Year holidays,or a ski resort during ski season.When a company is confronted with a shortage of labor forces, they will consider to hire more employees.

However as the shortage only occurs at a special season, short-term workers will be better in cost compared to a full-time regular worker. Usually they have to pay more money to attract people apply for these jobs. So keep your eyes on those short-term jobs for a higher wage.

Jobs with experience/skills

Those jobs with special experience or skills required get paid well or with some allowances. For example some shops in tourist spots are providing a special allowance for staff who are able to speak Korean or Chinese. Some companies also apply an allowance for experienced people,and it is easy to understand that the more experienced you are,the better you may get paid.So to find a job related to your previous work experience or current skills will be a good choice for a good pay.

Jobs at deep night

Those jobs in an irregular time zone are usually with a higher salary like during the early morning or late at night,as people are seldom willing to work at this kind of time but may give a try if an allowance is provided. A night shift may be not that physically difficult as you think as there may be fewer customers or easier work contents.

Things to care for as working in Japan

There are various things you may need to take care of as a foreigner working in Japan, while the most important one is absolutely your visa status. We all know that you need to apply for a visa before boarding in Japan no matter through an agency or by yourself.

There are several kinds of visas and each has different requirements and different limitations for working in Japan. For example, a tourist visa is not permitted to work while a working visa requires a company to provide a sponsorship.

Check your visa status carefully and only do the job that you are allowed for. As a foreigner, keep away from illegal jobs and things, or your visa might be repealed. Never let your visa status expired and keep in mind to process for extension 3 months before the expiration.