Hi all,
This post is somewhat lengthy, but I hope you will take the time to read it. Thank you very much in advance to those of you who go through all of it!
I'm a senior college student looking to move to Tokyo after I graduate to work for a market-research firm called Japan Market Intelligence, henceforth "JMI", (http://www.jmintelligence.co.jp), currently a small but very promising company operating out of Shinjuku Tokyo. I have corresponded with a representative of this company through e-mail and over the phone, and they have explained to me that because their business is relativey small (35 people) and new (4 years old), they are unable as of yet to sponsor foreign work visas.
Furthermore, after investigating the different types of work visas that are available, I see that all non-english teaching visas require a graduate degree or 3-5 years of field experience for a candidate to be eligable. Because I'm an undergrad without a deep professional portfolio, I do not satisfy these requirements.
To make matters more complicated, even if I do apply for a work visa, it will have to be with a company which will allow me to actually WORK for JMI. The best option on the table right now as I see it is request sponsorship from ITX Investment Group, the south-east Asian arm of Olympus Investments, which has invested several million dollars in JMI and is aiming to bring them public within the next 2-3 years. Getting a job with a venture capital firm is hard enough, but getting them to sponsor a work visa for a company they're investing in seems a great reach, realistically.
The other option I'm considering is teaching English for a year through Nova because they can most likely place me in Tokyo, allowing me to easily interview with ITX and JMI. Living in Japan for a year is also the time I estimate it would take for my Japanese to become business-level binlingual-- I'm going to be graduating with a specially designed International Marketing degree with a minor in Japanese. I have followed the same language cirriculum as a major, eschewing some of (but not all) the cultural classes required to receive major credit. In the event that things with JMI do not materialize, after one year I should be able to seek jobs which require english/japanese bi-lingual ability.
My questions for my fellow gaijin are:
Is there a better way to teach English in Japan than through JET or Nova? Being located in Tokyo is important to me so that I have easy access to companies for interviews.
I have heard that it is possible to secure an English teaching job through a private company like Nova, and then to quit and work for the company of my choice. However, it is doubtful Nova will want to renew my working visa after the year-long contract is up, and I would need to find a company which wanted to sponsor a new working visa during that time. I would also most likely need to leave the country while this process is ongoing and return when its finished.
Would a company like ITX bite on the visa sponsorship scheme previously mentioned? Should I submit a resume in Japanese or English if I go this route?
While I do not have an IT degree, I do have advanced knowledge of TCP/IP networking and computer troubleshooting abilities on Windows 2k/XP platforms. I have worked Tech Support positions before, most notably at ESPN's corporate headquarters and I can get glowing recommendations from my past supervisors. Should I possibly go through an IT company initially instead of teaching English?
Is there any better way that I've not thought of which would allow me to work for JMI?
Thank you again for reading this post--I would greatly appreciate any comments or insights.
Brenton