NON english teaching jobs

[karekora]

i am a native english female, but I never want to be an English eikawa teacher again!!! no,no,no...!!

I recently worked as a envelope stuffer at a small japanese company where the only language spoken was japanese. i only managed to get this temping work due to a friend introducing me. Id like to find more jobs like this. mind-numbing, maybe, but a hell of a lot better than teaching english!!

how do you find temping work in japan? or how about working from home?

am i wishing?? help please, otherwise its off to london i go, and i dont really want that.... i have to find a proper job there...!

[Mennon]

A "proper" job in a Japanese company for a Japanese female IS evelope stuffing and photocopying and getting tea. Add to that overtime, no promotional oppurtunities and a low salary, and you've got a proper job. Being a FG won't help you either. You'd become an Eikaiwa teacher anyway. The only thing working in a J compnay will do is improve your Japanese, but you can do that while you work in an Eikaiwa. My advice is find a nice Eikaiwa (there are a lot of them, but you have to search long and hard), study J in your spare time, give it a couple of years, and then you might have a few more options. And don't forget the reality of where you came from - temp jobs where everyone has there resume in their pockets cruising the net for a better job. No proper jobs there unless you have qualifications - and you wouldn't be here if you had those.

[Neo-Rio]

This advice won't apply to people with qualifications or a solid track record of experience who can find better work at the drop of a hat, but the only reason I could think of to get out of eikaiwa and go to a Japanese company is if you want training and work experience in a Japanese company. People with skills and connections work in foreign companies and are making lots of money.

Working in a Japanese company pays about the same as eikaiwa (or worse) with no benefits. Good luck finding your own apartment and guarantors. Good luck surviving 4 hours of your life wasted away daily on a crushing rush hour train - where your only escape is an iPod.
Flexitime is a joke, your paid leave counts for nought cause your employers/customers will screw with contracts to make sure you can't take it. You are pressured into working overtime, plus you get to work harder than before and get subjected to the other bullshit that is a Japanese company.... and don't forget it's all in Japanese. Then you have that pension bullshit to deal with (you have 3 years to cash out). If you have to deal with Japanese customers it's even worse because they'll treat you worse than your managers - and possibly less than human as well - if they even want you to serve them at all. Most likely in your attempts to be polite, people will distrust you. Stand up for yourself and be bluntly honest and they hate you. They make it so you can't win.
You can complain all you like and all you'll be told is to "gambattekudasai" which literally means "please take it up the ass some more so I can get wealthy off you". You'll take it up the ass in other areas as well. You'll get to do jobs that are meaningless or not even well thought out - or jobs which no one else is game to do. You can't ask anyone to help you either. They're all "above" you so when you politely ask for help - to them you're being rude.
In Japan, the buck just doesn't stop. When it is more profitable to be a "freeter" it's no surprise most young Japanese reject the idea of full-time employment in Japan.

If you can put up with all of that for the work experience, congratulations.
You are now a fucked gaijin.

Really, if you're not getting much beneficial work experience stuffing envelopes so my advice is to get back into eikaiwa or get the hell out of Dodge.

[Mulboyne]

How good is your Japanese? If you are already at a Japanese company then perhaps you at least speak the language. Most FG women I've come across at Japanese companies in Japan have been in the international section or engaged in translation/editing work - more often a combination of both. These jobs are around although it seems that the best way to get one is to be recommended by the FG on the way out. Most FGs at Japanese companies tend to plan to leave after the December bonus and before the beginning of January (especially if they are leaving Japan since this avoids the next ward tax). Some might choose after the June bonus but the job market tends to be slower in summer.

Media companies seem to have a higher proportion of women working for them in general but salaries are not great, at least at the beginning. This would include publishing, advertising, promotion and production companies. The hospitality business (not mizu shobai) also often employs FG women - hotels, wedding planners, restaurants.

By far the better employers are foreign companies in Japan since they will tend to offer a wider range of roles to women. Some of the best sales people in real estate and finance are women but Japanese companies often are slow to promote capable female staff and prefer a young kid who can be bullied/hazed. You will need to go through the HR department at a foreign company at some point but if there is an FG department head or shacho then I would make an approach there to raise your profile.