How I Used Language School to Land a Japanese Tech Job

The story of how I moved to Japan is nothing particularly new or unique. Enrolling in language school with the aim of eventually getting a job in Japan is one common route among many.

Nonetheless, it was absolutely the right move for me, and I’d highly recommend it to others in the IT industry as a great entry point into Japan.

In this article I’ll go into detail on the language school route, as someone who has been through the process in 2022, and was then able to successfully land a job as Project Manager for a Japanese e-commerce company.

• Why I chose to attend Japanese language school
• Why I suggest a school outside the big cities
• How long my course lasted
• The steps of enrollment
• Where I lived (and why)
• What we studied in class
• How much language school and life in Japan costs
• Why getting a part-time job is really important
• How long it took me to reach N2
• How I conducted my job hunt, and what I learned from it

Why did I go to language school?

I had several specific reasons for moving to Japan as a student first, before finding a job.

My JLPT N4 level wasn’t going to be enough

First, I knew my future job in Japan would require me to possess a high level of Japanese. To share a bit about my background, I am a project manager with over a decade of experience in my home country, and I am also ITIL and PMP-certified. In terms of Japanese ability, I had already passed both JLPT N5 and N4 before moving to Japan.

I made it my goal while in language school to pass at least JLPT N2, and then look for a job afterwards.

Language school let me ease into life in Japan

Second, moving to Japan as a student first helped ease me into life in Japan. The school guided me through dedicated lectures on the following:

• Finding an apartment and managing utilities
• Opening a bank account
• Interacting with city hall
• Mailing documents through the post office

Best of all, they helped me with getting a part-time job, particularly with:

• Creating a Japanese resume (履歴書, rirekisho)
• Guidance on the Japanese interview process
• Explaining how to get permission to do part-time work from Immigration

I’ll get more into the how and why of getting a part-time job below.

A Student visa makes you easier to hire later

Lastly, moving to Japan to attend language school granted me a Student visa. Since I was already a resident of Japan, that made it easier for employers to hire me.

In fact, when I did get a job offer in Tokyo, it took under two months to convert my Student visa into an Engineer visa. Funnily enough, it was on my graduation day that the law firm my company had hired contacted me, notifying me that the conversion had been successful.

Where did I go for language school?

My most important consideration before enrolling was where in Japan I should study. After giving it some thought, I decided to study at Kawahara E-Business College in Matsuyama in the Ehime Prefecture, which is located in the Shikoku region, roughly 660 kilometers from Tokyo.

There were two reasons why I decided to study in a medium-sized city in Ehime instead of a mega city like Tokyo or Osaka.

Cost of living is lower in smaller cities

The cost of living in Ehime is cheaper than the big cities. For reference, you can look at my school’s Application Guidebook, where they list Ehime’s transportation and housing expenses as a major selling point for studying there.

The bigger the city, the more distractions

More importantly, having already visited Japan several times as a tourist, I knew that there was no way I could focus on studying if I lived in Tokyo or Osaka, with everything going on there.

I also figured that if I could live in Ehime, I could live anywhere in Japan.

How long does language school take?

With my choice of school locked in, my next step was deciding which course to take. The school offered several choices between one to two years in length.

Taking into consideration my N4 level and my October start date, I decided to take the 18-month course, which is designed to get any student to N2. I felt this would give me enough time to get to that level. This would also mean graduating in March, shortly before the April hiring season in Japan.

What are the steps to enroll?

With both where and how long I would be in language school settled, I contacted the school directly and went through the process of enrollment.

1. Pass the interview. This was done via Skype and took around an hour. The questions revolved around why I wanted to study in Japan. Since I had already passed N4, they wanted to test my ability, which they did by showing me flashcards then asking “What is that [thing/action]?” If anything, the school is looking to confirm your genuine desire to learn Japanese.
2. Submit the required documents. You can find a list in the school’s Application Guidebook.
3. Pay the tuition fee. This was done by wire transfer. The bank details were provided by the school, and it went through without any issues.
4. Get my visa. This involved first obtaining the Certificate of Eligibility, then applying for the Student visa in my home country, which took around 6 months.

With bags packed and Student visa in hand, my goal was clear. I had 18 months to get my Japanese to at least N2 level, then find a tech job before I graduated!

Where can you stay?

In my case the school’s dormitory was already fully occupied, so they offered to find me an apartment that was close to the school. The apartment I rented required a guarantor, which the school offered to be.

They also helped me set up the utilities (electricity, internet, heating, etc.). For this they reserved the utilities on my behalf. When I arrived I set up the payments, first with my credit card, and then eventually via bank transfer when I had my own bank account.

What did I do in language school?

My classes in language school lasted three hours every weekday. They were primarily divided into two phases.

The JLPT prep period

This happened at the start of every semester (April/October), in preparation for one of the two JLPT exam months (July/December).

During these classes, textbooks were primarily JLPT-aligned, such as “Try!” for grammar and はじめての日本語能力試験N3単語 (Hajimete no nihongo nouryoku shiken N3 tango) for vocabulary.

Teachers focused each week on a different portion of the JLPT.

• Kanji
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Reading
• Listening

Mock exams were held one month before the JLPT, followed by a debrief session on how to answer the test.

The post-JLPT period

After the JLPT test, we would have other language-related and general school events (since we were all just waiting for the exam results anyway).

These included:

• Speech contests
• Essay writing
• Oral presentations, both in class and outside school (during our final semester we had to present something about our home country to a class of Japanese college students)
• Annual school fair
• Annual sports festival
• Field trips such as to Matsuyama Castle

How much does language school cost?

For those considering language school as your entry point to Japan, here is a table of how much I spent, on average, while studying in Ehime.

As an international student in Japan you are allowed to work part time (under 28 hours per week), and the hourly rate while I was studying was on average 1200 yen. Working around 20 hours per week should be enough to cover your daily expenses.

Why do I recommend a part-time job?

While having a part-time job as a language school student is completely optional, I jumped at the chance. It would give me more opportunities to use Japanese, which in turn would give me more confidence when it came time to look for jobs.

The process I had to go through was:

1. Pass a written test from the school to confirm my aptitude to take on part-time work. The questions were mostly about vocabulary and grammar, which I was already learning in class, so it wasn’t that difficult.
2. File for permission to engage in part-time work at the Immigration office. The school gave me guidance on how to fill in the application form, and then I had to go to the Immigration office myself to file.
3. Create a Japanese resume to show my prospective employer.
4. Schedule an interview with a potential employer, then decide on my start date.
5. Submit a monthly timesheet to the school confirming my work hours, which needed to be signed by my employer as well.

I got a job at a convenience store during my time at school, which I think is the best kind of part-time job you can get if you want to maximize your speaking practice. At a restaurant, for example, you only have to remember the menu, whereas at a convenience store you can get asked all sorts of questions which will stretch your vocabulary to its limits if you’re not prepared, such as being asked, “Where is the nearest post office?”

When I started my convenience store job, I was put on the afternoon shift (5 p.m.–10 p.m.), which was the busiest time for the store every day. I worked with my shift leads, who showed me, not just how to handle the cash register, but also how to prepare the fried foods, physically stock the shelves, and properly dispose of food approaching its expiration date.

The store owner and manager liked the work I did and trusted me to the point that, when my more senior colleagues were moved to the night shift, they asked me to teach the new hires. This experience gave me hope. If I was able to make such an impact at a part-time job in Japan, how much more could I do when I got that tech job I was aiming for?

How long did it take me to get to N2?

Because I applied myself to both my part-time job and my studies, it only took me one year in language school to skip from N4 to N2. Some other students only relied on what was given, while I made sure to get as much exposure to native materials as possible.

However, even though I had the JLPT N2 certificate in my hands, I knew my mission wasn’t complete. Getting the credential was only one part of the equation. Now I had to find a company who was willing to take on someone whose Japanese experience was limited to language school and a convenience store.

How did I find my tech job?

I started my job hunt around six months before graduation. The school did recommend going to job fairs, but none of them had any IT jobs, so I relied on LinkedIn. I would just submit my CV to the job posting, and hours or days later I would be contacted by a recruiter. We would talk about the position, and go from there if I could get an interview soon after.

I soon learned several things from these experiences.

Applying directly to a company never worked (for me at least)

It was really painful to fill out an application form, which takes time to do, only to get a rejection email a few days or even weeks later.

That is why I gave up entirely on applying to companies directly, and worked with recruiters instead.

You need to be thick-skinned

While most recruiters and interviewers I contacted were generally easy to speak to, whether in English or Japanese, there were some with whom I had less-than-pleasant experiences. A few actually yelled at me when I gave them an answer they weren’t looking for, or when I asked for clarification.

I had to remind myself that these people are the exception and not the rule, and that I just had to keep moving forward.

Be prepared to fail

It took me a lot of time to get used to interviews, whether they were conducted entirely in Japanese or had both English and Japanese components.

The most painful experience during my job hunt was when, after passing the first two interviews entirely in Japanese, I was invited to the final interview with the company president himself, which required me to travel to their main office in Tokyo. Despite my best efforts, I failed the final interview, and the feedback was that my Japanese wasn’t good enough for the president. This made me doubt whether I could get a job at all.

However, after talking to my homeroom teacher about it, the conclusion I reached was that if I was able to get to the final interview stage with one company, I should be able to get a job offer from another. Funnily enough, it was the job I interviewed for immediately after this failure that finally gave me that offer.

Should you go to language school?

As with any major life decision, moving to Japan to study requires commitment. With proper planning and effort, those who see it through until the end will be rewarded.

Going to language school is without a doubt one of the best decisions I have ever made. Not only did it give me the tools to land a tech job in Japan, but also taught me enough about the Japanese language, culture, and way of doing things to help me lead a fulfilling life here for many years to come.