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Old 2009-10-29, 15:23   Link #1
solomon
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Suburban DC
Japanese Internships

Hello all,

I was wondering if any one ever has done a Japanese internship, particularly right after school. I am applying for JET but competition is fierce and am trying to expand my options. Do people know of any programs simliar to JET that are good for recent graduates or soon to graduate students? Recommendations for other types of programs.

My Major is East Asian Studies with Japanese Concentration of almost 4 years and I want to become a freelance translator someday.
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Old 2009-10-29, 21:26   Link #2
Kylaran
A Priori Impossibility
 
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: California
Age: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by solomon View Post
Hello all,

I was wondering if any one ever has done a Japanese internship, particularly right after school. I am applying for JET but competition is fierce and am trying to expand my options. Do people know of any programs simliar to JET that are good for recent graduates or soon to graduate students? Recommendations for other types of programs.

My Major is East Asian Studies with Japanese Concentration of almost 4 years and I want to become a freelance translator someday.
I have a classmate from my Japanese courses who graduated with a degree in Japanese studies and has had a very difficult finding a job recently, but I don't know about the situation with internships. He's told me a vast majority of these companies are interested in finding multilinguals that also have other skills, such as knowledge in a trade.

Since JET is a teaching program, have you tried thinking about whether or not Japanese companies may offer internships for students that speak multiple languages? What about other possibilities like going to graduate school with an emphasis on Japanese translation, while working as an assistant for the departments?

Not sure if you're just interested in internships, and I have no personal experience, but I don't know if you've thought about these as possibilities.
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Old 2009-10-29, 23:04   Link #3
LynnieS
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: China
There are multinationals with offices in Japan that offer summer internship-type programs. However and to the best of my knowledge, they will almost always accept local students and graduates only. It will take, IMHO, a very strong candidate for them to even consider a foreign student, esp. for this current economy. Education-wise, the interns with whom I had spoken and worked were, to a person, earning their masters degrees; not a single college-level candidate at all. They were also already being considered top candidates for post-school jobs as well.

Not every company or industry will be this tough, but there are going to be hurdles in your way, esp. if you can't find a resource in the library describing companies offering such a program.

One possibility - if you have the time and money - is to come up first with a list of companies interesting to you (work, mandate, business area, etc), travel to Japan and ask their people in person. This may work, but only if (1) you are enthusiastic and (2) they are willing to give it a try. Small firms in less conservative sectors should also give better responses, but just be prepared to end up with lots of rejections. Japan is still pretty conservative, IMHO.

Also, find out what restriction(s) your citizenship will have in terms of your working in Japan temporarily. If you need sponsorship of a work visa, most if not all companies may not talk to you - given that it'll not for a full-time job.
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