How to work as an engineer from no experience.
Acquire skills before you apply.

This is a question that most foreigners who work in Japan wonder about.

Can I apply for a job even if I have no experience?

There are many foreigners who want to work as engineers with no experience, but in reality, companies do not hire people with no experience.

However, there are ways to get hired even if you have no experience.

In this article, we will explain how you can work as an engineer with no experience, so if you want to work as an engineer in the future, please read this article to the end.

 

Why companies don’t hire inexperienced workers?

 

First, let me explain in detail why Japanese companies do not employ foreign nationals with no experience.

There are two major reasons.

① Japanese level concerns

② age

I will explain each one in detail.

 

①Japanese level concerns

Whether you are an experienced or inexperienced applicant, the job application for foreign nationals is marked with “N1 required”.

In other words, you need to have N1 to even apply for a job, and you need to have not only N1 certification but also high communication skills.

This is because when working for a Japanese company in Japan, all communication with colleagues and business partners is in Japanese, so it is necessary to type and read e-mails in business Japanese.

The level of Japanese required by the corporate is N1 or higher.

This means that Japanesse companies hire foreigners whose Japanese language skills are almost native level.

Many foreigners with N1 have applied for jobs with no experience, but unfortunately, allmost all of them have been rejected.

Even if you are hired with no experience, if your Japanese language level is not N1 or higher, you will be stumped during the training.

After joining the company, new employee training will be conducted together with other new Japanese employees.

Of course, all training is conducted in Japanese, and the matirials/textbooks are written in Japanese.

Compared to Japanese people, it takes foreigners a little longer to understand Japanese because they are not native speakers of Japanese.

If this is the case, it is better to employ Japanese nationals from the beginning so that the training will proceed smoothly, and they will be able to go out into the field immediately, saving time and effort.

 

②age

In Japan, the age at which one can change jobs in an inexperienced industry is set at roughly 25 years old.

The employment rate for inexperienced workers declines considerably after the age of 25, even for Japanese nationals.

In other words, if you are over 25 years old, it is impossible to be hired as an inexperienced worker.

So why they don’t hire inexperienced human resources over 25 years old?

This is because the older you are, the longer it takes you to learn new knowledge, and the longer it takes you to become a ready-to-work worker.

Inexperienced workers in their early twenties can quickly get to work in the field, as long as they know what they are doing.

Japanese companies are committed to nurturing their human resources and to ensuring that their employees will work for the company for many years to come.

If you enter the company at the age of 22 as a new graduate, you will have approximately 38 years until retirement (age 60), but if you enter at the age of 30, you will only work for 30 years.

For a company, the difference of eight years is quite significant.

These are the reasons why companies do not employ inexperienced workers.

 

You can aim to become an engineer even from an inexperienced background

 

From here, we will tell you how to become an engineer with no experience.

First, here is a brief summary of how to go from no experience to becoming an engineer.

This time, as an example, we will explain how to become an IT engineer.

① Acquire N1 as a prerequisite

② Go to programming school

③ Work as a freelancer

If you follow these three steps, you can work as an IT engineer with no experience.

I will explain one by one.

 

①As a prerequisite for acquiring N1

Once you join a company, all communication with colleagues and business partners will be conducted in Japanese.

Therefore, it is a matter of course to be able to read and write emails perfectly in Kanji, and it is also essential to have the reading comprehension skills to understand the content of the training.

If you have the same level of comprehension and understanding as a Japanese person, you will be able to complete your training quickly and be able to work onsite immediately.

 

②Go to programming school

As mentioned above, the reason why companies do not employ inexperienced workers is because they want people who are ready to work immediately.

When inexperienced workers are hired, the additional workload of training and instruction from the ground up can be burdensome for the company.

In addition, training for inexperienced workers is currently provided only for new graduates, not for graduates.

So how do I learn about IT?

Attend a programming school.

There are many schools that can help you become an IT engineer with immediate and effective skills and introduce you to IT-related jobs, even if you have no experience in the field.

There are also university colleges and vocational schools where students can study IT, but it takes time and money.

In addition, since there is a time limit of 25 years old before you can change jobs, it is recommended that you attend a programming school where you can graduate in 6 months or so.

To begin with, the passive-aggressive way of thinking, learning skills and knowledge from the company while receiving a salary, is naive!

No, it’s a very, very bad way of thinking.

From the company’s point of view, you have to learn that on your own!

We do not want human resources who can only think in a passive way.

 

③Work as a freelancer

Once you have acquired a certain level of knowledge and expertise at a programming school, you should start working as a freelancer rather than suddenly looking for an IT-related job.

The reason why you should not yet apply for a position at a company is because you are not yet ready for immediate employment, and you will not be hired.

Learning at a programming school is not even a start.

Work as a freelancer and gain practical experience.

Let’s start with an inexpensive project plan that anyone can do and gain a lot of experience.

As you become accustomed to the system, challenge yourself with difficult projects to improve your skills.

The period of time during which you work as a freelancer is also included in the number of years of work experience.

These are the steps to becoming an (IT) engineer even if you have no experience.

To recap.

The basic prerequisite is that you have N1.

Learn the basics at a programming school.

Gain practical experience as a freelancer.

Even if you do not have work experience in a company, if you gain work experience as a freelancer, you are no longer inexperienced and can apply for a variety of jobs.

 

Here is a rough estimate of how long you will have to work as a freelancer before you can apply for a job.

N1 certified: 1 year of experience as a freelancer is required to apply.

N2 certified: 2 years of experience as a freelancer is required to apply.

N3 certified: Applicants with at least 3 years of experience as a freelancer are eligible to apply.

Even if you have no experience, if you learn on your own at school or through self-study, and if you gain experience working as a freelancer, you are already an experienced worker.

The company will employ human resources who are self-motivated and able to learn and study.

Therefore, it is important to take the stance of actively working on your own, rather than waiting for instructions from the company or your supervisor to wait for them.

If you have any questions about how to choose a programming school or how to work as a freelancer in Japan, please contact us.