Things I wish I knew when I started College in Japan
Or should I say, things I should have started as soon as possible.
When I’m writing this, I’m fourth year in college, working as an intern in tech company and part-time english teacher.
I’m a Computer Science student so there will be few words about that too.
So, where do I start? I’m not a good story teller so bear with me…
1. You Can Get Paid?
This doesn’t concern you if you are like crazy rich and your dad rains money on you. But for most of us, paying through college is struggle itself.
So how do we get ourselves some financial freedom?
Well, if you are reading this, I assume you got at least some level of english speaking skills which is just enough to land yourself some decent paying english teaching part time jobs.
I started teaching english when I was in 3rd year and regretted not starting earlier. What held me back was thoughts like I have no teaching experience, I’m bad at communication bla bla bla…
There was a little paper test (elementary school level), after that an interview (tell us how was your weekend, in ingulisshu) , then comes trial class(keep smiling)!
After few classes, turns out students actually liked me.
So give yourself a chance and apply for an interview!
You can find jobs on websites like:
I pushed part-time english teaching as its fairly easy to land job.
If you are interested in other stuff , like web designing etc,
Google it.
2. Join some Clubs:
Especially if you find it hard to connect with other people, join some club and look for an extrovert to take you in. Most campuses will have some kind of club orientations at the beginning of the year and every freshman should attend!
It is good way of surrounding yourself with like minded people and keeping yourself focused on your goals(depends on what club you join tho).
3. Internship — Earn Experience
If you want to work after college(duh) or more so work in Japanese company, I can’t stress this one enough.There are many companies looking for foreign interns and has some ‘internship course’ to keep things interesting. You can keep yourself ahead of your peers by getting hands on training from engineers working on real life projects and see for yourself how companies work!
You might even get a job offer from the company.
Whether you plan to work in Japan or not, I believe it is great experience knowing work culture of a Japanese company.
I found my first internship on this website:
Having strong relationships with professors might prove fruitful to you as often times they can introduce you to company that are interested in hiring interns from college.
4. Portfolio:
I didn’t have single project done before I started internship, mostly because all my study was focused on learning particular language through online courses on Codeacademy and Progate. If you are making same mistake, you should start working on some pet project alongside with college studies.
Your job interview can go smoothly if you present your project and show how you applied your skills, rather than just saying “I know such and such languages”.
5. Take Care of Yourself:
It is easy to lose track of how overworked you are with how busy and fast paced life is in Japan.
Living far from home, exposed to new culture, surrounded by new people,
- it all takes toll on you.
Don’t forget to take your mind off things once in a while.
Engage in your hobby, hole yourself up in a room and catch up on anime/netflix series or connect with your new college friends.
Make time for exercises, I recommend Anytimefitness gym in Japan if you want to do more than just running(Open 24/7, multiple locations, decent equipment).
6. Explore!
Like com’on! You’re in Japan!
Keep your eyes and ears open in college and you will get information about soon to happen interesting tech events (or other events).Tech giants from all over the world assemble at events like these to showcase their latest cutting edge technological advances and also their vision for future technologies.
Many tech companies organize study events where they lecture on particular topic, talk about latest technology or even provide hands on training on certain projects.
You can find those events on websites like:
And for those who love fun in learning:
- Make Faire Japan — Interesting, future stuff.
So that will be all for now!
I hope this article proved beneficial for you.
Feel free to leave comments or ask questions. 👋
