I see the “get a job in your home country at a JP company, show your worth, transfer internally” brought up as a pathway to moving to Japan quite often, but has anyone done this? What was the timeframe? Did you push internally, and if so, who did you talk to + how did you approach it? What was your department and seniority?
I’ve been working in advertising (on the sales side, not the creative side) at the US branch of a Japanese company 3+ years and I’ve brought up the possibility of being transferred to Japan to my boss once or twice, just casually mentioning during routine performance reviews that I would love to work in Japan. My boss recently said “oh, if you want to work in Japan, either for us or for a different company, this is a good experience”, so I know she knows I want to transfer.
I’m starting to feel hopeless, though, and I’ve begun to consider other routes to move to Japan. Do I stick it out at this company or do I burn it all and go another route? I don’t hate this job, the culture is good and the pay isn’t bad, but I feel like I’m just… stagnating here and not getting closer to my ultimate goal.
As some background, I’m a US citizen, 31F, hold a JLPT N2 (and I’m currently working towards an N1), and lived in Kyoto for a year as an exchange student already. It’s been my goal since 2019 to get back to Japan.
Disclaimer that I know this will be a pay cut and life in Japan isn’t all sunshine and roses
by RevealSignificant665