I didn't want to hijack mhollensetein's thread, so I'm starting my own. I did a search on the subject, and and know about the hours, work load, difficulty getting a job w/out visa, obvious challenge of getting into Ando type firm.
I'm looking for a) critique of my chances working there, b)what I'll be doing, and c)the best way to approach firms.
a)I am an unlicensed intern, w/ a 5yr degree, 5yrs of exp, currently working as job captain/jr proj architect. Fluent in conversational nihongo, read/write at a 3/4 grade lv, and hope to pick up architectural jargon in quick order. My parents are both nihonjin and I've lived there 5yrs, so I'm hoping obtaining a working visa won't be a huge problem.
b)Will I start out a drafter in order to learn the ropes and learn architectural language?(which I don't mind) Or will I be positioned at the same level I'm currently at?
c)I'm sure Ando/Ito/Ban get 100's of emails monthly. I'll be going over for a 3wk vacation starting next week w/ stops in Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka-Kyoto, Hiroshima & Fukuoka. A Japanese co-worker who was a Tobishima bigwig suggestsed just stopping by offices and asking to meet people. I'd like to email a CV/sample and let offices know I'm in the area and want to meet. But I don't want to ruin my vacation, so I plan on calling offices I'm really interested in.
Ninhon ni hataraiteru hito (jump, appleseed, hasslehoff) nado no kotai o kitai shite kansha shimasu.
My situation is different. It's an internship that has exisited between Penn and Takenaka for years. I don't have a work visa because it's not really a 'job.' I essentially do busy work. A large part of my job is simply observation. Seeing how a Japanese firm works. It's almost like 3 months of intensive professional practice class. But it's pretty cool.
As far as a work visa...I don't know if it matters that you lived here. From what I understand, you may even get hired and not get a work visa. You need to have skills that the employer can't get from within. I've heard of people being hired by US companies and not getting a visa because they just didn't offer anything special. Wakarimasu ka?
I actually wrote to Ando once and basically got a letter saying, he's got an unlimited number of people in Japan waiting to work for him, there is no need for him to 'out source.' Of course it was incredibly polite, but that was the general idea.
oya-tachi wa futari tomo nihonjin dattara bisa no mondai wa amari nai, datoimoimasu...
writing in roman-ji is too hard to continue with...and a pain to read.
so...
in my case i was introduced to an office through my mother-in-law...i had almost zero japanese ability and the office did little international work, and moreover nobody spoke a word of English...but they didn't care...i have no idea why and suspect this is not normal.
lately i am going to the university of tokyo and my foreign friends are able to get work in the city fairly easily because of the connections they have through school...which is i think also not exactly normal...
which is to say my experience is perhaps not entirely useful as a guide...
but, for what it is worth, if you have 5 years experience and a professional degree (or not) you should be able to get a job. whether it will be a good job or not depends on chance and your portfolio perhaps...
agree with your buddy's advice. try walking into the offices that interest you and see what happens...never know... the international firms may need someone who speaks english, if you are lucky...and off you go.
as for the kind of work you will do, i think that depends on the office. the more famous folk seem to throw you in head first and even the most junior grunt gets to make a proposal for the biggest projects...these offices also tend to work really long hours, so it is a trade-off (a typical office expects 14 hours a day out of staff, and the famous guys might want more)...not sure how your experience will be treated. i doubt that it would be ignored, but they may not give you as much credit for it either...however i am sure it will help you to advance in most firms at some point. Only thing is that people don't move around as much as in North America so i suspect that many offices will place you at the bottom of their hierarchy, at least to start with, regardless of ability. Not sure of this though...
now how is that for fuzzy japanese advice? sorry. really, i think it is different for everyone who comes here, but am pretty sure you will be able to find something that suits you if you are persistent.
when you hit tokyo please let me know. i am crazy busy this month but if timing is right would be cool to meet.
Thanks for the responses. hasselhoffs last sentance sums up what I'm sure is the situation with all the published people. Which is the extend of my knowledge of japanese architects.
Would my best bet be to try an american/japanese multinational and hope they need someone bilingual? I would prefer to work in a small office, but it seems that is a longshot w/out a recommendation. I'll try to contact all my family/acquaintances in japan.
an intro is def the way to go if you can wrangle it...
but don't give up cold calling anyway...a classmate of mine was in holland a few years back and walked into oma on the chance of a job...and got one (at least that is the story)...she was/is very talented and the timing was right. so, never know.
big companies might be more difficult for you as they tend to hire according to a fixed schedule, with interviews and selections finished about a year before a student begins a job. they may do hires outside of this schedule but i have not heard of it....maybe it would be best if you gave a call or e-mailed someone at takenaka, nikken sekkei or similar if planning to apply to such. likewise maybe best to do same with the Gensler-type places. i believe they all have recruitment pages on their websites that you can contact them with...ganbattene.
As far as I know Takenaka hires everyone in April. People graduate in March and start in April. All 142 people that were hired this year live with me. All departments, construction, finance, anything.
takeshi is like the koolhaas of japanese comedy. and a bona fied japanese genius director, like kurosawa but modern...thing i love most about japan is that a crazy physical comedian like takeshi can also be doing amazing films like zatoichi and all the rest...and act in them too, like meryl streep, not robin williams.
takeshi is the dude on the right in vado's pic. he is one of the smartest men on this planet i guarantee it. twisted, but smart like a knife.
Jun 11, 06 7:58 pm ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
Working in Japan
I didn't want to hijack mhollensetein's thread, so I'm starting my own. I did a search on the subject, and and know about the hours, work load, difficulty getting a job w/out visa, obvious challenge of getting into Ando type firm.
I'm looking for a) critique of my chances working there, b)what I'll be doing, and c)the best way to approach firms.
a)I am an unlicensed intern, w/ a 5yr degree, 5yrs of exp, currently working as job captain/jr proj architect. Fluent in conversational nihongo, read/write at a 3/4 grade lv, and hope to pick up architectural jargon in quick order. My parents are both nihonjin and I've lived there 5yrs, so I'm hoping obtaining a working visa won't be a huge problem.
b)Will I start out a drafter in order to learn the ropes and learn architectural language?(which I don't mind) Or will I be positioned at the same level I'm currently at?
c)I'm sure Ando/Ito/Ban get 100's of emails monthly. I'll be going over for a 3wk vacation starting next week w/ stops in Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka-Kyoto, Hiroshima & Fukuoka. A Japanese co-worker who was a Tobishima bigwig suggestsed just stopping by offices and asking to meet people. I'd like to email a CV/sample and let offices know I'm in the area and want to meet. But I don't want to ruin my vacation, so I plan on calling offices I'm really interested in.
Ninhon ni hataraiteru hito (jump, appleseed, hasslehoff) nado no kotai o kitai shite kansha shimasu.
What I can tell you.
My situation is different. It's an internship that has exisited between Penn and Takenaka for years. I don't have a work visa because it's not really a 'job.' I essentially do busy work. A large part of my job is simply observation. Seeing how a Japanese firm works. It's almost like 3 months of intensive professional practice class. But it's pretty cool.
As far as a work visa...I don't know if it matters that you lived here. From what I understand, you may even get hired and not get a work visa. You need to have skills that the employer can't get from within. I've heard of people being hired by US companies and not getting a visa because they just didn't offer anything special. Wakarimasu ka?
I actually wrote to Ando once and basically got a letter saying, he's got an unlimited number of people in Japan waiting to work for him, there is no need for him to 'out source.' Of course it was incredibly polite, but that was the general idea.
wampu-san,
oya-tachi wa futari tomo nihonjin dattara bisa no mondai wa amari nai, datoimoimasu...
writing in roman-ji is too hard to continue with...and a pain to read.
so...
in my case i was introduced to an office through my mother-in-law...i had almost zero japanese ability and the office did little international work, and moreover nobody spoke a word of English...but they didn't care...i have no idea why and suspect this is not normal.
lately i am going to the university of tokyo and my foreign friends are able to get work in the city fairly easily because of the connections they have through school...which is i think also not exactly normal...
which is to say my experience is perhaps not entirely useful as a guide...
but, for what it is worth, if you have 5 years experience and a professional degree (or not) you should be able to get a job. whether it will be a good job or not depends on chance and your portfolio perhaps...
agree with your buddy's advice. try walking into the offices that interest you and see what happens...never know... the international firms may need someone who speaks english, if you are lucky...and off you go.
as for the kind of work you will do, i think that depends on the office. the more famous folk seem to throw you in head first and even the most junior grunt gets to make a proposal for the biggest projects...these offices also tend to work really long hours, so it is a trade-off (a typical office expects 14 hours a day out of staff, and the famous guys might want more)...not sure how your experience will be treated. i doubt that it would be ignored, but they may not give you as much credit for it either...however i am sure it will help you to advance in most firms at some point. Only thing is that people don't move around as much as in North America so i suspect that many offices will place you at the bottom of their hierarchy, at least to start with, regardless of ability. Not sure of this though...
now how is that for fuzzy japanese advice? sorry. really, i think it is different for everyone who comes here, but am pretty sure you will be able to find something that suits you if you are persistent.
when you hit tokyo please let me know. i am crazy busy this month but if timing is right would be cool to meet.
Thanks for the responses. hasselhoffs last sentance sums up what I'm sure is the situation with all the published people. Which is the extend of my knowledge of japanese architects.
Would my best bet be to try an american/japanese multinational and hope they need someone bilingual? I would prefer to work in a small office, but it seems that is a longshot w/out a recommendation. I'll try to contact all my family/acquaintances in japan.
an intro is def the way to go if you can wrangle it...
but don't give up cold calling anyway...a classmate of mine was in holland a few years back and walked into oma on the chance of a job...and got one (at least that is the story)...she was/is very talented and the timing was right. so, never know.
big companies might be more difficult for you as they tend to hire according to a fixed schedule, with interviews and selections finished about a year before a student begins a job. they may do hires outside of this schedule but i have not heard of it....maybe it would be best if you gave a call or e-mailed someone at takenaka, nikken sekkei or similar if planning to apply to such. likewise maybe best to do same with the Gensler-type places. i believe they all have recruitment pages on their websites that you can contact them with...ganbattene.
As far as I know Takenaka hires everyone in April. People graduate in March and start in April. All 142 people that were hired this year live with me. All departments, construction, finance, anything.
these guys need help...
oh yeah.
takeshi is like the koolhaas of japanese comedy. and a bona fied japanese genius director, like kurosawa but modern...thing i love most about japan is that a crazy physical comedian like takeshi can also be doing amazing films like zatoichi and all the rest...and act in them too, like meryl streep, not robin williams.
takeshi is the dude on the right in vado's pic. he is one of the smartest men on this planet i guarantee it. twisted, but smart like a knife.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.