Alvin Tan: 6 Controversial Reasons Foreigners should work for Japanese Companies

Have you ever thought about working for a Japanese company in Japan, but were turned off by all the stories of long hours, low pay, slow career path, no incentives for performance, archaic hierarchy rule setting, social drinking requirements and more? Then this episode is for you. Alvin Tan is here to discuss his recent  controversial article on Medium titled “Why More Foreigners in Japan Should Work for Japanese Companies, Six reasons why you should consider working for one”. 

It was quite the combustible article in that it generated nearly 100 negative comments on Social Media. It seems that most of the Twitter-verse Japan experts firmly believe working for a Japanese company is a career death sentence. We discuss his 6 reasons why this is not the case. In fact I have also worked for two Japanese companies and I would not be where I am today without this great experience. Thus, I was inspired to offer my own 6 reasons why foreigners should work for Japanese companies. So together we examine 12 reasons why foreigners should work for Japanese companies.  Other topics we discuss:

• Was he surprised about the backlash to his article?
• Learning a lot about real Japan via Japanese corporate culture
• Mastering the Japanese concept of QC, Customer Service, or Hospitality
• The difference between Otsukaresama and Gokorosama?
• Why Japanese companies don't have clear job descriptions
• Credentials being less important than on-the-job training and a can-do attitude
• Unless you seriously mess up, one is unlikely to get fired
• The pay isn’t good, but the benefits are usually great
• Gaining a new circle of friends and meeting a significant other
• You get paid to practice Japanese
• Being a great stepping stone for better job opportunities
• Alvin's two favorite untranslatable Japanese words

Alvin Tan on Medium: https://medium.com/@alvintwrites
Alvin Tan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-tan

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