|
The Government of Japan believes that foreign students are competent international human resources with specialized knowledge and skills that will support the upgrading of Japanese industries and the globalization of Japanese companies. The government therefore places importance in promoting the hiring of foreign students by Japanese companies.
With this said, however, mutual understanding in this respect between foreign students and Japanese companies is still in its early stages. For this reason, the government is providing support to promote participation in internships for foreign students that make use of school breaks at universities, etc. and enable foreign students to experience working for a Japanese company.
Participation in an internship for foreign students will help students clarify what is necessary for their areas of specialization or their future careers and will enable them to think concretely about what kind of work they would like to do in the future and the knowledge and qualifications that will be required of them to find such employment. Experiencing an internship will also provide a good opportunity for foreign students to look at their current capabilities and suitability for a particular job. Furthermore, it will allow foreign students to get a feel for Japanese business practices and will be a meaningful opportunity for learning greetings, acquiring business manners and enhancing communication skills.
There may be things you may not understand or find difficult during an internship. However, what is important at such times is that you proactively ask questions if there is something you do not understand and stick to the internship to the end without giving up.
In this issue, we feature the experiences of two foreign students who participated in a foreign student internship program being offered through the government's Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners.
This center primarily offers foreign student internships two times a year during spring and summer school breaks. Note that calls for participation are made through the center, and you cannot contact a company directly.
For further information, please refer to the page on internships for foreign students at the Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners website (http://www.tfemploy.go.jp/jp/topics/topics20100323_internship.htm; page available in Japanese only) or call the center at 03-3588-8639.
Such internships are also available through the following centers:
Nagoya Employment Service Center for Foreigners: 052-264-1901
Osaka Employment Service Center for Foreigners: 06-6344-1135
Fukuoka Gakusei Shokugyo Center: 092-714-1556
The two students featured in this issue participated in a 4-week internship program between February and March this year at Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd., which is part of the JAL (Japan Airlines) Group. The location of their internship was Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) and the work they primarily took part in through this internship for foreign students was interpretation, information and other customer services.
Japan Airlines International's conditions for accepting interns were that they have passed Level 1 in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, are fluent in Chinese (Cantonese) or Korean, are able to work during early morning and late night hours, and have a TOEIC score of over 550 or Eiken (test in practical English ability) Grade 2 or higher.
|
