Securing a Job at a Japanese Company in Myanmar After doing 7 years of recruitment in Japan, I moved to Myanmar last year. Looking at the Myanmar market, I see that the long history of Japanese companies in Myanmar. Some for over 50 years. Industries also vary quite widely ranging from Automotive, Construction, Consumer Goods, Medical, Financial Services, etc.
In Myanmar like other countries around the world, Japanese companies have an image of having a very stable business with few drastic changes, and an ordered and disciplined work environment. There are many candidates that I have come across that prefer Japanese companies as employers. From an employer point of view, a lot of other foreign capital companies tend to highly evaluate candidates with extensive experience at a Japanese company. That being said, Japanese companies often have a different set of screening criteria compared to other foreign capital companies. The main difference especially compared to Western companies tends to be the high emphasis on their personal characteristics and a lower emphasis on the experience and technical ability.
If you are one of the candidates looking to work at Japanese company in Myanmar, here are some points to consider when you are interviewing / building your career. Many Japanese companies look for the points below in their candidates.
1) Stability and Loyalty: Japanese companies will always look for career stability in their candidates. Has the person worked for more than 3 years at one company? Will this person work with our company for 5, or even 10 or 20 years? These are the types of questions that Japanese hiring managers ask themselves when they are looking for candidates. More than people moving from projects to projects or job to job for a greater challenge and further development, they want someone who has built continuous success and achievements with one company. It is important to express a long term vision and passion within the company you are applying too.
2) Communication Ability: Japanese are usually bad English speakers. A lot of Japanese companies will require Japanese language ability, not only English because the Japanese senior management are weak in English speaking. Thus, even if you do not have Japanese language and can only communicate in English, it is important to speak slowly and clearly, and use relatively easy to understand language when communicating/interviewing with Japanese hiring managers.
3) Hard Work: In Japan, people work very long hours. While this is not ideal and most of the time not correct, there is a sense of acknowledgement that working longer means you are working harder and better. This is not the case with Japanese companies in Myanmar, however, Japanese Hiring Manager still like people who can be hard working and show commitment to their work.
At MyWorld, we work with both local and international companies. International companies include not only Japanese companies but a lot of European, American and other Asian countries as well. You will find that all companies are different, with its own style and cultures. See what suits you, and look for a company where you can build a stable yet challenging career.