TD
Key Takeaways
- Mid-career hiring — tenshoku — is now common in Japan, though it still carries more weight than in Western markets.
- Recruitment agents dominate the process and will manage negotiation on your behalf.
- Employers ask why you are leaving, and the answer is assessed more seriously than in most markets.
- Frequent job changes are viewed more critically here, so the narrative connecting your moves matters.
- On a work visa, notify immigration within 14 days and confirm the new role falls within your status.
Changing jobs in Japan used to be unusual enough to require explanation. It no longer is — mid-career hiring is a mature market with its own agencies, platforms and conventions — but the residue of the old norm survives in how employers interpret your history.
For foreign professionals there is an additional layer: your status of residence, and whether the new role fits inside it.
This guide covers the process, the questions, and the immigration steps.
Before applying, check your documents work — the free ATS score checker.
How tenshoku works
Recruitment agents dominate. Far more than in the US or UK, mid-career hiring in Japan runs through agents. Bilingual agencies serving the foreign professional market are particularly useful, because they know which employers actually hire non-Japanese candidates.
What agents do here: present you to clients, coordinate the process, and — importantly — handle salary negotiation on your behalf. That last point is a genuine advantage in a culture where negotiating directly can read as pushy, as the Japan salary negotiation guide covers.
Direct applications are possible through job platforms and company sites, though agents carry a large share of the mid-career market.
Referrals are growing, particularly at startups and gaishikei.
Timeline: typically one to three months from first contact to offer, faster at foreign-owned companies.
Working with an agent, practically
Agents are paid by the employer on placement, which shapes their incentives in ways worth understanding rather than resenting.
Register with two or three, not eight. Each will present you to their own client list, and overlapping submissions to the same employer creates confusion about who represents you — which occasionally disqualifies candidates entirely.
Tell each agent which companies you have already applied to directly. Duplicate submissions are the most common avoidable problem here.
Be specific about what you want. "Anything in tech" gets you presented to everything and matched to nothing. Salary range, location, industry, whether you need an English-operating environment — say all of it in the first conversation.
Expect them to edit your shokumu keirekisho. This is normal, they know the format their clients expect, and their edits are usually worth accepting.
They negotiate for you, so tell them your real number. An agent who does not know your floor cannot protect it, and unlike negotiating directly, this carries none of the cultural awkwardness.
A good agent tells you when you are not a fit. One who presents you to everything regardless is optimising for volume rather than placement.
The documents
Japan expects two documents, not a resume:
Rirekisho — the standardised personal history form with photo, education and employment dates.
Shokumu keirekisho — the free-format career history where you actually make your case. This is the one hiring managers read and the one that decides interviews — see the shokumu keirekisho guide and the rirekisho guide.
For mid-career applications the shokumu keirekisho matters most, because your track record is what you are being hired for. Lead with a summary block, quantify achievements, and give context for any employer a Japanese hiring manager would not recognise.
Why are you leaving?
Asked in essentially every process, and weighted more heavily than in most markets.
What the interviewer is assessing: whether you leave when things get difficult, and whether you will do the same to them.
What works: a forward-looking reason grounded in what you want to do next.
I've spent four years building payment infrastructure and I want to work on it at larger scale. My current company's platform is mature and the interesting problems there are largely solved.
What does not work:
- Criticising your current employer, however justified — it reads as something you will repeat about them
- Money as the primary stated reason
- Vagueness — "I wanted a new challenge" is heard constantly and says nothing
If you have changed jobs frequently, address it before you are asked. Japanese employers view a pattern of short tenures more critically than Western ones, so a narrative connecting the moves — a consistent direction, deepening specialism — matters. Silence invites the least generous interpretation.
Turning the real reason into a usable one
Most people leave for a reason they cannot state directly. The answer is not to invent one, but to name the forward-looking half of the same truth.
| The real reason | What to say instead |
|---|---|
| Bad manager | "I'm looking for an environment with more direct technical mentorship" |
| Underpaid | "I'm looking for a role that matches the scope I've grown into" |
| No promotion in five years | "I want a path toward technical leadership, which isn't available where I am" |
| Excessive overtime | "I'm looking for a team where delivery is planned rather than absorbed by hours" |
| Company is failing | "The direction of the business has changed and my specialism is no longer central to it" |
| Bored, work is repetitive | "The platform is mature and the problems I find interesting there are largely solved" |
| Wanted to leave Tokyo | "I'm relocating to Osaka for personal reasons and looking for the right role there" |
| Made redundant | State it plainly, with the business reason. This is not held against you |
The pattern in the right column: every one describes what you are moving toward rather than what you are escaping, and none of them is a lie. That distinction is the whole technique.
Redundancy is the exception — say it directly. Attempting to disguise it creates a gap in your history that gets asked about anyway, and business restructuring is understood.
The visa steps foreign workers miss
Three things, and people get caught by all of them.
1. Check the new role fits your status. Your status of residence covers a category of work. Moving between software roles is generally fine; moving into a different field may require a change of status. You can request a certificate of authorised employment from immigration confirming the new role qualifies — worth doing before accepting rather than after. See the Japan engineer visa guide.
2. Notify immigration within 14 days of leaving and of joining. This is a legal obligation, not a courtesy, and missing it creates problems at renewal.
3. Time your renewal carefully. If your period of stay expires soon after a job change, immigration will assess the new employment. A very short tenure at the new employer at renewal time can complicate things, so where possible avoid changing jobs immediately before a renewal.
Also worth knowing: a "Designated Activities" status can cover a job-hunting period after leaving a role in some circumstances, which matters if you resign before securing the next position.
Resigning
Notice. Japanese law provides for a relatively short statutory notice in many cases, but company rules and convention frequently expect one to three months, and leaving abruptly damages relationships in a market where reputation travels.
The conversation. Tell your direct manager first, in person, before anyone else hears it. Expect them to try to retain you.
Written notice follows the verbal conversation, usually a short formal letter.
Handover is taken seriously. Thorough documentation and a proper transfer are expected, and doing it well is remembered — see the resignation letter guide and notice period negotiation.
Do not resign before the new offer is confirmed in writing, including any conditions.
The counter-offer
Expect one. Japanese employers frequently respond to a resignation with a raise, a title, or a promise about your next assignment — and accepting is usually a mistake.
Why it is offered: replacing you is expensive and slow, and the immediate cost of retaining you is lower than the cost of a search.
Why it rarely works: the reason you were leaving is generally not the thing being fixed. A raise does not change a manager, a mature platform or a missing promotion path — and the reasons in the table above are almost never solved by money.
What also changes: you have now signalled that you were prepared to leave. That is remembered in ways that affect future assignments and promotion decisions, more so in a market where long-term commitment carries weight.
Decline politely and hold the line. "I'm grateful, and I've thought about this carefully — my decision is about the direction I want my work to take rather than the terms." Then thank them and continue with the handover.
The one case where it merits thought: if the counter-offer genuinely addresses your actual reason — a real move to the team you wanted, in writing, with a start date — rather than adding money to the situation you were leaving.
Common Mistakes
Criticising your current employer when asked why you are leaving. It is heard as something you will later say about them, regardless of how justified it is.
Giving money as the stated reason. It lands poorly even where it is the truth; a forward-looking reason about the work performs far better.
Registering with eight agents. Overlapping submissions to the same employer create confusion about representation and occasionally disqualify you.
Not telling your agent where you have already applied directly. Duplicate submissions are the most common avoidable problem in the process.
Not addressing a pattern of short tenures. Japanese employers weight it more critically than Western ones, and silence invites the least generous reading.
Sending a Western resume. Applications expect a rirekisho and shokumu keirekisho, and the latter is what actually gets you interviewed.
Accepting a counter-offer. It rarely fixes the actual reason, and having signalled you would leave is remembered.
Changing jobs without checking your status covers the new role. Moving outside your category may require a change of status, and a certificate of authorised employment resolves it in advance.
Missing the 14-day immigration notifications. They are legal obligations and missing them causes problems at renewal.
Changing jobs immediately before a visa renewal. A very short tenure at the new employer complicates the assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is changing jobs normal in Japan now?
Yes — mid-career hiring is a mature market with its own agencies and platforms, though frequent moves are still viewed more critically than in Western markets.
Should I use a recruitment agent?
Generally yes. Agents carry a large share of mid-career hiring, and bilingual agencies know which employers hire foreign professionals. They also negotiate salary on your behalf.
How many agents should I register with?
Two or three. More creates duplicate submissions to the same employers, which causes confusion about who represents you.
What do I send instead of a resume?
A rirekisho and a shokumu keirekisho. The latter is free-format and is what hiring managers actually read.
How should I answer "why are you leaving"?
With a forward-looking reason about the work you want to do next. Almost every real reason has a forward-looking half that is true and sayable.
What if I was made redundant?
Say so plainly, with the business reason. Disguising it creates a gap that gets asked about anyway, and restructuring is understood.
Should I accept a counter-offer?
Usually not. It rarely addresses why you were leaving, and having shown you were willing to go affects how you are viewed afterwards.
Do I need to tell immigration when I change jobs?
Yes, within 14 days of both leaving and joining. It is a legal obligation and missing it causes problems at renewal.
Can I change to a different type of work?
Only if it falls within your status of residence, otherwise you need a change of status. Request a certificate of authorised employment to confirm before accepting.
How much notice should I give?
Statutory minimums are relatively short, but company rules and convention frequently expect one to three months. Leaving abruptly damages your standing.
Check your application documents. Check your ATS score free.
Make This Practical
Confirm your status covers the new role before you accept anything. Request a certificate of authorised employment from immigration if the job sits anywhere near the boundary of your category — it converts a risk into a document, and it is far easier to do before resigning than after.
Then write your answer to "why are you leaving" by taking your real reason and stating its forward-looking half. Underpaid becomes matching the scope you have grown into; a bad manager becomes wanting direct technical mentorship. Neither is a lie, and neither gives an interviewer a reason to wonder what you will say about them.
Finally, handle the mechanics properly. Register with two or three agents rather than eight, tell them your real salary floor so they can protect it, expect a counter-offer and plan to decline it, and notify immigration within 14 days of both your leaving and joining dates.
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