Yez gave you a very general overview, I'll go a bit more into detail.
In our year, out of 45 participants (yes, a lot haha), there are currently 8 people returning. Because I have a lot of time in my hands, here are some details about everyone:
#1 - ViJ in a Foreign company -> Job at the same company
#2 - ViJ in a Foreign company -> Job at another foreign company (job hunting done in Japan)
#3 - ViJ in a Foreign company -> Job at another foreign company (job hunting done in Japan)
#4 - ViJ in a Japanese company -> Job at a foreign company (job hunting done after going back to home country)
#5 - ViJ in a Japanese company -> Job at another japanese company (job hunting done in Japan)
#6 - ViJ in a Foreign company -> Job at another foreign company (job hunting done in Japan)
#7 - ViJ in a Japanese company -> Job at the same company
#8 (ME! yay) - ViJ in a Foreign company -> Job at another foreign company
You're probably wondering why only 8 people remained in Japan and why we do not go for Japanese companies. Here's a brief list of reasons:
- it is indeed possible to work for a Japanese company even if you do not know enough japanese. However, if you want to be promoted and build a career there, you need a rather high japanese language level.
- one can also consider working for a foreign company there, but the payroll is usually not as good as it would be for offices of the same company in other countries (and Japan is in general more expensive). Also, not as much as in the japanese companies, but you'll eventually need to speak some japanese.
In the end, it all comes down to how much you like Japan and whether you have a strong reason to stay or not. After ViJ it is definitely possible to get jobs there, but it's all about opportunity cost ("could I be better off somewhere else in the world?").
In my case, I came back to my country to finish my MSc. I'll be done by July 2017 and I will start working in Japan in September 2017. The payroll reason doesn't really apply to me because I come from one of the poor countries
