Keypoints

• You need to submit your Alien Registration
• Students need to submit an “Application for Permission to Engage in Activity Other Than That Permitted Under the Status of Residence Previously Granted”
• Those who fulfill certain criteria need to be enrolled in Health Insurance and Welfare Pension Insurance

Can you apply for a part-time job?

First of all, foreign people who wish to work in Japan must fulfill some requirements. One of the requirements is to possess a valid visa status that allows you to work in Japan. If you have a non-working visa, such as a Training visa or Temporary Visitor visa, you cannot work anywhere in Japan. For detailed information, please read my article on different visa types in Japan. 

What you need when you apply

There are a few different ways to apply for a part-time job in Japan. The most common way is to have a job interview. Other ways include having an online interview and submitting an application by mail or online (no interview). Regardless of the application process, foreign applicants have a few documents that are required to be submitted for most part-time jobs in Japan. 

One of these documents is a resume. A resume includes your educational history, work history, skills, and experience. Most of the time, you are asked to put a photo of you at the top of your resume. You can take pictures for resumes at photo booths located at bearby stations or convenience stores. For more information, please read my article on how to write a Japanese resume. 

Another document is your 外国人登録証明書, or Alien Registration. This is required to prove that you are staying in Japan legally.

Also, if you are a student in Japan, you are asked if you have 資格外活動許可証, or Permission to Engage in Activity Other Than That Permitted Under the Status of Residence Previously Granted. Foreign students are not allowed to work without this permission, so if you want to apply for a part-time job after school, be sure to get this specific permission. You can submit the document on your contract start date if you get the job, but of course, the sooner you get permission, the better. So, if you are thinking of working part-time, apply for permission as soon as you can. Do you want to know how to get this specific permission? Learn how by reading my article.

What you need after you get a job

When you get the job that you have applied for, you may be asked to submit some documents before you can actually start working. Everyone needs to sign a contract that their employer provides. Make sure to read the working conditions and payment rules before signing the contract. 

Other than the contract, what you need to submit differs depending on the job. As mentioned above, if you are a student, you are required to submit your Application for Permission to Engage in Activity Other Than That Permitted Under the Status of Residence Previously Granted. For those of you who are not students, if you are going to work for 20 hours or more per week at a workplace with more than 500 employees, get paid ¥88,000 or more, and work for at least a year, you are required to enroll in Health Insurance and Welfare Pension Insurance. Even though it is a requirement, some companies may not have had you enroll in these insurances. So talk to your employer to make sure that you will be enrolled in these insurances to protect yourself.

You don’t need much

You might be surprised that you do not need so many documents to apply for a part-time job in Japan. As long as your stay in Japan is legal and you are permitted to work, you can apply with only a few documents. Applying for part-time jobs in Japan is not at all scary, have your necessary documents ready and apply!