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I am particularly interested in how to address a language expertise/long experience in a country other than the States when you don't want to be limited by that in the job search (for me, I spent 7 years in Japan and am fluent in Japanese). Not much is going on concerning Japan these days - it is all about China - and people seem to not know what to do with me as my resume/experience is very Japan heavy. I don’t know how recently the questioner was in Japan, but the more recent, the more weight the Japan experience will have. I also don’t know how long in proportion to other experiences the questioner was in Japan, but if the questioner has more years in Japan than elsewhere then the Japan experience will also carry more weight. Finally I don’t know what the questioner does, so some sectors are more amenable than others to the benefits of international experience and language skills. That said, this question is really about framing what you have done in the context of what you want to do. A specific skill or experience does not necessarily limit you. It may give the recruiter a predisposition, but that is up to you to change. The questioner is responsible for translating her Japan experience to whatever she wants to do. She cannot assume that the recruiter should understand the value of the experience in and of itself or that the recruiter will know how to translate the experience to the job at hand. The questioner needs to actively and deliberately market herself. Know what jobs, companies and industries you want, and craft a pitch about why your Japan experience (and the rest of you) is an asset. Then, talk to people in those jobs, companies and industries till they see you as a peer, an industry insider. Your Japan experience will be at worst just another interesting detail and at best value-added evidence of why they absolutely need you. Finally, tactical advice aside, I also see lack of confidence in the subtext of this question. To me, substantive international experience and fluency in a language as demanding as Japanese is an enormous selling point whatever the job in question. The way this question unfolds, the questioner is almost apologetic about it. It appears in parentheses like a whisper, when I would be screaming it from the rafters like that scene from Network – I speak Japanese…and I’m not going to take it anymore! Therefore, before pursuing the tactical marketing advice above, I recommend that the questioner get excited about her Japanese language skill and experience. The excitement must precede the sell.
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