I'm a Japanese national so hopefully I can help in this thread.
From what I've heard, most of the new positions start in May every year (or maybe it was beginning of April at the start of the fiscal year?).
Which month is best to be there for quant job interviews?
Many entry-level jobs/jobs resulting from campus recruitment in Japan start in April. However, this shouldn't stop you. I had several offers in Tokyo including application development in an electronic trading group at an American investment bank, and the start dates were in June-July. Since I was going to graduate in May, this made sense. At career fairs like the Boston Career Forum it makes even more sense given that they are targeted specifically towards graduates of U.S. institutions.
The biggest career fair for people interested in working in Japan would be the Boston Career Forum. In years past, you need to know Japanese. I don't know if it's still the case now
http://www.careerforum.net/event/bos/?lang=E
This is still mostly true. However, there are also jobs outside Japan and jobs in Japan that don't require Japanese fluency. The majority of Research and IBD positions, as well as consulting, require native or business level Japanese. I've attended this career fair in 2009 and 2010, and both times saw many Chinese / Korean applicants and even Americans applying for jobs. Many of my interviewers (mostly technology divisions in banks -- GS, JPM, MS, and the like) were not Japanese. I also know several people who are non-native speakers and were offered jobs at American/European banks in Tokyo.
Thanks, Andy! Do you have an idea why Boston is such a popular place? It doesn't seem to have a particularly high Japanese demographic compared to, say, Los Angeles.
Also, do you happen to know if they actually recruit a lot of quants from that event? Apparently, there have been plenty financial firms at past events. Still, I always had the impression that there are only few quant positions in Tokyo, especially compared to HK or Singapore.
Perhaps quant trading is starting to pick up in Tokyo? I'm just trying to get a better idea of the job market there, even though I currently lack Japanese fluency. Of course, I could just be misinformed too. Obviously I lack a good source of info about the Tokyo quant industry.
I'm not Andy--but I'll try to answer.
1) I think Boston is chosen because of proximity (relatively speaking) to New York, as well as to universities (Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BU). Also the convention center there is huge, and as it is adjacent to a Westin hotel, it is very convenient for participating firms to house their staff for the duration of the career fair. They have a similar event in Los Angeles but the scale of it doesn't compare to Boston.
2) You're probably correct. I personally don't recall seeing many quant positions at BCF. It is true, though, that many banks attend the event. I remember seeing GS, JPM, DB, MS, BAML, CS, Barclays, UBS, RBS, and Nomura. Google and Microsoft + Big 4 were also there.
3) As for the job market -- I don't hear anything good about the job market for graduates in Japan these days. However I may be biased and especially for expats the situation may be different.
I didn't know about this Boston fair until a student at CMU MSCF who went there told me about it. It seems to be a popular event for students from China who looks for an internship or full-time job back in Asia. I believe the event has positions in Singapore, Hongkong and other places as well.
This is true. As I mentioned, I saw many non-Japanese speakers interviewing for jobs in HK and Singapore. Many of them are Chinese/HK/Singapore nationals who went to school in the U.S. and want to work in Asia.
On the other hand I have friends with undergraduate degrees only (Comp. Sci.) who are getting IT jobs at American banks (e.g. Barclay's) in Tokyo. Probably not very interesting work, but the pay is comparable (maybe 70-80% of a quant salary). I tried the same recruiting firm as them and they rejected my resume. Possibly I messed up the online Japanese application too badly, but I suspect my resume looked to mathematical which wouldn't say much for the value of a PhD/MFE ...
IT salaries at investment banks in Tokyo are pretty good. My offer in Tokyo was better than what I ended up taking here in New York. The work tends to be more varied/diverse than in the hubs because there are fewer people in each team.
I haven't lived in Japan for 6 years, but I would be cautious of looking for a job there as banks seem to be downsizing, if anything. One of my friends who is an FX trader at an investment bank in Tokyo said he might be moved to Singapore. Again--I've not been keeping up to date with the market so I might be wrong. Please take with a grain of salt.
