Hello everyone! I will try to make this straight to the point and concise while trying not to miss out on specifics. 

(I am inexperienced on this so please pardon my ignorance. Nobody around me knows much about this so I sought the internet for help and thought the forums would allow for better conversation aside from my readings/searches on the matter)

I recently heard of the announcement that Square Enix (FFXIV 5th Division) is recruiting people for various positions: http://sqex.to/33B 
I looked at the list and saw that "2D art designer" is open and I am interested in applying for that.: https://square-enix.rec-log.jp/site/jobVw.aspx?Oy24gAu7IDWaPGUcbJQfOM2igOulIRWoaUoqCXQtO02wg2uzI5WBa8oECbQHOd2KgguNIjWPamoSCpQVOr2Yguu0IxW3aAo6CCQ9OF2cgIueeL7hROXkbQSn

I currently live in the Philippines and I am in my mid-20's making a career shift in my life. I got my BA Political Science degree from uni about 2 years ago (stomped in law school, figured it wasn't for me so I dropped it.) I have been drawing and making art throughout the years since I was a kid (trad painting, digital art using painter SAI and Adobe Photoshop, comics- online and in publishing for school papers, joining art competitions etc.) and in my highschool years, I have been handling html and flash so I am not "totally inexperienced" with computers (stopped because my college course wasn't about that.) Despite my college course being in the social sciences, I did take 6-month arts courses in uni like Landscape Architecture, Fine Arts History and my NSTP was also under Fine Arts. Right now I make art commissions and cosplay (sewing my own costumes- I hold a Certificate in Clothing Technology.) I do not know how to do 3D modelling/art at this moment.

I'm trying to prepare myself and a portfolio for this and my art on-hand is heavily comprised by AUs (character re-designs based on pre-existing anime characters set in a different world) and fanart depicting characters in both the original art style and my own art style, and art commissions of people's avatars in different online games. While I am capable of making more original art, I am equally happy making "fanart" or mimicing the style of a pre-existing story/game etc.

The websites I linked above are in Japanese and I am not sure if they will be releasing an english webpage for those soon. I only relied on google auto translate for the details. So I have a few questions:

1) Has anyone here worked in Square Enix JP specifically as a foreigner? I can speak Japanese enough to survive my family trips there (where is__, how much? thank you, etc.) but I do not know the native language... Is speaking Japanese a requirement? How "lost" will you be in instructions if you do not know japanese? Do they have a translator/EN division? (On that note, I'm not sure if this website talked about "relocation" to the EU or NA SE offices so I assumed it's in japan)

2) One part in the website under the section "【あると望ましいスキルと経験など】"  talks about "desirable skill"... is this more of a preference/option than a strong requirement? Because I have no background in working in the game industry and I do not know how to use the specifically listed programs for now "（ZBrush、MayaなどのDCCツールや、UE4 Unity等のゲームエンジンを組み合わせるなど）" Would I need to intern/work in any local game development (which is almost non existent in my underdeveloped country...) before applying to SE? Education-wise, as much as possible I would like to self study instead of going back to school again.

3) The last paragraph talks about other activities that can be used in the game entertainment field and one of the things mentioned there was "cosplay" and I was wondering if I could include my cosplay hobby there without hurting my application? (for example, they would accept my art, but my cosplay doesn't meet their expectations.. is that a minus point? Aside from -making- costumes, I can sketch clothes/fashion illustration too) I am still confused about that last statement.

Those are my questions for now. This is one of my very favorite games and I would like to apply to be one of the artists of FFXIV. But as you can see, I am so very lost and my credentials are... everywhere because I involved myself in so many different things.

Please let me know what you think and tips and what I can do to go reach the dream of doing what I really wanna do as a career!
Thank you so much for reading and help/tips would be appreciated!

Rey (or is it Micky), if you don't know UE4, Unity, Maya, and Zbrush, the odds are heavily against you getting that job. Also, do you speak and read/write Japanese fluently?  Finally, you are in the wrong location; there is a lot of ocean between you and that job. I wrote an article about working in Japan, and I wrote one on "Location, Location, Location."

Thanks for the reply Mr. Tom Sloper, 

I see, the odds are definitely against me in getting that position. 
I shall read those articles you've written and put effort into learning those programs.

I do not speak/write Japanese fluently but I am learning at the moment. I heard of stories from various foreigners who did apply for square enix and got accepted despite not knowing any japanese- is the reason why I included that in my question.

I'll spend my time building a portfolio for SE (would fanart of the game be alright? I do play the game and make a lot of artworks related to it) and learning those programs and japanese

8 hours ago, Rey Micky said:

1) Has anyone here worked in Square Enix JP specifically as a foreigner?

I was in ATD (Advanced Technology Division) and my division joined BD2 to work on Final Fantasy XV, on which I was a senior graphics programmer.

8 hours ago, Rey Micky said:

Is speaking Japanese a requirement? How "lost" will you be in instructions if you do not know japanese? Do they have a translator/EN division?

1 hour ago, Rey Micky said:

I heard of stories from various foreigners who did apply for square enix and got accepted despite not knowing any japanese- is the reason why I included that in my question.

Most foreigners get accepted into ATD, which is basically the western side of Square Enix (note that R&D departments (which is what ATD is) are always westernized in every video-game company because R&D programmers need to be fluent in English to keep up with research papers and visit The United States of America for the major technology conferences etc.)

This means the rules are different for you if you plan to join a game team directly.  Very few people will speak English and it can easily become a problem.  The HR team only translates the most important e-mails and in the case of BD2 there was a specific setup for this just because of how many foreigners eventually began working on it (Final Fantasy XV), so I can't guarantee any such situation exists for the group you want to join.  There is no division just for this.

Your computer will be set to Japanese and you will be expected to live life in Japanese (getting your own apartment, maintaining yourself and bills in Japanese, using trains in Japanese, talking to all coworkers, etc.)
If you are on a major team, you can expect over 100 e-mails daily, 99% of which will be in Japanese.

Free Japanese lessons are only available to ATD.

8 hours ago, Rey Micky said:

is this more of a preference/option than a strong requirement? Because I have no background in working in the game industry and I do not know how to use the specifically listed programs for now "（ZBrush、MayaなどのDCCツールや、UE4 Unity等のゲームエンジンを組み合わせるなど）" Would I need to intern/work in any local game development (which is almost non existent in my underdeveloped country...) before applying to SE?

1. I think only ATD takes foreign interns.  A girl from MIT joined temporarily (I think 6 months) as part of her schooling, for example.  The game teams/business divisions take "new recruits" fresh from school, but this is just part of a common tradition based around Japan's culture—it is why all companies get a bunch of new employees in April.  I was not on those teams so I can't say they don't, but my feeling is they don't.
2. Those are the tools that that team uses, so they are non-negotiable.  Note that it does say "Mayaなど," which means, "Maya or similar," but this feels like a verbal technicality, since Maya is what they actually use.  The only way it would be okay to have no skills in Maya is if you have amazing skills in 3DSMax (or such) that they believe can easily transfer to Maya.  If you can't use Maya and have no skills that can easily transfer to Maya, then you can't get the job (note that you should always let them decide if you can't get the job—this hardball advice is just to give you an idea).
   1. BUT this is a 2D job listing.  You probably will not be using these tools.  They are good to know so that you can communicate with other artists (which is already going to be a hurdle), but likely won't damage your chances.

8 hours ago, Rey Micky said:

The last paragraph talks about other activities that can be used in the game entertainment field and one of the things mentioned there was "cosplay" and I was wondering if I could include my cosplay hobby there without hurting my application? (for example, they would accept my art, but my cosplay doesn't meet their expectations.. is that a minus point? Aside from -making- costumes, I can sketch clothes/fashion illustration too) I am still confused about that last statement.

If your cosplay is a typical kind of bad then I expect it would not be used to judge your skills as an artist.  But there are kinds of bad that might make them think poorly of you on a personal level.  And there are kinds of good that might make them think you are dedicated to the industry etc.  No one can say, which means it is a risk, which means you only need to consider it if the rest of your resume is bare and you need something to fill space (but a better way to fill space would be to show relevant works you have done).

Several of my female friends at Square Enix are fashion designers, one of whom (I think she is on either Final Fantasy XIV or a Dragon Quest game) only wears fluffy princess/maid-café dresses every single day (complete with a parasol, ribbons, bows, and other props).  Like cosplaying at work, every single day, and she made all of her outfits herself.
Some people have jobs just designing the fashion in these games, but these positions are very specialized and already filled.

That being said, it never hurts to show you have secondary relevant skills.  Sending in sketches and designs of fashion would be fine.

Of extra note is that all foreigners are required to join on a contract basis (I was an extremely rare exception just because I lived in Japan for so long before joining).  Because Square Enix does hire from abroad often, it is their policy that the recruit join as a contract employee in order for them to see if they really like living in Japan.
This means that if you join before you are truly ready, you have the extra stress of wondering if you have impressed them enough to keep you for another year (stress you are less likely to have once you are more skilled).  They have just started a new policy under which contracts cannot be restarted after 5 years, so you also have to have a plan for getting full employment status or considering you only have 5 years at-most on the job.

Joining prematurely might decrease your chances at getting more than 5 years in the company.


L. Spiro

Thanks so much for sharing your experience and knowledge about SE L. Spiro

I'll do my best to prepare better for this position then! Wish me luck!

6 hours ago, Rey Micky said:

 Wish me luck!

Yo' Rey, "MABUHAY KA" Good luck sayo tsong ^_^y