Hi, I got a verbal job offer from a reactor design startup company in Tokyo. I will be negotiating my salary next week (19 Feb).
Here is a short summary of my CV
\-Nuclear Engineering BS and M.Eng from Oregon State University and UC Berkeley
\-2 years of experience, ranging from operating a reactor, publishing papers, and national lab internship
\- For nuclear nerds – I do neutronics, thermal fluid, and thermo-mechanical stuff. Mostly focusing on accident analysis. Worked on papers about helium-cooled and metal-cooled fast reactors. According to my discussion with higher-ups in the company, I will be doing some thermal-fluid stuff with molten salt or molten metal.
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I’d like to ask people who worked in Japan for some advice about salary negotiation, work culture, and daily life.
\-Salary negotiation – I haven’t heard a single mention of my salary and compensation package. What are the things that I need to know about salary negotiation? Of course, I want to get paid more than living + housing costs, but I’m still working on getting a good estimate of that. I’ve only had a rough estimate on housing costs in Meguro-Ku, which is around 3M to 3.5M yearly based on apartment listings on GaijinPot. I’d like to know what percentage of your salary you spend on housing and living costs. Any advice regarding finding housing other than what is mentioned on the wiki is more than welcome. I’d like to know about healthcare and time off, too.
\-Work culture – I’d like to hear any advice/story about working culture in Japan, especially in a startup or engineering company. I’ve heard the basics, such as unpaid overtime, after-work drinking, and a strict hierarchical system. That said, I think I will be working in a very Americanized company. All the top brass are UC graduates, and they specifically recruit UC Berkeley students; that’s how I got this offer & 2 of my friends got hired there.
\- Daily life – Tell me stories about your work-life balance. Is being able to work out 2-3 times a week during work days before 10 PM before going home a reasonable expectation? Do I (occasionally) get actual days off on weekends? How much time does a company give you to get settled between your arrival and start work?
Thanks
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Edit: Adjusted my housing cost from 3.5-4.5M to 3 – 3.5M
by Housecat1984