Hey everyone. I lived in Japan for a few years going to language school (earned N2 Certificate) and working part time at a restaurant, and did a year of uni but returned home after deciding for various personal reasons to study in my home country (USA).
I absolutely loved my time there and I’m eager to return, but I don’t have a bachelors degree so that’s my first step. I’m looking into a program in IT but I’m always interested in a Software Engineering degree.
I have some experience with both of these but not as employment, only as self-study for a few years trying to prepare myself for a career in the future. My only work history is in retail and food service unfortunately.
That being said, I’m starting the this year but I can’t decide between IT or Software Engineering as a major. I’m 100% sure I want to relocate to Japan permanently – I have family living there, friends living there, and I was incredibly comfortable during my time there (about 3 years) even after the honeymoon phase ended.
The issue is: I’m going to need to look for entry-level employment since I don’t have verifiable work history in the tech industry and I would rather not be dishonest on my resume, even if they don’t find out (some have suggested to just do that but it’s too fishy to me).
From a few hours of searching every evening for the past few weeks, some seem to say that IT has loads of entry level opportunities for foreigners, some seem to say that it’s saturated by native Japanese and that you won’t find a position below senior etc.
For Software Engineering, it’s the same. Some people say they’re desperate for software engineers, others are saying they’re only hiring experienced foreigners.
When I looked online for jobs, I didn’t find much by way of entry-level, just a lot of stuff that wanted ‘mid-level experience’ (i think i saw ä¸ç´š or something along those lines a few times).
If all else fails I wouldn’t mind teaching english for a few years while I look, but I’m afraid I’m getting a bit old for that. I turn 30 next month. I don’t know if they discriminate based on that but I would assume it’s not a great look.
TL;DR 30 year old, native english speaker, N2 level proficiency, lived in japan for a few years, want to move back, going for bachelors, cant decide between IT degree or Software Engineering degree, no tech experience in work history only worked entry level jobs in USA.
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So, what are your experiences in what sorts of jobs you’ve seen as far as entry-level tech willing to hire foreigners? I don’t mind if the pay isn’t amazing and I’m primarily looking around Tokyo/Yokohama, but I wouldn’t mind Osaka either.
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Thanks in advance,
James
by Wet-Sheepherder-9237