Older person here working in web design, using some pretty old tools. I’m at a firm that is downsizing and I will be out of work by next month. I didn’t stay updated with the latest Adobe stuff for years, let my CSS slip, I don’t know React or JS, etc — and so I’m not able to get the kind of jobs I used to get remotely, and I’m barely an N5. Nobody but myself to blame, I could have studied alongside working, but I thought I was safe. Don’t be me, life comes at you fast.
Anyway, maybe it’s time I moved on from web design and did something else in an entry level position. I thought I would have many options, but everywhere I look for work they seem to want business level N2 and so on, you know the drill.
I’m still stuck in the survival Japanese phase. I don’t even think I’m qualified to pick up garbage or organize your 100 options of soon expiring bread at the Kombini as I can’t understand any changes in scheduling or office politics/geriatrics.
I’m also in freakin’ Nagoya so I can’t be a hair model or marry people on the weekends (maybe?)
It seems like I’m either going to be singing and dancing as an English Day Care Professional DX, ALT etc or a predatory 1 year Eikaiwa contract, and that’s honestly terrifying as I have kids to feed and don’t want to be absent on weekends. Kinda freaking out here.
I heard that Hello Work / Town Work is an option but all I’ve found on here are year old threads about English translation.
Any tips?
32 comments
Well, there are options: Factory work, uber eats and other apps (you can do by bicycle, but I guess having a scooter would allow a bigger income), amazon flex ( if you have a car), designer work outside of the scope of webdesign, etc
Firstly, remind your employer of this:
“３ 再就職の援助
(3) Support for finding a new job
事業主は、外国人労働者が解雇（自己の責めに帰すべき理由によるものを除く。）その他事業主の都合により離職する場合において、当該外国人労働者が再就職を希望するときは、関連企業等へのあっせん、教育訓練等の実施・受講あっせん、求人情報の提供等当該外国人労働者の在留資格に応じた再就職が可能となるよう、必要な援助を行うよう努めること。その際、公共職業安定所と密接に連携するとともに、公共職業安定所の行う再就職援助に係る助言・指導を踏まえ、適切に対応すること。
If a foreign employee leaves their job due to being dismissed by their employer (excluding dismissal based on grounds attributable to the employee themselves) or at the convenience of the employer, and that foreign worker wishes to find a new job, the employer should strive to search for job offerings of related companies, provide education and training, help the employee to participate therein, and provide necessary support and information on job offerings, so that the foreign worker can find a new job in accordance with their status of residence. In such a case, the employer should work closely with the public employment security office and take appropriate measures based on advice and guidance which the public employment security office provides as a support for finding a new job.”
https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/notices/view/128
So if they want to dismiss you for their own convenience (which I’d argue includes downsizing) then should you wish to find a new job (which you do due to your OP), then they should strive to help you find new employment.
Also, go to Hello Work asap and sign up for employment insurance (I assume you’ve been enrolled and paying?) and Hello Work should also help you find work within the scope of your status of residency.
You have three options:
– Use what you know: web design, design coordinator, try to find a company with a legacy website, go for english teaching,…
– Learn something: Japanese, newer web development, project management, marketing, cooking, sales…
– Start your own business with a business partner that knows Japanese. A bar, a small web design firm, English proofreading,…
If you are near retirement I would go for option 1 or 3. If you are still 40-ish then you should probably get a hold of yourself and start studying. It can be easier to study something from 0 than to pick up where you left off. If you are okay with predatory contracts, there are a lot of companies that are willing to give someone a chance with an IT background and some recent sort of in demand certification/course.
To be honest, the job openings for foreigners has narrowed remarkably over the last 20 years. Occupations like desktop support in banks and other foreign companies have been completely filled by Indians because they will work for less money. You’re best bet may be to find boutique dispatch IT work where small businesses or private customers want to see a western face fixing their PC or router. It’s easy enough to do with Google to help you through most issues.
NB: Don’t call me a racist for pointing out the facts on the ground.
Why not work on your CSS and JS skills? This would seem like the logical next step to me. There are already too many people teaching English that don’t want to teach English and it isn’t good for anyone involved.
Hey. Fellow dev here.
Though not advice on employment in Japan: it won’t take long to learn react. A $20 Udemy course and a solid 2 weeks will get you up and running.
JavaScript is the easiest of programming languages. If you can write a recursive function then you have the programming chops to pick up JavaScript in just a couple weeks.
I know a fair few people doing weddings in the Nagoya area, so I wouldn’t say it’s not an option. However, they’re all affiliated with a church, and I haven’t met any that don’t have N1 or N2 Japanese. There are not a lot of weddings now due to Covid though.
Why not continue with web design as it’s something on your resume? You’ve already got your foot in the door. The tools for learning are free and available to you always if you have an internet connection. If your Japanese is no good, you’ll stand a better chance finding a company that doesn’t require the language as well.
How old is old? It sounds like you’re 4-6 months of dedicated study away from brushing up your frontend skills. A frontend dev who can ALSO design is a big catch at smaller firms.
Designer here!
I saw u/just_user_name suggest Udemy and just came to give my +1 to that suggestion.
They often have those big sales for 90% and a ton of really good design courses too. From Photoshop/Illustrator to basic HTML5/CSS3, to Python and other code languages.
Take into consideration Adobe CC is now a subscription service. Around 8000¥ a month for the full set (from graphic, to photo to animation apps)
Perhaps you could get a job at yahoo Japan. Their website doesn’t seem to have changed in 20 years.
I rejoined the corporate world last year in my late 40s after 13 years away doing my own thing. It *is* possible.
Start studying *now*, push your employer via the info /u/Karlbert86 wrote below, and polish up your resume. If you haven’t written a resume in a while, look at examples online, ask friends to review yours, or consider hiring a professional to help.
You’re probably better off than you think and with some study, some practice, and a good resume you should be able to find a decent job. Maye you’ll even get a nice pay bump!
I’m going to pile on the chorus of “skill up!” You can do it. The tech is the easier side — depending on your foundations, weeks or a couple months of focus will get you new competencies and a new portfolio. Japanese is hard and you’re not going to get to N2 in months, but get started.
More important than Reddit giving you leads, though, is managing the mentality underneath the actions. Yeah, you’ve got a challenging situation. All right, maybe you missed a window when you should have skilled up earlier. But dude, don’t let the negativity take hold. Don’t give into that sense of resignation that seems to underlie your post.
Life is long. You certainly can (and absolutely should!) keep learning and exploring and pushing yourself. Seize the opportunity for a renaissance.
If the tourism comes back they are going to hire a bunch of people who have to speak English. Not saying it’s a good option or comparable pay but it’s a big opportunity to use your English skills and instead of trying to learn skills in a already crowded field, it’s probably more green fields as every hotel and tourist destination seemed to have let go of their bilingual staff since Covid
Sign up with recruiters. Get your resume out there and hopefully start landing interviews. I do interviews from time to time even when I’m not looking just to brush up on skills.
leterally nothing. source: N3 recruitor
Assuming you have a visa that isn’t tied to having an employer, you could easily upskill and work freelance for clients in your home country too
At your place I’d update a web dev skills. You will get 3 months of unemployment benefits which you can use while studying.
I have some reasons to think, that web developers level in Japan sucks for small and middle size companies, so as a professional you would be welsome. But N5 is literaly nothing, so you need a good luck as well.
You can learn Japanese.
are you good in doing sales and finding clients?
alot of eikawa English teachers left and join recruitment firms. my agents when I was jobhunting has really low Japanese skills and can only connect with English speakers. of course if you do improve your Japanese, you can get more clients and increase your clientele base.
not in that industry but good to look into imo
Learn Japanese.
Short term raft: Direct hire for a board of education ALT teaching position. Elementary or middle school.
BOEs do not want to keep paying dispatch contractors. They’re very happy when they can cut that relationship and hire direct.
Hokkaido direct hires can make 4+ million yen a year. It’s usually anywhere from 3.5-4.5 million yen a year. It’s nothing to write home about, but it’s more than enough to live here.
The workload is usually low, which means you have guaranteed weekends off and afternoons/nights to improve your skillset.
I’m not encouraging you sink below your earnings and comfort, but I’m offering you ways to stay afloat.
What jobs can you get wherever you’re from with no skills whatsoever and no language ability? Obviously, you need to teach yourself something and get decent enough at it for people to want to pay you for your services. This is not a Japan thing.
To answer your question, you can get almost any job here as a foreigner if you’re skilled enough, even with very little Japanese. You’re not particularly skilled, so you won’t get access to these jobs. Get skilled at something.
If you get stuck in survival Japanese skill, why not obtain some other qualification or certificate in the job field you are interest in. A lot of places like Oracle offers tests in English language at Japan testing center if you wanna be in IT. Have something on your resume is better than have nothing.
Agriculture could be a possibility! Pick grapes or mikan!
Sadly I relate a lot with you OP, especially when you mentioned “I thought I was safe”.
I came to Japan 8 years ago to be with my wife, had no plans upon arrival, but through friends I was able to land a job. I grinded hard over the years, working my way up through promotions and was eventually making a comfortable living. It enabled me to buy a property for my family and life was good.
My one regret during this period was not going all in on studying Japanese. For me personally, it was not a requirement at my job and I was living in a gaijin bubble outside of work so there was no real drive to improve it.
My company was taken over by a Japanese firm a couple of years ago, and basically all the foreigners were eventually pushed out(that’s a story for another time). I was blind-sided by complacency and now have found myself with an uncertain future in Japan.
On one hand, getting off the hamster wheel of daily life here for a period has enabled me to reflect on my actual motivations to be in Japan at all. I’ve slowly come to the realization that I have no desire to be in Japan besides my family and friends – although even most of my closest friends have left Japan for various reasons over the years.
On the other hand, I consider if I did have N1 Japanese now, would my motivation to stay in Japan differ. And sadly no, I don’t think it would. I have no desire to work within a Japanese office/environment and I have little interest in Japanese culture. Surprising perhaps, but I’m sure I’m not alone with this mindset.
I’ve gone off on a tangent, but it is relevant to your situation OP, when you reach a major crossroads in your life/mindset, you need to evaluate all aspects of your situation and determine the best path for your/your family’s future. In my case, that path leads out of Japan.
Try Rakuten. Judging from their website, you’d fit right in. 🙂
How old, is “old” OP?
30s? 40s? 50s?
If you’re not too old, it wouldn’t be too difficult to get into a desktop support type job, even with no experience.
I also have friends that work in data-centers, with no prior IT experience or Japanese.
But TBH they definitely discriminate on age, and probably wouldn’t hire someone in their 40s
You presumably have 20 years + of working experience, is there no experience that is relevant for finding a job now?
I feel your struggle OP.
I quit my ministerial job to live here with my JP wife in 2020 right before the borders closed, was depressed because of all the binned plans due to COVID, finally started studying Japanese and working part time to me now being a seishain with low pay at a hotel.
I hopefully passed the recent N2 exam – and feeling ready to do so – I’m now applying for entry level, no experience IT jobs. Turned 30 y/o yesterday. It’s easy to think that I’m too late already, but like others have said, it’s definitely possible to change jobs and even careers when relatively older.
Also started studying on Udemy (I can recommend Angela Yu). Was already studying Swift(UI) on my iPad using Apple’s own app, but after talking with recruiters, it seems web development has a higher chance of landing me a job.
Don’t give up and settle for something when you don’t have to. Try to get a job related to your experiences first!
I met a guy in his 50s working as an ALT the other day… can’t believe someone actually married him and had kids .. he has been an alt for years.. felt bad for his kids and wife.. I recommend working part time at a conbini and brushing up on your programming skills and go back to doing that if you can… over 50 it is hard to find a job. My MIL works at the back of conveyer belt sushi chain kappa sushi .. you can always do that. You don’t need to speak or do anything really just make the sushi .. I have a friend who worked at a bento making factory . Easy job don’t need Japanese as most workers are foreigners.. filipino vietnamese etc the pay was good like 1000 yen an hour . They always need people because people quit the job as it is mundane..
You can always try working for smartphone companies like AU. The other day I contacted their English customer service number and bunch of Filipinos working and living in japan answered… they weren’t helpful but spoke English so they got jobs there.. (called them like 4 different times..) also be careful working for ALT companies usually nowadays they hire Filipinos.
You could work in a factory. Its stable, you will not get fired as far as you dont miss work, you dont need japanese and you can make around 300,000~400,000 a month. Most of foreigners who are japanese descent work there. You dont need japanese, usually a human resource company does everything for you.
You might not like the idea but if you dont have anything else…
try factory work, or 期間工 in your area while you brush up your tech skills. Nagoya has Toyota and their factories are known to be the best in factory work