I am considering getting a 2-year vocational school (専門学校 senmon gakko) degree in cyber security. HAL offers a degree like this: [https://www.hal.ac.jp/tokyo/course/twoyear/info\_process](https://www.hal.ac.jp/tokyo/course/twoyear/info_process)
On Google Map, HAL has very bad reviews, so I am put off. What do you think is the best way to transition to an IT career in Japan? Are coding camps like Le Wagon better? If I go with coding camps, I am thinking about enrolling in a language school for the student visa (to learn business Japanese) and doing the coding camp part time on the side. But vocational school seems like a potentially simpler solution since it takes care of the visa problem. You can’t get visas for coding camps. Do you have any advice on vocational schools?
About me: Japanese N1, Canadian citizen, currently working as a Japanese literature lecturer at an American university, PH.D. in Japanese studies, looking to transition into an IT career in Japan. I have done some hobby programming in the past so I know I enjoy it, but I’ve never programmed on a professional level.
3 comments
I know you want to come to Japan now, but with no experience in the industry at any level you’re not a particularly attractive candidate.
That’s not going to change by cranking out two years at a Japanese vocational school.
If you’re working at an American university you may be able to get some good discounts on industry certifications. Look into that. Get some certs then start looking for entry level work in the US if you can (for those phat yankee paycheques) or in Canada if you must. Two or three years of actual experience in the west along with certifications should be plenty to enable you for those coveted “experienced hire” jobs that pay so much better than Japanese entry level.
If you just want to get into Japan without worrying about income, then a vocational school will most likely be enough for you to apply for entry level jobs in Cyber Security. However, there are a few problems with this route (vs gaining experience in Canada/US then applying for mid-level+)
First, there are very few entry level jobs in Cyber Security. A search on glassdoor and indeed showed [3 entry level full time Cyber Security Jobs](https://www.glassdoor.com/Search/results.htm?keyword=cyber%20security%20entry&locId=123&locT=N&locName=Japan) compared to the [67 of mid to senior level jobs](https://www.google.com/search?q=mid+level+cyber+security+jobs+japan&oq=mid+level+cyber+security+jobs+japan&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i22i30i457j0i390l4.7388j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ibp=htl;jobs&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjYiOSwvIb3AhX0JkQIHZSqAKsQkd0GegQIIhAB#fpstate=tldetail&htivrt=jobs&htiq=mid+level+cyber+security+jobs+japan&htidocid=vgcFR7uyv2sAAAAAAAAAAA%3D%3D&sxsrf=APq-WBurcgxQmHLKssl1L07v4j_0U_g6pQ:1649489808529) (Of course this is not representative of the actual job pool and you’ll def find more using Japanese job boards)
Second, the average pay is around 40 man yen ($3.2k) to 60 man yen ($4.8k) per month for entry level. Whereas the average pay is 85 man yen ($6.7k) 116 man yen ($9.3k) per month. [overview](https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/information-security-analyst/japan) and you can check your worth [here](https://www.payscale.com/research/JP/Job=Cyber_Security_Engineer/Salary).
Lastly, you can probably use these subreddits to get a feel for which [certifications](https://www.comptia.org/certifications/cybersecurity-analyst)/%5Bcourses%5D(https://www.coursera.org/courses?query=cybersecurity) you need to be competitive:
Cybersecurity subreddits: r/cybersecurity r/Information_Security
Information Security subreddits: r/netsec r/AskNetsec r/netsecstudents
Programming subreddits: r/learnprogramming
Best of luck!
…why not look for a position at one of the universities in Japan that teach courses in English? Or in Japanese, if you think you could swing it. This seems silly.