Background: Age 22. From a Nordic country. We have a one-year working holiday visa with Japan. Recently graduated with a Master’s in CS. 1.5 years of job experience in Full-stack and 1.5 years as a freelance native Android developer. Did a 6-month student exchange at a good Japanese university during studies. Japanese level around N3, early N2. No debt, cash buffer for 3-4 years.
The 2023 tech layoffs hit many countries pretty badly, and a lot of entry-level developers are out of a job. How is the situation in Japan? I’ve been interested in moving there for work, but I don’t think my CV cuts it yet. Any tips on what to improve, what kind of jobs to apply to, and what to expect? Obviously passing the JLPT N2 will help, but any other tips? There aren’t many companies here that would let me internally transfer to Japan.
4 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
—
**Japan’s entry-level IT careers post 2023 tech layoffs.**
Background: Age 22. From a Nordic country. We have a one-year working holiday visa with Japan. Recently graduated with a Master’s in CS. 1.5 years of job experience in Full-stack and 1.5 years as a freelance native Android developer. Did a 6-month student exchange at a good Japanese university during studies. Japanese level around N3, early N2. No debt, cash buffer for 3-4 years.
The 2023 tech layoffs hit many countries pretty badly, and a lot of entry-level developers are out of a job. How is the situation in Japan? I’ve been interested in moving there for work, but I don’t think my CV cuts it yet. Any tips on what to improve, what kind of jobs to apply to, and what to expect? Obviously passing the JLPT N2 will help, but any other tips? There aren’t many companies here that would let me internally transfer to Japan.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think there is definitely an uptick when it comes to demand for IT professionals but you wouldn’t be paid as well as you’d like to be…pay would a lot lower compared to what you might make in a similar role in Europe or the US.
From my research 6-8mil yen is like senior level salary at Japanese companies.. its higher at big foreign international companies usually.
Dang well your stats are good young with a MS, some experience and savings. If you could snag N2 i think you’d be in a very good position. Yeah, there aren’t many jobs that do internal transfers & hiring from abroad can be difficult if you’re not mid-senior level. A good option could be a 6 month language school to get on a student visa, get your N2 (since they offer jlpt twice a year in japan) & job hunt (your chances would be better from within japan imo since you can interview in person, rather than applying from abroad). Or you could just wait until you get your 2 years exp as a full-stack & either take N2 in your home country or decide to go to a 6month language school to take it there. Best of luck!
salaries:
[opensalary.jp](https://opensalary.jp)
the good companies that are hiring are at
[japan-dev.com](https://japandev.com)
[tokyodev.com](https://tokyodev.com)
22 with a Master’s? Holy snap. You’ve got the luxury of time I think, so I wouldn’t worry too much at this stage, but you’re in the right place I think.
I graduated in BS in CS, been working full time 3 years now. 28 now. I switched over to a self-employed, contracting role for flexibility and so I can freely work with a U.S. company or whomever else. Has its pros and cons. However, a working holiday visa probably doesn’t afford that much freedom for that (not sure). My visa allows it but you’d have to check for yours. There are a few lesser known legit ways too to be able to do that that isn’t always related directly to visa that I learned about recently, but I’m just speaking off the tip of my tongue.
Basically, you seem to be doing really well for yourself and have definitely improved your options.