I’m 27 and looking for some advice about my living situation here in Japan. Just wondering if anyone had to make the same decisions or any advice/suggestions you can give me.
I’m an ex software engineer (focus on front end) with 3 years of experience in the USA. It’s always been my goal to come to Japan and learn the language. Ive been saving up for it but I did make some bad financial decisions throughout covid and well once Japan opened up I still really wanted to come so I took the plunge. I signed up for a year of language studies (beginning from level N5) in Tokyo and due to end in March… so about 7 1/2 months left. Currently working part time at a Japanese company but even though it’s an engineering position the hourly pay is low (probably due to being a Japanese company). It’s enough to pay for my living expenses here in Japan.
My dilemma comes where I have a little debt back home in the US. It’s not so much but it’s enough to start to dwindle my savings which is what is paying for it. Currently (due to my past bad financial decisions before coming to Japan) I maybe have about 7 months worth of savings to pay for my monthly debt. That is if I don’t touch my Savings (but you never know what life May throw at you).
I think my current job might consider me for a full time position after my studies finish (or a couple months before). They renewed my contract to a longer one and they keep persistently asking me about my plans after my studies or if I want to stay in Japan.
Im wondering if I should quit schooling and start searching for a full time job now? Maybe teaching English in the mean time? Id like to apply to non-Japanese speaking international companies as a software engineer but they’re very competitive and if I’m honest I’m not the most skilled developer … I’m not a LeetCode Grindr type and I was hoping by boosting my Japanese skills more opportunities would open for me but I’m not sure if I can make it (in terms of time). I’m considering going back home but just wondering if I should give up so easily, I’ve been wanting to come back to Japan since I studied abroad here as a university student. I feel if I go back home I won’t come back and it makes me a little disheartened. I know Japan will always be here but I feel I’m getting to an age where it’s not as easy to move freely.
I know at the end it’s my decision what to do, but what would you all do? Any advice? Sorry for the long post. If I missed some info please let me know.
28 comments
Is there a reason you can’t just take the job with your company now? You can learn Japanese in Japan without being in school.
Is there some reason you have to quit school to search for a job? I mean it sounds like you have a bachelor’s degree or your countries equivalent. Just find a job apply for a change of status and quit school once that’s granted.
Something to be aware of – when you quit school your student visa/SoR ends in 2 weeks. So quiting school and staying will get you in big trouble.
I have a debt what should I do next? Oh yeah let’s go to Japan
> I’m not a LeetCode Grindr type
Then you should start grinding LeetCode now. A few dozen hours invested in that can helps increase your potential income by multiple folds.
Your Japanese at less than N2 won’t help you get a job. Not with just 3 years of experience. Well. It’ll be difficult. I suggest go full time with the current company. Push them about it. If that doesn’t work out then go back home. Sort out you finances and try Japan again in a couple of years time. Although you getting a developer job even part time was very lucky. You may not get another chance.
> Im wondering if I should quit schooling and start searching for a full time job now?
Yes. Why? Because there’s a ton of engineers in Tokyo who barely know how to order a beer in Japanese working just fine. If you’re decent engineer, got a good personality, and willing to put in the work, you’ll find a position.
And of course, it doesn’t hurt to look and give it a try.
Not to say Japanese ability isn’t worth it–totally is. But it’s going to take you a very long time to get into “business level” Japanese at a competent level for it to be considered a benefit, IMHO.
Since you’re front end, have you considered doing freelance work, like building websites for people? Upwork, fiverr etc. I’d try to make money online first. If you’re going to work and live in Japan, staying on track with learning the language is crucial. I think jumping out of it and trying to get a full time job here is a bad idea both short term and long term. Finish what you start. If you’re gonna do Japan, give it your all. Find a way to make money while still doing your studies.
Based solely on the information provided in your post, my thoughts and suggestions would be:
– stay in the language school, it is one of the few times you will have dedicated learning and study time set aside and gives you the most potential to improve your language ability dramatically. I have seen far too many people stagnate in progress trying to balance full time work, relationships, etc.
– sticking with the current employer would be good just to establish a year or two of time working in Japan. I think the experience in a local company could be a big positive as well since you have more chances to practice Japanese at work which is a big plus. In a lot of the international company environments, it seems too easy to stay in an English-only bubble and not progress as much language-wise.
It also bodes well your current employer wants to know your plans and I suspect they are the most likely to work out something that accommodates your language studies as well, it’s worth exploring with them as part of the discussions on moving to full-time employment.
– have you considered picking up side jobs via places like Top Talent, Upwork, Fiverr? This might help you get a financial buffer to ease your concerns and at the same time allow you to manage your time constraints with school and the part time job.
– I think you will not have a hard time getting full time work in software (front end or back end) here. Sites like Japan Dev are good to check out and recruiters here are always eager to find talent. Again though, the opportunity to carve out full time study in Japanese seems to me to be more of a once in a lifetime sort of thing, so I’d personally go with that as you can always make more money once you complete your program.
As for the financial mistakes, they happen and it seems like you are addressing them and likely have learned from them. Congratulations on making a successful leap into moving countries, learning the language, and landing a job here. Those are all big moves that not many people make, or do well at. Best of luck on whichever path you decide to take from here.
Teaching English is a huge regression for someone of your calibre. Heck, some of the prominent Japanese Tech companies pay a decent amount, not US standards but way better than teaching English. Dunno your Tech stack, but I know PayPay and Mercari are looking for Engineering talent. See what’s available on JapanDev also.
I can’t comment as to your field, but from experience I can say that no matter what you choose…27 is not too old to leave japan, take care of debts, and come back again. It really is up to you.
I would simply ask your company if a full time job upon graduation is possible. If they say yes there you go! You have a company you already know, don’t hate (right?), can stay in japan while hopefully paying off your debts. (Assuming they aren’t astronomical?)
If they say no you start looking for a full time job now and enjoy school until you find one. If you don’t find one by graduation…English teaching as a backup is usually possible.
Or you could go back home. If you can get a decent paying job to pay off your debts and save to come back in a few years, early 30s is not too late to come back, if you’d like. I first studied here for a few months at 28. I moved here permanently at 30. 37 now and full life here. No regrets!
Good luck whatever you choose!
Just some two (hundred) cents, if you started from N5 this year, I don’t think any decision you make will bring it up to N2+ anytime soon unless you come from a language background that makes passing N2 easy such as Chinese or Korean which would be enough to maybe get you into the interview door but you would immediately run into your next challenge which is having to prove it in a skills test in the form usually of a conversation with a native speaker.
With that out of the way your focus should be on what you can do about your monetary situation. Your visa is here for language school right? What exactly do you want to be or do here?
You said you were an Ex software engineer. Should I take it as you don’t want to be one anymore? If that’s the case, do you want to be a teacher? I don’t know how much you want or need to make but maybe you should put some feelers out for how much average contracts are going for. Note that you are coming into English teaching fresh, they will likely lowball you and you will likely not be familiar with what are acceptable conditions or rates.
Another option is seeing if you can apply to other companies for full time dev work. You should be doing this anyways since your company has you up for review in November and you should get some options for bargaining power if they offer you. 3 years and currently employed should be more than enough to have somewhat of a fighting chance in the market. That is, how well do you know how to interview, and sell yourself. For that you should take an opportunity to network at some of the tech meetups maybe you’ll get a good lead. Some people think to go to the bootcamps here in Tokyo for the network but I’ll just say that I would suggest you speak with employed or job seeking grads instead of anyone who works for them to help inform any further decisions.
Now keep in mind I don’t know what it’s like to switch from a student visa to any other occupational visa, I’ve only switched from one occupational visa to another. You might want to give immigration a visit and ask them at the questions window on the first floor (if it’s still there).
Last point, look you said you made a lot of bad financial decisions, that’s what your 20’s are. It’s full of fucking around and finding out. I feel for you because when I was your age at the start of Covid and career-less, it felt like I was trying to climb a mountain of sand in the sense that there was nothing to grab a foothold of. You need to take some stock of what cards you can keep in your corner. You said you had a small debt back home. Is there anyway for you to get this paid off so that the interest doesn’t kill you? Can you borrow a couple from some family with a serious promise to pay them back? If so, you’ll likely be in a bit better of a situation. But you gotta pay them back as a priority…no bullshit renting that Insta-worthy shimo-kita apartment, no “I need a Hokkaido vacation”. I mean like only buying discount grocery bento level. you can enjoy those kinds of things once you are saving more than your spending just to tread water even if it takes years. That is one of the biggest lessons I think you’ll need to learn as you found out your 20s; delayed gratification.
You can DM me if you want or you can reply to this thread
be aware that immigration wont entertain switiching/change status from ~~student(esp~~ language school student to work. most probably they will ask you to go back and do the proper COE-visa route.
Can’t advice you on this, but I can at least tell you that the lawyer that got me my Engineering visa advised finishing school, as it could be useful for later paperwork. Having a completed course in a school in Japan seems to be worth at least something.
I quit language school and went full-time at the company where I was working part-time. A large part was because I couldn’t attend during the hours of school anymore (my company didn’t really keep their promise here). I regretted not finishing. I learned much better in the classroom than I do I my own and I went through a lot of black-company hell (with some nice periods in between before going back to black) that impacted my physical and mental health quite a lot. Were it me, I would finish language school.
Also, what payment plan or debt restructuring could you do? Maybe this can buy you more time.
> and if I’m honest I’m not the most skilled developer … I’m not a LeetCode Grindr type
This is exactly why you need to study Japanese more. It’s also not great for your future, really, if that’s your attitude. Mediocre front-end engineers are way too plentiful for you to be competitive as is. IT in general requires time outside of work doing continuing ed or training to stay current on technologies, patterns, and more.
Maybe check Japan-Dev and TokyoDev. These are job board sites that cater to developers and I believe that many of the openings don’t require such high level of Japanese language skills.
Freelancer platforms like Fiverr, Upwork and TopTotal they’re a race to the bottom and super saturated. Super hard to make decent money from those platforms especially as a newbie with their cuts and most of the time you’ll lose out to someone willing to work for a fraction of your rates. Better to get your own clients and make a name for yourself and rely on word of mouth.
School over job; you will thank me later
Learn Japanese and survive
Get out while you still can and get a decent job in the States with a career track. Save Japan for the annual trip. You will maintain the magic and your bank account will definitely thank you.
This is your dream, and I feel like your next chance to pursue it would be after you retire. Do you like your school? Do you feel like you are making progress in Japanese? After a year, I would expect you to be borderline N3/N2 if you do your homework.
Next, how many hours of work are you allowed on your visa? IIRC, 20 hours. What pays better, your part-time job or English teaching? Your school may have some tips to some elite private lessons that would pay especially well. It might mean cutting back your current job’s hours.
Thirdly, are you doing everything you can to cut back on expenses here? Can you renegotiate the debt back home, or get help from relatives?
I feel at nearly 30, you have 35 more years to play catch-up and set your life straight. Take the time now — this one year — to get your education and accomplish that dream. It could give you greater confidence in the future to stick to a decent plan. You will have to buckle down and make great decisions in the next five years, though.
Real talk. Go back home after your language school is finished, clear the debt, get some more software engineering experience while you’re at it. Then apply for mainly foreign companies in Japan as a software engineer.
> They renewed my contract to a longer one and they keep persistently asking me about my plans after my studies or if I want to stay in Japan.
You can ask them about it honestly. No guarantee it would, but you might get an honmae answer that will help you plan things out. The fact that they are asking you does seem like a positive thing.
Hang in there.
Hey, kudos on furthering your education and improving your Japanese. Don’t let the negative folks here get you down about that.
How much has your Japanese advanced in the time you’ve been here? Have you passed any JLPT tests? Plans to take more?
You don’t need to be the world’s best coder to get a job. You can start job hunting now and let companies know your school situation. Try places like Mercari or Rakuten that already hire lots of gaijin. They don’t require full Japanese fluency but will appreciate you being better than most people who land here.
I want to do the same thing but in my honest opinion, if u want to learn Japanese, use Duolingo to assist you
A good friend of mine is a recruiter in the s/w engineering space and he says Japanese language skills are a must nowadays so just keep ploughing on. That aside, he’s also frustrated that companies are baka ketchi never offering the right money to candidates, hewing to the feudal tradition of offering low starting money that incrementalizes over time. Although that’s slowly changing.
You mention that the hourly pay is low, do you think you could get a better paying job? How is your living situation? Is it possible to save up some money if you consider your spending more carefully, and put that money into paying your debt?
I personally think the language school is worth pursuing, because leaving in the middle when you’ve paid a ton into enrolling and moving to Japan itself is a loss. But ofc it is possible to continue language school part time if you decide to get a full time job instead.
Keep on the studies mate, education is worth it weight in gold, especially communication. It’s 7, 7 months. Walk that tight edge just till then. 30 weeks mate, count ‘em down.
Once this is all sorted you will be free of debt and free of a lingering lack of core education needed to move forward in Asia.
Jobs will come, I was an ALT, now I have my own woodworking business making camper vans.
Keep at it mate.
Have you made an honest assessment of your software skills and potential to develop them? Software engineering jobs more often than not put you through a rigorous interview process and you need to be prepared for tough interviews. You need two things to be successful: good aptitude for coding AND experience which includes working in an environment with code reviews and deadlines.