I’m a Software Engineering major and finished my school few a months ago. I have six months to find a dev job and if not, I’m kicked out of the house (it has to specifically be a software job). With the current tech job market I’m not too optimistic on finding a job in 6 months by April, but I will try and keep grinding.
I have $5k in student loans ($35 per month minimum payment) and $2k in my bank account. No car either, but I have a drivers license. I have no friends where I can crash at their place for an extended time until I find a dev job. My original plan was to work in Japan anyways. I just wanted to set myself up for a better transition over to Japan though. I was planning to get a dev job here in the states, work for 1-2 years, save some money and get JLPT N2 at least before leaving for Japan, but my plans got shaken up and I need to leave my parents place soon.The thing here is that I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do once I’m kicked out. I could stay here in the states get a restaurant job and serve tables, work weekends and look for a dev job on the side (and there goes the time for Japanese studies out the window), but I’d need to take a loan or something just to buy a car and have enough money upfront for an apartment (I live in a HCOL state where studio apartments are $2.5K per month, plus I have to pay move in costs and would have to get the kitchen basics, a futon, etc. which will all cost me more $, not to mention internet, phone bill and food costs).
I really don’t want to have to get a loan just to be able to buy a car and move out and get an apartment in the states, I’m going to be in so much debt from that and I think its not the best decision here as it will financially wreck me. The best option I think would be to go to Japan and work ALT or Eikaiwa because at least I would be making money, have a cheap place to rent, not need a car and not accrue more debt in USD. During my time in Japan I would at least be able to pay that $35 minimum student loan payment, study Japanese on the side and continue keeping my coding skills afloat. I know I would be busy working a full time ALT job and studying Japanese and working on my coding skills, but at least I wouldn’t have to work weekends just to keep myself afloat, so I’ll have more free time in Japan and can put that time on the weekend for Japanese studies and looking for a coding job.I want to give myself ideally 1 yearish to be able to find an entry level programming job in Japan though (2 years max, not ideal). Even if it pays bad that’s fine, at least at that point I’d be getting experience and can move up from there if I’m proactive and my skills don’t stagnate. I’ve done research already and I know switching from ALT to a programming job isn’t easy, but it’s possible because others have done it with no tech degree. Also I’d be going in with a Software Engineering degree and I have basic knowledge from that, so I guess that will give me an edge when I look for work. The big kicker is that my Japanese is only N4 level though, so that’s my handicap, and I would need to get to N2 and functional Japanese quickly.
Any advice? Thank you.
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This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Need some guidance here**
I’m a Software Engineering major and finished my school few months ago. I have six months to find a dev job and if not, I’m kicked out of the house (it has to specifically be a software job). With the current tech job market I’m not too optimistic on finding a job in 6 months by April, but I will try and keep grinding.
I have $5k in student loans ($35 per month minimum payment) and $2k in my bank account. No car either, but I have a drivers license. I have no friends where I can crash at their place for an extended time until I find a dev job. My original plan was to work in Japan anyways. I just wanted to set myself up for a better transition over to Japan though. I was planning to get a dev job here in the states, work for 1-2 years, save some money and get JLPT N2 at least before leaving for Japan, but my plans got shaken up and I need to leave my parents place soon.
The thing here is that I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do once I’m kicked out. I could stay here in the states get a restaurant job and serve tables, work weekends and look for a dev job on the side (and there goes the time for Japanese studies out the window), but I’d need to take a loan or something just to buy a car and have enough money upfront for an apartment (I live in a HCOL state where studio apartments are $2.5K per month, plus I have to pay move in costs and would have to get the kitchen basics, a futon, etc. which will all cost me more $, not to mention internet, phone bill and food costs).
I really don’t want to have to get a loan just to be able to buy a car and move out and get an apartment in the states, I’m going to be in so much debt from that and I think its not the best decision here as it will financially wreck me. The best option I think would be to go to Japan on ALT or Eikawa because at least I would be making money, have a cheap place to rent, not need a car and not accrue more debt in USD. During my time in Japan I would at least be able to pay that $35 minimum student loan payment, study Japanese on the side and continue keeping my coding skills afloat. I know I would be busy working a full time ALT job and studying Japanese and working on my coding skills, but at least I wouldn’t have to work weekends just to keep myself afloat, so I’ll have more free time in Japan and can put that time on the weekend for Japanese studies and looking for a coding job.
I want to give myself ideally 1 yearish to be able to find an entry level programming job in Japan though (2 years max, not ideal). Even if it pays bad that’s fine, at least at that point I’d be getting experience and can move up from there if I’m proactive and my skills don’t stagnate. I’ve done research already and I know switching from ALT to a programming job isn’t easy, but it’s possible because others have done it with no tech degree. Also I’d be going in with a Software Engineering degree and I have basic knowledge from that, so I guess that will give me an edge when I look for work. The big kicker is that my Japanese is only N4 level though, so that’s my handicap, and I would need to get to N2 and functional Japanese quickly.
Any advice? Thank you.
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