Move now or later in career/life? Japanese-American considering FAANG opportunity

11 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Move now or later in career/life? Japanese-American considering FAANG opportunity**

   Hi all,

   I’m a dual citizen (Japan/USA) who is working in a major American city with very HCOL. I’m a woman in my mid-twenties and have been in my industry for 5 years now. I’m looking for something new and one of my career goals is to one day work in Japan / get to go to Japan often for work.

   Recently I’ve been considered for an opportunity from a FAANG company for a marketing role. They’d help with my relocation (around 1M JPY if I choose lump-sum) and my TC (base/equity/sign-on bonus) is said to be around 15M JPY for my first year. They’d want me to move over the winter holidays. If I calculate the TC with the current terrible exchange rate, I’d be making around the same as I do now. If the exchange rate wasn’t so bad, it would be higher than what I make now.

   The job itself is very similar to what I do now, but it’d be slightly less exciting work albeit much more stable. But it is a move in the right direction for me because I always wanted to work in tech and being able to use my background as a strength adds a lot of meaning to my work. The workplace uses English and my boss would also be Japanese-American.

   I’m very fluent (went to school for it growing up and have N1), ethnically Japanese, very close with my Japanese culture, and have lived in Japan before multiple times. I’ve also worked there as an intern before too at a Japanese company. I went back this year to see my extended family and felt a lot of emotions because Japan always feels like my 2nd home.

   Everyone I have spoken to (both in Japan and the USA) has said I’m doing amazing in my career and have a lot of momentum in the states right now. And that Japan will always be there when the time is right.

   Do you all think now with the current drop in Yen, I should wait a few years? My parents still live in the states but are planning to move back to Japan in 5~10 years since healthcare in the states is a nightmare for the elderly. I still want to be able to afford to travel back to the states and also travel abroad, and when the Yen is doing so poorly, it makes me worried about the feasibility of it.

   I’m also a bit burnt out and started pursuing therapy recently. Maybe I should wait until I get my mental health in a better place before making such a big move?

   At the same time though, I’m a big believer in taking risks in my 20s and maybe getting it out of system now when I have no major life responsibilities is a good way of seeing it too. It’s not like my Japanese is improving living in the states either.

   I’m still TBD on where I see myself living long-term, but I know I could make a lot more with my salary if I stay state-side. But with cost of living being so high in the states, I don’t see myself being able to comfortably afford living without roommates until much later, whereas in Japan, I could probably afford it much more easily.

   If you all were in my shoes, what would you do? Any opinions welcome… thank you 🙂

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2. First of all, congratulations! That’s an incredible offer and you would live very comfortably!

   Despite the yen having a bad exchange rate compared to the US, it helps to remember the market will change give or take a couple months/years. With that in mind, the only downside being if you ever wanted to be back in the States, but this is somewhat of a non-issue as you’ve described it being more or less the same salary you are making now.

   As for being burnt out, I would take a couple weeks, days before the move to just fully relax if possible. Heck, if your savings are good – even a month to help rejuvenate before you start working in Japan.

   Another thing that definitely helps you apart from many others looking to relocate is the N1 fluency. If you write and speak Japanese, you should have no issues making friends with colleagues, randoms at bars, or even going out on dates.

   You are still incredibly young (30 here) and can definitely work a couple years to see whether you do or do not like it. Obviously tech salaries aren’t as lucrative as over here in the States but from the offer given, it’s incredibly lucrative over there.

   Everyone has their own train, with their own stops. Just for the experience, I would personally go due to the merits it has on my professional career and also the ability to work in a different country to soak in the cultures and traditions present.

   For context OP, I’m somewhat older and working in tech as a Product Manager looking to also relocate. However, there are things that I start to worry about such as getting married, setting down, etc. I firmly believe that even though people are telling you to wait on Japan, there are external commitments that arise as you age. Take the risks you can to learn and grow from them when you are able to.

3. You’re being offered a salary that’s roughly triple the national household average as a single person. That’s a pretty compelling argument right there. Sure the yen is tanking, but it won’t forever (I hope) and when it rebounds (or when USD starts to tank in turn) you’ll be sitting pretty.

   It’s also far easier to make an international relocation when you’re a single person. Even with just a spouse it complicates things considerably.

   So yeah, I’d recommend taking the offer. Congrats!

4. Well for me? I would do it! Sounds like a really amazing opportunity.

5. My perspective having lived in Canada & Japan and currently deciding Japan’s the place to go for work, these are what I’d consider the disadvantages to life in Japan:

   1. The work culture. With your job you won’t have to deal with it.
   2. Racism. With your ethnic background/language ability also not something you’ll have to deal with.
   3. Low pay. But with your salary being single in Japan you’ll be at like the 98th percentile in-terms of quality of life so … also a non-issue.

   … basically none of the main cons apply to you imo.
   BUT every female Japanese-Canadian friend I have does cite the more traditional marriage/dating culture as something they find very unappealing, I’m sure there’s ways to find people that resonate with you though (especially in a major city).

   Everything else is probably a pro: food, people, culture, quality of life, convenience, 雰囲気, weather, can afford to buy a house, school systems, healthcare etc etc

   まあ一応行けばいいんじゃない?

   やっぱアメリカの方いいと思ったらいつでも帰れるし経験集まれば日本でもアメリカでもあんまり関係ないでしょう

   Especially in tech if you’re at a known company.

   楽しんで！

6. North American FAANG engineer here with direct reports; if marketing’s pay bands are the same as engineering bands then you’re limiting your future growth by _a lot_. I’m going to discuss the opposite hypothetical where you instead take the FAANG offer in the US. Principal engineers can easily hit 500k TC in the US which would be 75M JPY at today’s rates, whereas if you stayed locally you would likely cap out at 30M. With your current TC being transferred over at 15M, I’d be skeptical of any material wage growth.

   It’s not uncommon to see someone on the engineering side hitting 500k in their late 20s assuming they started straight out of university. Promotion cycles in the US are about 1.5 years on average in engineering and judging by the TC I’d assume you’re entry level L3/L4. It’s also a lot easier to transfer a junior level employee than a high level employee, so I would definitely recommend doing a transfer now than later. However, sticking it out for a few years will likely result in seeing a pretty large jump in TC after 2-3 years and potentially more if you hop around in what I’m assume to be the bay area/LA.

   To be perfectly blunt, this is a simple choice that boils down to how much you value your lost potential earnings vs living in your homeland (Unless that FAANG offer is only good for Japan, in which case no brainer take it and you can always do an internal transfer out back to the US – this will reset your promo cycle however so it’s best to do it after your yearly perf review). If I were you, I’d take the FAANG offer in the US for a few years and move back with your parents in 5-10 years. It’s quite important to also remember that you’re not just moving cities, you’re moving across continents and you’ll be leaving everything behind; all your current friends, (ex)coworkers, and other support networks will vanish overnight once you move.

7. USD will tank eventually if not soon due to unrestrained government spending. I wouldn’t let that influence your decision. Japan is also probably a much less scarier place than the US right now…..low risk of random violence.

8. The advantages of this are obvious so I won’t say anything about that. But I would consider the possibility of working another 5-10 years in the US, going back to Japan on vacations, and then just retiring/pursing a hobby full time when returning to Japan. As someone else said, you will be cutting off your earning ability by doing this. While that is a good salary for Japan, it’s nothing special for a typical FAANG job in America. That said, it sounds like your particular background is what is getting you the job in Japan and you might not actually be able to get the same one in the US.

9. Same salary, but very different cost of living. Your money will go way further in Japan in terms of being able to buy a house, eat delicious food, and raise a family (if that’s what you’re into). Money isn’t everything too so if you want to work and live in Japan then I’d say you’re set up quite nicely for it.

   Sure you could probably earn more by staying in the states. I guess the answer depends on how much you value money vs other things in life. Seems that’s the only thing the US has going for it in your calculations

10. I have 6yoe as FANG Eng in my mid 20s $2M USD lifetime earnings, it’s really SF/NYC vs Tokyo none of this matters if you won’t commit to somewhere so commit to somewhere

11. Don’t do it until (or if) the yen stabilizes again. ¥15 mil is $100k — which is pretty much on the lower end of wages for someone in your industry working in a HCOL city.

    If the yen was stronger, it would be interesting to consider. But with a U.S. passport, being in your early 20s and already in the U.S.? Stay. Your financial stability depends on it. Going to Japan now will guarantee lost wages. You can save up so much more on an American 401k, for example. The American ideal of moving jobs constantly to chase a higher salary does have some merit; it’s the easiest way to boost your income SIGNIFICANTLY. (For example, in my early 20s, jumping jobs got me an extra $30k a year.) In Japan? Good luck making those same types of moves.

    Also, girl YOU ARE YOUNG. Do you want to date Japanese men? Do you know what that would entail, especially as someone whose “Japanese-ness” has been “tainted” by gaikoku? Foreign girls aren’t as hot or a commodity on the dating market because we are seen as “aggressive” and “confident,” which makes a lot of Japanese dudes feel insecure and uncomfortable. If you want to eventually become housewife or wanted to have a more conservative marriage, then sure. But if not? This is something you need to SERIOUSLY consider.

    Can you move to a city in the US with a lower cost of living, like Chicago or Philadelphia? They’re not dying cities, they have a lot of young people, lots of culture, and they’re nowhere near as bad as NYC, SF, LA or Seattle.