Hi everyone,
I have spent hours reading these subreddit and other sources to get certain information, but it’s either very old(hence likely outdated) or not about my or similar situation.
Now that this is out of the way, I am a dual citizen of the UK and another European country. Will be graduating from a top 15(not that really matters) university in June 2023 with BSc in Computer Science with 2:1 or 1st. I have no internship or work experience in my field but have plenty of projects on my GitHub with some being private. I am most familiar with Java, Kotlin and C/C++ and some experience with JS, Node.js, Python and React.
In the UK you start applying for graduate schemes/positions in September for starting the following September. I have already applied to many positions, was rejected by some of my desired choices and waiting on others. After checking Japanese positions, I was surprised to find out that salaries are the same and sometimes better than in the UK.
Enough rambling, I have the following questions:
1. Is Rakuten still not the best place to work at and heavily dependent on what team one would be working in?
2. Are there employers who actually have graduate schemes which are for English-speaking roles and sponsor visas?
3. When do graduate roles for Japan usually go up and does this apply to foreign graduates or the roles/timescales are different?
As I anticipate the following, I will be answering them now:
1. Why do I want to move to Japan? – I have been to the country and have consumed a lot of media about life there. In reality, I would most likely stay there for 1-3 years and move back to the UK. It makes practical sense to do it now as I am still young and can easily move.
2. Am I one of these Japan worshipers who think it’s the greatest place in the world? – No, I am fully aware of the MANY flaws Japan has and hence why I am going with the intention of staying for 1-3 years and if I like it, maybe until I die on a cruise ship.
3. Do I know Japanese? – Barely, but if I were to move to Japan, my plan is to study there in a school/private lessons as much as I can. I am aware I can never really become proficient unless I spend years and years.