Leaving for Japan in a month, but having sudden last minute doubts

17 comments

1. I picked up everything and moved. If you feel that it’s fine. I had no problem with Nova other than crap pay. Students were great, managers were okayish. Just enjoy the life.
   But it is a huge choice Which will change lots in your life. Your call really. I couldn’t say what you can handle but it sure beats looking for difficult jobs in that field

2. What will u lose if you were to move and take up the job at Nova and it goes all south? What’s your risk appetite?

   I think relocation is a big decision and hard one. But being in that country can actually boost up your confidence a lot and you can gain knowledge of the other opportunities that exist. Any amount of research done outside doesn’t equate what you’ll realise/ gather when on the inside. If you can take that risk, I’d say go, figure out and quit if it doesn’t work out.

   However, if the risk is too high for you, better to stay where you are. You will be more at peace. After all, mental health over everything!

   Since you want to pivot into tech, just a few words that a recruiter from Japan told me last week – often, you will have to take a pay cut in order to come to Japan. The rates for IT talents in Japan are much less than other countries like the US, Canada, Australia, etc. Also, many companies don’t want to hire offshore candidates because of the risks. To get their first job in Japan many times people will need to take a pay cut at first. The average budget for newcomers to Japan is about 7 – 9 Million yen per year (for senior talents). There will be chances to raise salary after a couple years once you’ve assimilated and proven yourself in the country and company. But proving in a place where you are overworked and language is a barrier can be hard.

3. Do a year in Japan and write it up on your resume as practice working in an international team, doing English copyediting work, giving presentations, and everything else that can transfer over to a tech job. You could also aim to end up in a training position in the tech field.

   Or, like me, you might fall in love with teaching and never look back at your previous career!

4. Just go for it, life is too short for you to be wondering what if.

5. Nova was my first job in the country. It was ok for a while but ended up sucking and I quit and got another job after 6 months.

   I would do it if I were you. Not all novas are awful and once you’re in the country you’ll have a lot more options for other jobs.

6. My friend went with Nova and when it got too much after five months, he just quit and came home and never taught English again. He’s doing well now in finance. I wouldn’t sweat it. Just go along for the ride and see what happens.

7. Also look into Amazon, they have quite a few data centers and tech jobs also and they need people pretty bad. I believe google over here needs people also

8. Unless you’re super serious about finishing up contracts for sub-par companies, come on over with NOVA. You’ll be able to apply for tech jobs locally, which is a huge thing right now. If NOVA gets you in, then any potential company you move **to** doesn’t need to worry about getting you in the country, just potentially getting you a new visa, which is less of a pain in the ass.

9. Trust me I felt the same. My advice would be to just go for it. Many people would love to be in your position. I’ve been here working for NOVA for about 2 months and I can definitely say yes there are annoyances but its not a total nightmare and definitely something I can imagine doing for sometime(But definitely not more than 2 years preferably) . A lot of teachers just use NOVA as a gateway to Japan and then later on either change schools or go off into another career. Once you are here there are more employment opportunities. Its definitely enough money to live off and you can get cheap food which is also good quality. Just the key thing is saving as you won’t get that much in your first and second month. Many people use NOVA as a foot in the door job just to get here which is only part of the reason they have a high turnover rate.

10. I moved to Japan with a Job at Nova. I used it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, you have excellent qualifications behind you & will be able to do the same.

11. You have N1 and and ready to work in tech
    I’m sure you’ll be fine, you’re obviously very smart!

12. Once here you can look around and transition into a tech job. Seems like there are many opportunities. I’d bite the bullet considering how hard it is to get here now in the first place.

13. It’s normal to get cold feet. Just go. Life is too short. If it makes you feel better, it’ll probably be easier to get a tech job once you’re already in the country.

14. Nova?! you chose the worst out of the worst. unless you have a step 2 in your japanese career plan. ok, lemme help you, you have a month. hunt and secure a second job, use nova to gain entry to japan, quit and join the second company. dont quit coming to japan, great place to work, except for english teaching or IT companies. best to secure a second job, but if difficult, just hunt a lot.

15. I had the same fears just before leaving for Japan. But once I got here and got settled, everything was fine. Personally, I close the book after making a decision and unless something drastically changes, I don’t revisit it. It’s done. Otherwise my emotions will have me second guessing unnecessarily.

16. I could be wrong but I think Edward Norton was a teacher at Nova.

    I’m certain, at least, he was on the cover of my training video back in 2006.

17. Trust in the will of the force