RResidents in Japan

Wanting to switch careers

So, I currently work at an Eikaiwa. I’ve been wanting to switch my career from the dead end “Teaching english in japan” to Engineering, Specifically software development. Is this even possible without a degree related to Engineering? I have a B.A Linguistics.

8 comments

  2. I was working at Kids Duo with the Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services visa when I first started learning coding in the evening after classes were over.

    A year and a half later, I was able to pass the technical interview for an entry level software engineer position, although getting the interview and being able to pass it took some hustle and was extremely stressful. I also had N1; I wouldn’t have been able to get my current job without it since the only communication is in Japanese.

    I was able to get my residence card renewed while at my current job with no issues, so it is possible!

    Edit: My degree was in Classical Humanities

  3. With all the qualifications/education you can get for free or minimal money, you may have to aim low for junior dev or haken based IT jobs. From then on, you may be able to work your way up to better jobs if SE was really in your blood and you just never got a chance to apply yourself.

  4. It is definitely possible to get a software development job without a related degree. Having a high level of Japanese ability certainly helps, but you will probably need to start out at entry level with a new-grad level salary.

  6. Sure. Do you know how to use ChatGPT? He’s an entry-level software engineer. lol

    But on a serious note, with what information you provided, the only answer is “maybe”. If you are experienced developing software and have N1 level Japanese then probably “yes” and if no then “no.”

  7. Did you take any courses in computational linguistics? It’s a hugely in demand field. Get some machine learning skills and you might be able to be competitive. (assuming you have a decent portfolio that shows off your programming ability)

  8. From what I can tell, the IT industry in Japan is not exactly a “growth” market. Many companies are firing people, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a job even as a skilled engineer. The situation will also likely get worse, not better.

    For some reason all of the “career information” on this sub-reddit is weighted towards IT and English teachers, but there are a ton of other fields you can do. If you speak Japanese then get your bookkeeping cert and become an accountant. That’s a much more stable career that pays pretty well

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