NZ Software Developers in Japan

3 comments

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

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   **NZ Software Developers in Japan**

   Hi!
   I’m a Senior Front-End Developer in New Zealand with 10 years of experience. I’m French and have been living in NZ for the past 6 years. My family and I are planning our next move to Japan. We’re all currently learning Japanese, but I don’t think I’ll be fluent enough to work in Japanese without living in the country for a couple of years. So, I’m considering English-speaking or French-speaking positions at the moment.
   I have a few questions for software developers who have worked in both Japan and New Zealand (and anyone that wants to help :D):
   – Where do you go for job hunting? What platforms do companies prefer?
   – NZ has a big recruiters market. Is it the same in Japan? Are they reliable?
   – What’s the salary landscape like? I’m currently earning 150K in Wellington.
   – Most of the job offers I see on LinkedIn are “on-site” or “hybrid” at best. Is that consistent with your experience?
   – I know all companies are different, but what can you say about the work culture? What did/do you like or dislike?
   – What has been your experience with recruitment processes? (I know it’s a bit vague; I’m just trying to get an idea of what to expect.)
   – What format is commonly used for resumes and cover letters?
   – Lastly, do you think job hunting is feasible from NZ, or would you recommend moving on a tourist visa for a few weeks to interview as much as possible?
   Thanks heaps for your advice and time!

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2. Just get an international job with Turing or Toptal before you move to Japan, it’ll make your life 9000% easier (much higher pay, better worklife balance, remote work).

3. A lot to unpack here.

   Basically there are three tiers of tech companies in Japan. You’ve got the big american tech companies which pay the most – Amazon, Google, Wolt(DoorDash), Indeed, Woven fall into this category. As someone who hires for these companies, they are (in the current hiring market) quite competitive, every time I open a role I have dozens to hundreds of applicants.

   Then you’ve got the second tier ‘japanese trying to be western’ companies. These pay somewhere between japanese and western companies and in some cases you can negotiate a pretty competitive package. Examples are Line, Rakuten, Mercari, Smartnews

   Then there’s everything else, mostly japanese companies. These pay pretty shit money by international standards. The problem is mostly because of japanese management being old fashioned and viewing engineering as a cost centre and support function rather than core business. Ironically they also have the worst work environment – very japanese, overtime, strict hierarchy, etc – despite paying the worst.

   My advice is to aim for the middle tier to start with and then try japanese companies if you truly value being in Japan over your income. There aren’t many positions at the top tier companies right now (although of course shoot your shot if you find something). You can try sites like japan-dev or tokyodev to see some of these jobs or reach out to one of the recruiting companies (easily findable online but I can personally recommend and have worked with Wahl and case)

   I think that kind of answers most of your questions. Others are – just use your normal western resume and yes consider going in person if you want but it’s not strictly necessary as everyone interviews online these days.