Work & Employment in Japan
You may have already heard via my Twitter or via the grapevine that I finally found a job here in Tokyo. I hoped if I stuck with it that I'd eventually find an IT job here, and one day I would land a dream job. I never expected it all to happen in one go, but I'm very glad it did.
I can happily say that I wake up every morning looking forward to work, even if I have a 1 hour and 20 minute train journey. Even the journey worked out well because I get a seat going both ways with a solid 60 mins available to work on my laptop.
Things have worked out amazingly well so far, but it wasn't easy in the beginning, so I thought I'd write about my experiences job hunting.
I arrived in Japan on a 1-year working holiday visa during Nov 2008 and soon began looking for work. I spent 6 long months looking for IT work, with some positive feedback but no results. I knew it would take a while and had enough savings for 7 months, but didn't expect it to be so difficult. The financial crisis around the world was partly to blame for the lack of employment opportunities, but I couldn't just sit on my bum and moan about the state of the world.
During those 6 months I continued to hunt for work using several different approaches:
- Joblet
- CareerCross
- GaijinPot
- and more...
- Robert Walters
- Michael Page
- Descartes Search
- and more...
I searched Google for web development companies in Tokyo and contacted them all. Out of about 20 emails I sent I got roughly 10 responses and 3 interviews. This was my most successful method for finding full-time work.
I registered with a few web development bidding sites, but found it hard to win bids for work where I wasn't working at a ridiculously low rate. I also posted on groups/forums such as the Tokyo 2.0 group, which has sent me about 4 emails of people looking for a freelancer, and I have managed to build a good relationship with one of my clients from the Tokyo 2.0 forums. If you can do a consistently good job for a client they will often do their best to send you work, because they know that what you produce will be of high quality.
The job sites are ok, but I didn't find much for IT, they're good if you're looking for English teaching jobs. The agencies seem like a good way to get IT work with large companies. The main issue with the agencies was that most of them are aimed towards those who speak English and Japanese at a high level. My Japanese ability didn't meet the requirements, but they still tried to find me work and I'm grateful for that.
A lot of companies were looking for hardcore programmers and I'm more of a front-end developer/designer, but I couldn't be picky about what jobs I interviewed for, so I followed up every opportunity that arose. I had enough programming knowledge to apply for the jobs and with a bit of study could switch to a programmer role.
One thing I learned is that a nicely designed PDF resume is a good thing, but be sure to have it in Word format too, since most agencies only want it in Word format. My Word document was basic, and that was fine for them, since I think they just needed it to cut/paste into their internal database system.
Luckily I found a few freelance web development jobs online and they kept me afloat, but it wasn't a comfortable time. There was always pressure to find next months rent. So I continued to pursue a full-time job.
I knew teaching English was an 'easy' way to find work, but it was the polar opposite of what I want to be doing. For me to teach English was like trying to fit a round block into a triangular hole. I am still in awe at those who manage to control a room of kids. So I interviewed for several teaching positions and soon realized it was a bad fit for me. However I kept applying because it was the only alternative for employment. I read horror stories about GABA and other teaching 'factories' so I did my utmost to avoid them.
I had a particularly 'fun' english teaching interview where part of it went something along the lines of:
After traveling for over an hour, filling in a 2 sided questionnaire with strange personal questions, having my passport photocopied and answering several more questions, I thought I was doing ok...
Lady 1: You originally worked in the IT field?
Me: Yes
Lady 2: *whispers to lady 1*
Lady 1: Why are you not looking for IT work?
Me: (slightly bending the truth) I'm looking for a new challenge.
Lady 2: *whispers to lady 1* *giggles*
Lady 1: You don't seem very ..uhm... energetic
Me: *wonders how more energetic he could be in a seated interview*
Me: I can be energetic if you'd like. Will we be going through a teaching scenario?
Lady 2: *whispers to lady 1*
Lady 1: I think you should find IT work. There must be lots of IT work here in Tokyo.
Me: ... *screams internally*
I'd been through so many interviews previously that I knew it wasn't me that was the problem. If someone else had the same kind of reception as I did for their first interview I hope it didn't crush their confidence too much... It was an incredibly unprofessional interview, especially the second lady who kept whispering to her co-worker. The giggling and whispering was very rude. Luckily now I can look back on it and laugh, but at the time I wasn't laughing.
I learned a lot about the interview process and job hunting. The biggest thing I learned is patience... You've got to just go for every single job opportunity you can find and, from 20 interviews, you might get 1 or 2 good chances. I continued to freelance whilst building my online projects such as this blog and JPop Japan (some changes are in the works). I got further involved in the Japan-related blogosphere, primarily at JapanSoc where I met a bunch of great people.
During that time Nick Ramsay got in touch and asked me to help redesign JapanSoc. We worked together, since building templates for the CMS system he was using isn't the easiest of tasks and he knew the system well. It was good fun and a good experience working with Nick. He was pleased with the job and it received a good response online. I also met several times with the people at Cerego (smart.fm) which was partly due to my blog posts about the site and from contacting them directly about work. Unfortunately I missed the boat for a developer job and all positions had been filled. We continued to stay in touch and there was possibility for a community/blog position but I had another offer I couldn't refuse.
I knew of dannychoo.com and since contacting companies directly had been a reasonably successful way of getting IT job interviews I decided to just give it a try and email Danny. He responded and suggested we chat at the next Tokyo CGM night. So after a few weeks I met Danny at the event and we had a little chat. Danny said he'd be in touch if there was work, but I suspected there was little chance in the current financial situation around the world. The Tokyo CGM Night was great fun and it was the first time I'd chatted to a potential employer (or anyone for that matter) whilst they were wearing stormtrooper armor ^^
It was my work on JapanSoc that got Danny's attention and he invited me for a meeting. After a lunch meeting with Danny and Hector I left feeling things had gone well. The job seemed a perfect fit for me, Danny and Hector were nice guys and Mirai Inc is doing some very interesting things. So it was a great feeling when I got the call from Danny asking me to come work at Mirai Inc. We started on a trial period, since it's a very small team and it's important on both sides that we all get along and can work together. Well, we all got along well and Danny offered me a full-time position in the team!
I'm grateful to Danny for giving me the chance to prove myself and I'm looking forward to developing some great things at Mirai inc. がんばります!
Danny has written about Japanese Companies and about why he employed me. The free figures are definitely a nice bonus to the job and working at Mirai Inc is always interesting. So feel free to follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my RSS feed as I will be posting regularly about work and life in Japan.
Koiyuki said on Wed 2009/06/17 12:28 JST:
It's good to know there's more than one way to crack the egg that is the Japanese foreigner's job market. Good on you getting a solid, especially one where one of the perks are free figures
super rats said on Wed 2009/06/17 13:08 JST:
Nice! Danny is the man and his office decor is perfect.
Mike said on Wed 2009/06/17 13:35 JST:
Excellent work Chris! I'm glad it all paid off in the end, and you're working in an awesome job with great exposure! :) I hope to meet you and everyone else sometime in the near future at a CGM night - please try to make them Friday/Saturday nights so I can get up from Nagoya! :P
Just Another Gaijin said on Wed 2009/06/17 13:58 JST:
Thanks for posting your experiences!
I found myself in almost the exact same situation here (I had a solid 15 years as an IT Director in the US, before retiring early and expatting to Japan). So here are a couple of additional comments based on what I went through.
First, you are absolutely spot-on with the language issue. There were many, many opportunities for which I was qualified, or even over-qualified, but which fell through because I cannot speak Japanese at a high level. In fact, one recruiter in Osaka told me that, based on my experience, he could have landed me a job in an hour-and-a-half if it weren't for the language stumbling block.
Which dovetails on my second observation: location, location, location. As I'm sure you've found, the IT market for foreigners is pretty much bound up in Tokyo. My family and I chose to live out in the inaka in Western Japan, which is wonderful for quality-of-life but not so great for job opportunities. For a while, I considered finding a cheap 1DK in Tokyo and flying in to Haneda on Monday morning; out again on Friday night. That's just a huge pain and would eat up a large chunk of salary with plane tickets, but I do know people who have done this.
Also, I'm curious about your experiences when comparing the salary rates here in Japan to back home. I was unpleasantly shocked after diving in to the market, finding many of them abysmally low compared to my sector (network architecture, system administration) in other parts of the world -- in some cases less than a third of what I would've paid my employees back home. In fact, if my family's decision had been driven solely by $$$, I'm pretty certain we would've wound up in HK instead.
In the end, I was able to land a job teaching Business English to executives. Like you, the thought of controlling a room full of kids makes me cringe. This was a nice alternative that takes care of the visa issues and gets me a salary, without having to chase rug-rats with a stick. Still wish I could have found a position in IT, but it appears that until my Japanese is up-to-par that's just not going to happen.
Congratulations on your success, and thanks again for posting your story!!! :)
baka_rakuda said on Wed 2009/06/17 14:00 JST:
Congrats on finding a job Chris! And thanks for all the posts they make for a very interesting and informative read.
You're office looks awesome, I'm jealous! ^_^
Jonas said on Wed 2009/06/17 16:25 JST:
Congratulations Chris - especially on getting to work with Danny Choo!
Inspiring...
Jenny said on Wed 2009/06/17 19:50 JST:
It's great to know that there are still people who enjoys going and doing their jobs without complaining but rather enjoying it. Good luck on your endeavors. Hey, these Hawaii Statehood Apparel might interest some of your Japanese friends. Thanks.
Mattt Thompson said on Wed 2009/06/17 21:41 JST:
Congrats on the new digs, man. I read quite a bit of Danny's blog on my way into Japan to get psyched for my big move. I haven't met him personally, but give him my regards :)
CLF said on Wed 2009/06/17 23:32 JST:
Congrats on your employment Chris!
your article could be crucial for me when I would be finding the job by the time I almost finish my university in few years time.
Tornadoes28 said on Thu 2009/06/18 05:06 JST:
Consider yourself fortunate in this economy. How were you able to support yourself while searching for a job?
Tibul said on Thu 2009/06/18 12:20 JST:
Thanks for this, its a great insight to finding a job in Japan, I've been planning for a while now to do a similar thing to you in the next 3-4 years I plan to get a working holiday visa and me and the wife will live of our savings in Japan while I try to find a job by then I'll have 10 years of experience in IT so compensates for my lack of a degree and hopefully by then my Japanese will be good enough to land me a job.
Enjoy yourself it looks like your going to have a great time :)
caughtredhanded said on Thu 2009/06/18 20:04 JST:
Cheers for putting up this post, it really does give hope to someone like myself who is hoping for work in Japan. Many thanks!
Christina said on Thu 2009/06/18 22:18 JST:
Networking really is the way to go in getting a job in Japan. In some ways I'm not as lucky as you--I wouldn't say that I have my dream job here (though perhaps a large part of the problem is that I'm not sure what my dream job would be), but I did manage pretty well for myself! I managed to get myself a job with a Japanese (non-English-teaching-related) company while still working in the US, and it was all due to having a good contact and good timing.
Sometimes I wish I had chosen to go to Tokyo instead of Kyushu (it sounded like I had a choice during the whole procedure, but who knows, maybe I would have been sent here anyway!), but I bet if I had chosen Tokyo I'd be wishing I was here. I certainly bet money goes further here, and I only spend 3 minutes on the train to work!
yonasu said on Fri 2009/06/19 07:05 JST:
Congrats Chris! Definitely unexpected, but awesome. Really great post as well, very inspiring. Well, good luck with everything, I'm sure I'll see more of you at Danny's from now on^^
ashley said on Fri 2009/06/19 20:25 JST:
I think it's good to utilize a job agency if you want to get ahead in your career. Anyone had experience with International Consulting Pte Ltd? I've heard that they've been a good career builder for executives and would like to try them out.
pedrorica said on Tue 2009/06/23 23:09 JST:
Great Post! Thanks for all the detail. I'm still thinking If I should take the chance or not ... have been in Tokyo/Japan once on my dream trip, and I'm considering coming back for work.
Angga said on Tue 2009/06/30 03:41 JST:
Congrats Chris for finding a good job. I'm sure you'll be doing just fine in Mirai Inc. And thanks for sharing your story, it's very inspiring !
Jamaipanese said on Fri 2009/07/03 06:07 JST:
congrats Chris, you really have a dream job!
howieh said on Fri 2009/07/31 17:58 JST:
Hello Chris!
Great article and very informative!
Mind telling me where you found that 80's Apple logo wallpaper?? Love it!
Cheers！
ryudo said on Sat 2009/08/01 07:40 JST:
Hi Chris,
congrats on landing a good job in Japan. This is a great article.
I would like to know how you got your working holiday visa. What steps did you have to take?
Chris said on Sun 2009/08/16 19:47 JST:
Hi Ryudo,
Thanks!
I applied at the Japanese Embassy in London. First I read here: http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/visa/work_hol.... and then I downloaded the application form: http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/visa/applicati...
Chris said on Sun 2009/08/16 19:50 JST:
Hi Howieh,
You can get the wallpaper here: http://technology.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/21...
