Looking for advice

I am currently working in one of the dispatch companies as an IT Support engineer. I joined my current company in 2019 and was dispatched as a support engineer. My main role was to support various mobile testing activities and did nothing technical-related task. As the project was finished, I was waiting for my company to find me a new dispatch company. Because of the corona, my current company says they are facing difficulties in finding job placement for me. They are indirectly saying me to look for another company.

I came to Japan as a Japanese language student in 2017. Regarding my Japanese level, I have passed JLPT 2 and can speak somewhere near business level Japanese. Before coming to Japan, I had around 2 years of experience working as a PHP developer in my home country. Now, I am actively looking for a new job as a web developer. It is true that I have a long gap not working as a developer professionally, but I am actively learning programming during my weekend and have done few small projects also.

My question is:
Is it possible for me to find a job as a developer during corona time, if yes how should I approach companies for the job?
Or I should look for an IT support role?
I would be thankful if you guys could give me some advice.

As I gather, you’re someone living in Japan who speaks business-level Japanese and has previous experience as a software developer. If so, I think you have a shot at getting a job as a developer, even if your last role wasn’t writing code.

If your previous position was doing mobile testing, even if it was a manual process, I’d still say it was technical. Companies do hire “QA Engineers”, who may do a combination of manual and automated testing, so that’s one potential position that could leverage both of your skill sets.

If you’re looking for a more purely developer position, I’d still try and word your “support engineer” position as technical as possible. There’s probably some things that could be applicable even if you’re doing web development.

I also wouldn’t say your job search needs to be mutually exclusive between the types of roles. Personally, I’d focus on finding interesting positions that match your skillset, and then create an application for them that demonstrates your relevant skills.

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