Hello,
I am currently living in Okinawa, Japan under a marriage visa. I’m 26, married, with a 10 month old son. I was prior military but have been teaching English at a small academy for the past year and a half. I realized that it was something I didn’t want to do since there was no growth potential or job security. As well as sub-average pay. I put my one month notice in this week.
I have some experience in design and development, but have been doing many online courses, paid and unpaid.
I am currently attending online college to get a degree in information systems management, but find myself much more interested in the coding aspect. My Japanese language level is very basic but I am studying and learning.
I guess my question is: what should I do to break into the industry? Even as an intern or junior I would strive to show whichever company my willingness to learn. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Without an actual degree, your best bet imo is to build a strong Github presence. I noticed many notable developers in Japan tend to have strong Github profiles, with contributions to major projects (1000+ stars).
You might have to retreat out of Japan to the States for example if the job-hunt proves too difficult. I’m in the West Coast and even as an entry/intermediate level I can confidently say the pay is darn unbeatable by Japanese standards.
Thank you. I have been pondering moving back to the states, however after being here for 4 years… I’ve fallen in love with Japan.
Anything can beat the salary I was making, as I was unsure about transitioning out of the military, and jumped on the first offer i received. Now that I have a 10 month old, it’s kinda hitting me, cost of living with a +1.
I’ve debated on starting to freelance a little with Wordpress sites here in Okinawa, because it’s realistically easy to manage and the only visible competition I see (targeting foreigners) is “developers” that use wix and godaddy. (Besides Japanese companies)
Thank you for the advice. I will start contributing to github as much as possible.