How to Get an IT Job in Japan (without experience)
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- Finding an IT job in Japan can be a challenging experience, especially for those without Japanese language ability or prior experience. But there is a largely unspoken area of IT that is exponentially growing and is in huge demand.
Companies in Japan are hiring foreigners without experience or Japanese language ability making it the perfect opportunity to get your foot in the door in the IT industry in Japan.
Buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/retrojapan
0:00 - Intro
0:37 - Overview
1:05 - The Secret Sauce
2:03 - Why Data Centers
3:56 - Working in a Data Center
5:25 - Training Programs
6:11 - Career Opportunities
6:30 - Salary Expectations
7:14 - Benefits
7:25 - Potential Drawback
8:25 - How to get a Data Center Job
10:32 - Certifications
11:20 - Outro - Zábava
I just applied for Data Center Operations Trainee in Tokyo. Wish me luck
where to network in UK?
Awesome, best of luck! If you’re looking to network, LinkedIn is a good place to start no matter where you are since you can connect with people globally
How did it go?
i wish he got it
microsoft?
I've been a senior data center operations technician in Japan for many years now, and I'm making more than the mentioned salary before bonuses. And no overtime!
Yeah it is the same for myself as well and the pay ceiling can go much much higher than what I mentioned here. I know the salaries in certain companies have dropped a bit in recent years as less experienced people are brought on but it’s still a very decent range of salaries for new hires
How can I get
@@Retro-Japan The salaries mentioned for Japan is very low compared to the US, which pays 40-50% more. I can't imagine anyone working in tech in Japan for the money. I considered taking a job in Tokyo just to live and experience Japanese life for a year, but ultimately decided a 40% loss in pay, and putting a freeze on career advancement was too much of a sacrifice.
@@keanhsu-official salaries are lower compared to the US but the money goes much further and the cost of living is far cheaper too so I think it balances out well. The salaries mentioned are enough for most people to live comfortably while saving money
Thanks for sharing these opportunities. Great video!
Right now I’m trying to understand what I want to do and this was incredibly resourceful and valuable. Thank you retro Japan
Just applied to a Data Centers Operations Trainee in multiple countries since I have no issues relocating. Wish me luck
Best of luck!
@autumnblad3816 did you get the job?
@@ABHI_is_afk bunch of aws applications got declined but still applying. applied to the big 3, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.
Can you please tell me where to apply ?
Did you get it
This was very helpful! Thank you!
I’m really interested in this approach to getting into Japan. I’m in my early 50s but am in great health and have relevant background experience. I’m tuning up my LinkedIn and following the major companies and joining groups. I downloaded the overview from CompTIA for both the A+ and Network+ exams, along with Project+. I have absolutely no problem getting in as a tech. And doing the shadowing/on the job training. This will be a big change for me but I really want to be in Japan for the duration. There’s no time like the present.
I’ve met plenty of techs older than yourself so that wouldn’t be an issue at all. Best of luck to you! By the way, I would probably swap out Project+ for something like AWS cloud practitioner as the skills would be more relevant
@@Retro-Japan thank you. The AWS foundations cert is in my list.
Thankyou for posting this comment... I'm about to turn 40 and I was worried that I was already too old to re-enter the expat game (I'm an Aussie who lived and worked in Frankfurt Germany for two years then Singapore for two years in my early to mid thirties).
Graduated with my associates in information technology and Have my A+ certification. Just got back from Japan 3 weeks ago and this opened my eyes to how I will go back! Thank you for opening my eyes to new opportunities!
Thanks for watching!
Great job on this video! Looking forward to more and thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I’ll be doing another video in the coming months more specifically about how I got my job and some other advice so watch out for that
@@Retro-Japan Can't wait!
Brilliant video!! 👏
This is interesting, I have a slightly different experience. Last year, I tried job hunting in Japan just before graduating, I had prior 4 years of experience in security. Despite numerous outreach attempts from recruiters, the process proved to be exceptionally challenging, being ghosted by the majority of them despite having industry certs, passing exams technical exams. I think the hardest part was to prove that I actually had the experience and also not having a good command of the language i believe.
Digging the 'Bladerunner' vibe. Very good presentation.
Introductions are very important in Japan. So, network, network, network.Generally, if an employee recommends you, you get the job.
Actually as a former field engineer (5+ years experience) in data centers, I could say that you only need basic understanding of networking, even CCNA is overkill for this job. More important is conceptual understanding of how computer and server works. how datacenter's infrastructure works (cooling, powering, basic networking).
@@Vktulho Can I ask for advice? I'm currently an JET with 2 years left, and I would like to transition to IT if possible. I currently have COMPTIA A+ and Network+ , but no experience in the field. Do you have any advice for people wanting to enter the IT field in Japan? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Great video, thanks!
Great info! It would be nice if you continue to create videos about IT in Japan.
Thank for more information!!! good luck your future career. I want to work in IT blog at Japan in the future. thank you. Sorry If I did mistake in my sentences!!!
This is very useful information. I will share it with people I know!
Thanks for watching! Glad you found it informative
Excellent video! 👌
Thanks mate appreciate it!
oh wow ty for the info. network engineer here who has worked in sdn and some app dev. i've really been looking for a way to move and this really feels like a way in.
Thanks for such an informative and helpful video! I hope one day I can thank you for this one haha, now I'm off to polishing my resume and applying to all possible jobs in Japan
Glad that you found it helpful.
P.s Google , Microsoft and Oracle are hiring DCTs right now on LinkedIn 👀
@@Retro-Japan surely will have a look even tho I only studied WebDev through Udemy courses, my major is translation studies unfortuanetely not CS
@@sherkhankazbek4620the only opportunities you miss are the ones you don’t take so no harm in trying! Plenty of colleagues when I worked at AWS had majors in Japanese history etc. they mainly look for genuine enthusiasm and interest to learn
Thank you for the information
If you havent posted already, it would be very interesting to see you develop this series based on the stuff you covered! I'd be so down to keep watching videos that would help prep us to move to Japan in this field. Like videos covering different starting points (no experience, some experience, covering the logisitics of moving out to japan, etc...)
Great idea! I am finishing an edit for a video right now but after that I’m planning on doing a video of the route/path I took and how I ended up where I am now
Very helpful. I'm going for it, wish me luck.
Best of luck mate!
This is so interesting to me.. I worked in Japanese startups for 10+ years now and I never once thought about "data centers" as a possibility for employment. I also started my programming journey in Japan with no experience.
Good video thanks - maybe adjust the music/narration audio levels to better hear the speaker?
great vid thx!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you ✨
This was really helpful for me dreaming to live in Japan ❤
Good luck to you I hope it all works out!
Is it possible for you to low down the music? It`s to loud and makes hard to listen to you. Otherwise, nice video! 👌
Yeah will do for the next one, cheers!
Can you elaborate on how you did it?
I planning to move to Japan end of this year and I don’t speak Japanese.
I do have a tech background but I don’t have tech working experiences.
@@Retro-Japan he also moves his head around in unnatural motions like one of those ai generated videos😂😂😂
@@chimpo131 who said I’m not AI 🤖
the amount of information is amazin
Thanks for watching!
It's my dream to live in Japan and working in a data center is my dream job and i have ton of experience and certifications. Thank you for this video now i have my goal ( working in a data center in Japan) I thought it's just a dream
I'm a N3 and I'm graduating from computer science engineering this year. God bless you and the youtube algorithm for recommending me this.
You gained a sub.
Take care man!
Glad you found it helpful!
Bro i need to speak with you personally about Japanese exam
really this video help me.
thanks man
Thank you 👍 already applied for a few positions. And got rejected but as soon as I saw this video I started studying for the certifications. Im an American so no working holiday Visa. Im currently staying in Cambodia at a Japanese language school. Im considering just moving to Japan as I can stay for 90 days and hoping I get any position at this point.
Nice stock footage and music. I'm sure sure what you were saying under the music was interesting
Crack up 😂
thanks!
I work in I.T. Here in Japan (do my music on the side). All my job interviews were in Japanese (sometimes English too) so you are lucky if you can find a jobs that’s required little Japanese. But spoken Japanese as not as difficult as people think.
Great video man, this is definitely something I'm interested in. I already have my AWS practitioner certification and will be a new grad this fall from the USA. For this type of work, I believe I would need the Specified Skills Visa 1-SSV1 right? I think that requires me to pass the JLPT N4. I have basic understanding of hiragana and katakana, though I need to work on my kanji. If I apply for the AWS data center operations trainee position in Tokyo or Osaka, how much knowledge would I have to demonstrate with the OSI model/physical layer and AWS on my resume/interview given I would be a new grad from overseas?
Thank you for the video🎉. Fyi, background music is kind of loud.
Hi thanks for this video! I'm an American living in Japan on spousal visa and I have been on the job search in Japan coming out of a 2 year eikawa teaching stint and recently moved to Fukuoka. I've been doing a Data Analytics Course through Google, right now a little over halfway completed, and have been searching for a job (applying to roughly 4-5 positions a week) for the past 3 months or so. Revamping my resume and trying to persevere but it's been discouraging. I don't want to teach anymore and I'm trying to get into tech.
Bro make more contents about this in japan.. We need this 💝
Thanks for watching and subscribing! I will be doing some follow up videos to this over the next couple months so watch out for those!
It was an interesting and informative video, I had a nice time watching it. But there is one small problem - the music. The music itself is great, but its loudness... It is too high. It would be nice for your next videos to lower the volume.
I'm really interested in this field
I’m in Kobe area married w Japanese but haven’t study Japanese yet. Systems Engineer with 10 yr experience in Datacenter currently working from home. I would consider getting a local JP Job as long as it is remote.
Very helpful info, thanks. That said, the background music is a bit loud.
Sorry about that!
Hello. Could you share a link to the preview image, please?🙄👉👈 I tried to Google it, but I couldn't find it 😥 This view of Mount Fuji-san is simply breathtaking 🤯
Stellar video! I have some feedback about the video, it might be only me but the music is overpowering your voice which makes it difficult to understand. keep up the good work!
Don’t worry you aren’t the only one😅Thanks for watching though glad you found it helpful! 🤝
Can you do a video on what positions do you recommend for individuals with 5-10 years of experience in other fields of IT with no Japanese knowledge? Great video, very informative
Sounds like a good idea! Will be doing a follow up to this video in a couple of months then will look into other opportunities. Although I must say, this one is a bit of a unicorn imo
I just applied for Certified Women Breeder in Tokyo. Wish me luck
as someone who has the JLPT N1 and is currently learning programming, this video gave me motivation to change to data science 🤣
Man, this opportunity sounds like a dream to me. Sadly I'm still in my studies, and after that I need to do mandatory military service so I hope it wont be too oversaturated by the time I start working in 4-ish years
Most companies have massive spending budgets leading through 2030 for DCs in Japan so I think there will still be ample opportunities!
Thank you for sharing very informative, the music made it hard to hear you talking so used cc.
Thanks for watching, I’ll be sure to adjust the music properly next time!
Great video, thank you for sharing! Can you offer more insight on Working Holiday Visas since you mention a "transition". I live in a country that has a working holiday visa program with Japan but the thing is they ask you to return after 1 year without being able to extend your visa or change it, so did you mean by transition as being from a country where you are actually able to change visas after 1 year?
Additionally, I'm currently working as a Security Analyst remotely for a North American SOC (I speak Spanish and English on a native level and I'm starting to learn japanese now), so my question is: Do you think it's as easy to land a Cybersec job there?
Perhaps it’s different depending on the country. I know a few people that were on working holiday visas and then ended up finding full time employment and got a visa change
Thanks for such an informative and helpful video!
Kindly tell me about that japenese language is compulsory for data centers jobs.
And if i start to learn data center work! How much time i'll learn this?
Japanese is not needed at all. Data center foundational knowledge can easily be gained in a matter of months
This is really interesting. How open would you say companies are to flying over potential hires? I'd love to work in a data center in Japan but I don't currently have the means to make the trip myself.
I would say it depends a lot on the company, team and current situations. If a team is only hiring 1 position potentially they may be more inclined to hire a qualified candidate who’s already in Japan. If they are hiring multiple members they may extend their search. That being said, I personally know about 3 people who were hired directly from overseas
That's very valuable info, thanks! I'm wondering whether there are data centers in remote / rural areas outside of Tokyo and if the chances of hiring increase when applying there... Just guessing that most people would prefer metropolitan life, ya know, and I'm a sucker for the countryside ;) Also, is there an age ceiling you're aware of?
Good questions
1. There are data centers in Tokyo and Osaka of course but also they exist in the neighbouring prefectures too. So whilst there most likely isn’t any in the super rural areas (power requirements and other geographical requirements etc) you don’t necessarily have to be in the major cities either.
2. Definitely no age ceiling. Oldest guys I worked with were early 60s and oldest trainee I saw get hired was around 55.
Thanks a ton! @@Retro-Japan
ナイス👍️
Any advice for someone starting out in IT from the USA to getting a data center job. I have applied multiple times, but I imagine my lack of experience and or present location is holding me back. Thank you for the content. I will keep working towards it. What would you recommend taking cert wise to be potentially considered. Thank you for the awesome content!
A+ and Network+ would both be very good. AWS cloud practitioner is also good to show you have an interest in cloud. I think in a lot of cases living in Japan already is a big advantage, although it doesn’t rule you out completely. These large companies obviously have the resources to hire overseas and I have seen it happen several times. Their main issue is that they would waste resources bringing someone to Japan for them to realise they are struggling with the cultural difference and end up leaving. I did see that in one case
@@Retro-Japan greatly appreciate your thorough response. I will definitely take this all into consideration. Thank you again!
Love the spoken content of the video. Background music soundtrack is far too loud, very distracting. Thank you for the information.
Very timely video for me. Do you think it could work to contact data center employers and let them know that "I will be in Japan from X to Y dates, would you be willing to have a brief interview"? Also do you have a list of which Japan /cities have existing data centers for these FAANG/ big 5 companies? I can go for 90 days on a tourist visa
The FAANG companies are almost always location in Tokyo, Chiba and Osaka. It’s highly unlikely they would move anywhere near the more mountainous regions or northern/coastal areas (gotta be clear of any high risk tsunami zones or areas that are not flat / low access to power)
I think that could work potentially although it would be easier if you had some type of working visa already. I mean you don’t have to be in Japan to interview all the interviews these days are online. I’m interviewing a few folks next week for my company and one of them isn’t in Japan so it’s definitely possible.
Subscribed
LinkedIn is very effective. I recently graduated here in Japan and I got an online instructor gig through LinkedIn but idk if I qualify for a Japanese instructor Visa.😩I’ll try this Data center thing then.
Really liked your video. One question: how much does the company take care of in terms of visas, relocation etc?
They’ll take care of visa for sure. In terms of relocation companies do support/pay for that if it’s required. At least within Japan they do. But again it depends on the company and the specific needs
I'm graduating college in a few years so honestly I might consider trying to go this route. I'm a digital art major but with how things are going with ai and everything so I'm not too sure about how easy it will be to get a job in my field, but I still want to finish it out anyway cause I love doing it. However my degree required me to get a higher level language course, and I chose japanese. I had been hoping before that my plan B would be to go to japan and teach english for a few years just to experience other parts of the world while I figure out what I want to do. Would having japanese experience give me a bit of an edge over others in this job market? I do have some small amounts of IT experience helping my dad out at his job, but nothing official so I don't have anything else going for me in that regard.
Having Japanese skill will of course be helpful but it’s not a requirement since the main language is English. However Japanese may be needed when communicating with vendors and other teams but it’s not a core requirement of the job, just good to have. I think this industry is pretty much in the center of AI since all the machine learning hardware runs in these data centers so it’s a great opportunity to get in the middle of the “ai revolution”
Hey, I'm doing a semester abroad in Japan at the end of this year and I've been thinking about gaining some experience in the IT sector on the side because I'm studying business informatics. Unfortunately, I'm at a relatively remote university in Otaru, but maybe there are data centers there as well? I would be very grateful for any tips in this direction, and great video by the way.
Most of the data centers are in Osaka, Tokyo and Chiba just due to regional requirements (power, seismic isolation etc). Perhaps as companies grow they will begin to expand their regions
@@Retro-Japan So what would you recommend regarding my situation?
This video opened my eyes to the potential of working within DC's, I'm looking into these roles now but currently I work as a back-end engineer in Azure. You mentioned doing the fundimentals creditation which i can look into, but i am open to relocating to Osaka for an opportunity like this.
Would reaching 7m Yen to 9m Yen bands be achievable in this space or would I want to start here then branch out?
Also some job listings (particularly Osaka) mention Speak, write, and read fluently in Japanese as preferred. I'm learning to speak but writing and reading Hiragana is down the list. Is it absolutely important? I would be totally willing to relocate by year's end depending on how this goes so any further advice is desired! Thank you for this video!
Certifications really aren’t a hard requirement but it’s always helpful to have them. Especially when applying to a particular cloud provider (I.e applying to Microsoft with the azure foundation cert will show them you actually are interested).
7-9M is very achievable and actually that’s pretty much the average of what most people are making who have a year or so of dc experience under their belt.
As for the Japanese experience, I know some companies list that when they don’t actually require it, it’s more like a wish list. I think in some collocation sites, they will deal with vendors (which I did in the past) so it can be helpful to speak even basic Japanese but again I know people that couldn’t speak a word of Japanese and still managed to get by.
@@Retro-Japan That's amazing, thank you for your reply. Now as someone looking into Working Visas would these sites sponsor COE and subsequent Visa application or will I have to go the hard route with another job first before applying? I understood your point about being uncertain if an applicant would stay in Japan...but i have some strong personal drives to be over there having been there for three weeks. Totally changed my life and I yearn to return ASAP. Any other nuggets of information?
@@user-tw1jb5ke1g these companies do sponsor visas and due to their size and scale you usually end up getting favourable treatment from immigration. Most of the time you’ll get a 5 year visa (along with subsequent renewals).
They will also sponsor visa changes if you are already in Japan and have a visa of another type. Feel free to watch the video I just uploaded on how exactly I went through the whole process.
Thanks for this video.
I have some questions regarding these jobs.
Is there a reason why they're specifically aiming for foreigners?
And are there opportunies for career growth?
I've been teaching English for a long time and to be honest, there is no career growth as teacher in Japan.
They aim at foreigners because the job requires a high level of fluency in English as you’re communicating with global teams and all the internal software and tooling is English. There’s plenty of opportunity for career growth, you can change teams, departments, move up vertically into management etc. there’s annual pay increases, promotions etc. Once you’re in a company it’s much easier to network within the company.
Great video. I'm currently an English teacher in Japan, but my background is in software engineering. Since I currently live in Japan, I'd like to explore the data center jobs you're talking about. My question is: should I start by applying for A+ and Network+ certifications, or would the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification be a better place to start? Thanks
Hmm I’d say AWS cloud practitioner might be a better item to have on the resume as it shows genuine interest in the field. But I wouldn’t skimp on the A+ and Net+ stuff. You basically need that knowledge for any technical interviews but don’t necessarily need the certification. When I got my first DC job I didn’t have any certs so it’s not a hard requirement. I did however study all of the content I needed and was able to do well on the technical interview because of that. Ultimately all that matters is that you get an interview, the interviewers don’t necessarily care about your experience at that point they just want to see how you perform in the interview.
Mind if I ask what the interview was like? 😅
@@olivieryannick347 sure I actually do the interviewing myself. It’s usually a split between technical screening and behavioural questioning. Usually the first interview will be the tech screening, all technical questions. Then the loop interviews will be behavioural “tell me about a time when you…” type questions. For my current company I had a total of 6 interviews. For my previous company it was 3.
wow 6 interviews sounds rough but I imagine there's a good reason behind it
Thanks a lot for the information !
My spidey-sense tingled when I saw the thumbnail, and knew it had to do with cloud computing. This is one of the dangers of falling down the Linux personal research rabbit hole. You may just find yourself with a fun IT job...
I worked for a major Telecom for quite a few years, including their data center. I have an associates in computer science and a master's in cybersecurity. However, I'm in my 50s, and due to life, I've been out of the industry for 15 years. I spent some time in Asia and have decided to move permanently, and of course I was going to go the English teacher route. But this looks very interesting and much more lucrative! Any suggestions, please?
Honestly, it may be easier to go the teacher route first to get a visa easily then try and transition once you’re here (after you’ve settled in). I wouldn’t worry about age I know plenty of gents in their 50s working in the DCs. I’ll post a video this week about the path I took but getting that initial visa to live in Japan is the biggest hurdle. Once you’re here, setting your sites towards finding a DC job would be more practical and less pressured if moving to Japan is already one of your goals (you get to do job hunting while already enjoying living in Japan).
Wow. I’m studying to be a devops engineer at the moment… I wonder if this path would be good for me to get into Japan.
Grate video! Do you know if these positions require a degree? I heard in Japan they are strict about having a degree.
The positions themselves don’t require a degree but I believe the requirements for a work visa in Japan include a bachelors degree or equivalent
Maybe something I do when turn 60 in few years and my regular contract expire. But working in a cooled data center in summer time sound nice. Should have enough network and hardware experience; for sure enough software and Unix/linux. Already ~20 years in Japan. My favorite job would be at NTT and kick their butts for the poor IPv6 implementation and bad router we as consumer have to bear.
When I used to work in the DC in the summer the first thing I would do upon arriving was go into the data halls and stand in the cold aisles for a good 10 minutes!
Thanks for this. A couple of questions if I may: 1) Is there any way aside from LinkedIn that is a good place to get these jobs? 2) You mentioned one way of getting in is by using contractor companies - do you have any more details about them? Thanks!
1) LinkedIn is probably the best place as you can get auto updates for new job openings etc but just generally checking company websites is good too and applying directly on the website.
2) I’ve never worked at a contractor company myself but I know others who did. Basically you just get hired by the contractor and are placed at a “customer” location for 6 months to a year. So you’re doing the same job as the techs that work there directly but you don’t get the same benefits etc. Is there anything specific you’d like to know?
There likely are other websites but LinkedIn is the most commonly used by companies which is why it’s the best place
Thanks for the speedy reply. My issue with Linked In is that it’s easy to be spotted by one’s current company and I don’t want that to happen at the mo!
@@herjaxxI wouldn’t worry so much as most people have LinkedIn accounts. Nobody will know you are applying to positions unless you specifically set your profile to “open to work”.
Tech stack requirement question: Python? I presume one should know Cisco IOS of course, some Powershell, BASH scripting etc.
Knowing a little python goes a long way but isn’t usually required. Bash scripting knowledge is useful but I’d say having a good understanding of Linux is more important than both of those as Linux questions always come up in the interviews (basic commands, boot process, file systems, permissions etc)
Cisco OS is not really required but again is helpful to know the basics like running/start up config, showing interfaces etc.
Interesting, worth of consideration.
I have an Advanced Diploma of Information Technology in Australia, does it helps?
If that’s the equivalent of a bachelors degree then it should be fine
Great video, i have 1 year of experience at my current job, I take care of some severs that are used in bioinformatics masters and phd work, most of the time i do some linux admin stuff and monitoring with zabbix and grafana, i have an equivalent of an associate degree and my english is intermediate at most, would that be a problem? i will probably start applying
I believe a bachelors degree or equivalent is a requirement for Japanese immigration although I’m not sure if they’ve changed that recently so would be worth looking into for any exceptions. Best of luck 🤞
@@Retro-Japan thats a bummer hahah thanks for answering tho, i`m halfway through bachelor's maybe that's enough time to learn more japanese, let's see how it goes. 🤞
you dont mention anything about the facility maintenance side, is it harder to get into or are you just not as familiar with it?
It’s mainly because facility maintenance requires Japanese and usually some kind of mechanical engineering experience depending on the place. Most of those teams are made up of Japanese. Also, I’m not entirely sure I would class facility maintenance as an IT job either
great video quality! are there any opportunities for Software Devs? I'm from India and in my college and I really want to work in japan. love the vibes
Once you get in a company it’s easier to move about since they know you already “fit the culture” of the company. In the data centers they often encourage project work based on your interests. I myself ended up making a couple of software tools that got used by over 10k people from various teams/departments in the company. In doing so I learned all about the internal development/deployment process specific to that company and made a few dev contacts on the way. I probably would have ended up moving to an SDE role eventually but I just took another opportunity that came up. So the opportunities are definitely there as I’ve seen first hand.
I know 2 or 3 people that moved from technician to SDE in AWS and a couple more that went into DevOps in other large companies. This may seem like an extra step to first work as a technician in a DC but the payoff is better than working as a dev in a Japanese company as these positions pay very little and usually don’t have much upwards mobility (often around 250k - 300k yen per month for new grads compared with 400k - 500k+ yen per month for an entry level DC tech in a foreign company). SDE salaries in foreign companies are considerably higher (anywhere from 5 - 25+ million yen per year depending on experience and company).
Do you think this is feasible if you don’t have a computer science degree? I only have an AWS cloud practitioner (entry level) cert and will get the professional tier cert by 2025, but have no intention of returning to college for a degree. Will Japanese hiring managers care?
It’s not so much the hiring managers or company that cares about a degree. I believe it’s a requirement by Japanese immigration that you have to hold any kind of bachelors degree in order to get a work visa. I think there are some exceptions to that rule though
im grinding learning backend dev online, got a visa and live in japan. speak N1 level Japanese. live in Tokyo. 30 years old, hoping to land my first job this year with 0 experience.
mostly been grinding python/golang. what do you reckon my chances are ?
I’d say you’re in a pretty good position. If you’re looking at DC work it might be good to focus on some hardware/networking basics. If you’re looking to get a software development job, with N1 I’d say you should have no issues especially if you’re looking into Japanese companies. Foreign companies might require a bit more. You could check out Octopus Energy/Kraken though they’re relatively new in Japan and I heard of a few people who got hired as devs without much experience
lower a little bit the volume of the music in the background is too high , for the rest interesting video :]
Thanks for the video! I was wondering if Japanese data centers are too picky about having a bachelor's degree. I majored in Japanese studies and I've been a Japanese-Spanish translator for a couple of years, but I decided to pivot into IT for the potential career growth. I'm currently studying for Net+ and Sec+ and next October I'll come back to school and get an associate's degree in Systems and Networking. It lasts 2 years and the good thing you get to do an internship for 1 year. My plan is to specialize in Cybersecurity and become a SOC Analyst, but I'll get a good understanding of how data centers work. Would Japanese data centers be picky about me not having a bachelor's or master's degree if I decided to try my luck there after some years?
Good question - it’s not the data centers that are picky about a degree, it’s Japanese immigration. You need a bachelors degree or 10 years equivalent experience in order to live and work in Japan. So as long as you have any type of degree you should be fine
@@Retro-Japan My plan is to get 3-4+ years of work experience, get an N1 and look for a job from my country. If I pass the interviews and they hire me, I should be able to get a job VISA easily. Is cybersecurity a field in demand in Japan too?
@@apa_zh yeah there are cyber security jobs here I know a few people working in that field. Definitely will require higher level Japanese though
@@Retro-Japanis Japanese residency work permit visa sponsorship obtainable from these international companies at the data centers? Wouldn’t it work the same as a contract teaching English? My Bachelors degree was a long time ago. And my career has been in two relatively aligned fields. I guess I could always marry a Japanese woman and begin the citizenship application process. I have no further need of my native born US passport at this point. Expatriates to Japan are on the rise. I have two old friends that both have their own independent English teaching schools, perhaps that’s my intro.
@@JCODOHERTY English teaching visas are contract based for the most part. These Data Center jobs are permanent contracts with no end date. Seishain is what it’s called. It’s typically quite hard to get as a foreigner which makes these positions more appealing due to their stability. Each time my visa gets expired they have granted me 5 years. After my next renewal I can probably get a permanent resident visa
Can you tell me the procedure to become a data center [the syllabus and coding language], And bit explain about your road map that helped you ? please
There is no programming/coding involved for data center work. I’ll be putting out a video on the path I took in a couple of months!
This is awesome thanks for the info! However, for many folks it seems like this won't work because the first barrier is actually having a bachelors correct? So that makes it much more difficult😓
It’s not so much because of the company requirements (in fact most of the companies just require a high school diploma), but because Japanese immigration usually requires a bachelors degree to work in Japan. There are some exceptions to this though that might be worth looking in to
Ok, can you maybe touch on those exceptions please? Also, how can I add you on LinkedIn? I'd like to network with you please.
Just applied to a Data Centers Operations Trainee in Tokyo, couldn't find the link for Osaka unfortunately.
Update: got rejected. Aren’t they looking for non experienced people? Why did i get reject? I don’t get.
I am going to Japan for a year as an ALT, do you think these kind of jobs would give out a visa for someone who has lived in japan for a year but needs to be sponsored again?
It’s exactly what I did mate
What would be the scope for someone with 3+ years experience in Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a Server Engineer(Proliant,Apollo and Bladesystem) and in VMware as a Host and V.M SME (vSPhere/ESXi)?
In terms of experience I’d say you are in good standing
My dream 🤩
I just got laid off from my IT job in the American seafood industry! Now traveling Asia for 3 months.. I’d want to work IT for Japan but I don’t speak their language. Great video 👍
Ohhhh weeeeeh
is there any other way of finding these jobs outside of linkedin?
Hello thank you for sharing this information with us. I have been an IT guy over 30 years. I would like to find a job remotely or inside in Japan. Could you give me some hints about to find a job there?
I personally feel the data center route is a great stepping stone which can allow you to get into a big company and then from there looking into moving to other roles. I know about 4 people in my current company who do that
@@Retro-Japan Could you share with me an email who could accept my CV?
I'm currently studying for the AWS cloud masters program will this suffice in lieu of a degree?
The program will be good for getting your resume noticed for the job itself. However to live and work in Japan, normally a bachelors degree or equivalent work experience is required
Hey! just 1 thing confused me, you said you couldnt really speak japanese other then holding simple conversations. Like how far are we talking? I have a degree in IT, Worked as a S.E for 3 years and think the only thing really stopping me is language ability? Other then conversations with friends and stuff my japanese is bad, lets not start with reading and writing.
They dont require Japanese at an certain level to entry? They require you to learn while you learn the job?
I could speak conversationally at that time, and basically go shopping, go to a restaurant or have a short chat with someone, but nothing business level.
But honestly, for companies like AWS and Microsoft - it’s basically zero Japanese required. Sometimes you might see in the job ad “proficiency in Japanese” but that’s just a wish list. The teams are made up on foreigners, the managers are foreigners. The internal systems are English, you talk with people in other teams who all speak English as English in the language of the companies. Even the Japanese teams are supposed to speak English. Now that’s not to say speaking Japanese won’t be helpful, because it will be. Especially if you have to talk to vendors, but even if you are in that situation and you can’t speak Japanese it doesn’t matter because someone else likely will be able to.
That being said, if you plan to live in Japan it’s always gonna be a good idea to learn Japanese but for these jobs, you really don’t need it at all and they won’t press you to learn on the job either.
Does anyone know what helpdesk experience can do for you in Japan? I have A+ and Security+ certifications at the moment and working on my CCNA.
I’d say that it’s good experience to have and is quite transferable to the DC. The main difference is the tickets are broken servers, networking equipment and you don’t deal with customers or end users at all
Oh shit. I have experience and I know japanese a little. I should be able to crush this
I'm a mobile software developer do you know if it is possible to find a job in japan without japanese? 🤔
Do you think a college degree is required?
And applying to job offers that ask for it without me having one would be pointless? (Where im from sometimes they say its required but dont care and its a preference)
I believe it’s not so much a requirement of the job - but of Japanese immigration. You may want to look it up on more detail with regards to the requirements for obtaining a work visa in Japan as I believe there are some exceptions
I am half japanese and specialize in cybersecurity, with a security+ but I also have an AZ-900 microsoft cloud fundamentals cert. My japanese is also very poor. are there any cybersecurity related roles in these data centers, and if so could you give me some examples or how to find them if you don't mind? Thanks so much for this video, I've been looking for jobs in japan but have been having a hard time. I had no idea about these opportunities.
Within the data center there aren’t many cyber security roles, only psychical security. However, the companies themselves have cyber security roles and once you’re in a company is can be much easier to move between teams if you can prove yourself. I know a couple of people that moved from the data center to cyber security roles