Working in IT vs English teaching in Japan

We are currently considering a move to Japan and I am just interested to see if anyone has any up to date info on working in the IT sector in Japan.

I am in my early 30's and with a Japanese national and would therefore probably not need visa sponsorship. I have several years of experience of working in IT in a few English speaking countries along with a few professional IT certifications and a degree in Computer Science. My Japanese is approximately N4-level.

I am also not opposed to a change in direction and would happily consider English teaching work instead as long as the pay and conditions weren't terrible. English is my native language and I feel that I would be good at teaching it however I do not have any formal teaching experience or qualifications although I would be open to the idea of earning a teaching certificate if needed.

I guess my questions are this:

1. Do IT jobs really exist for a gaijin with elementary level Japanese?
2. If so then is that line of work likely to offer a better quality of life than working as an English teacher?

If anybody from a similar background could offer some advice then that would be great. I think we would be looking at somewhere in Kanto really however we could also be potentially open to other cities, particularly Osaka or Sapporo.

Your lack of experience and qualifications won't be a barrier. Attend a few interviews and if you consider yourself even remotely employable you will find yourself in work as an English teacher quite quickly. But when someone says they're looking for to a change in direction this isn't really a career path that I think of. For many people in this role the first step on the ladder is also the last. Options for career progression not exactly numerous.

Some people really love the job and are happy to do it forever. More power to them but most won't have this experience. Staff turnover is high because often it's just a way to live in Japan for a few years before going home and getting old. Work is work, you show up and get paid, but the odds of it being a bright new chapter in the life of a thirty something IT professional are slim.

When it comes to eikaiwa sensei, ALTs, etc I would describe the role as somewhere between a conversation partner, a dictation machine, and a clown. If this isn't what you had in mind when you thought of teaching English then really I suggest you do your own serious research on what the role actually entails because everyone has their own ideas about what it is. But you're not going to be a language teacher in the traditional sense. Not without work experience/qualifications/Japanese ability.

For me, continuing your IT career sounds more promising.

Well, the "IT industry" really covers a lot of ground. Are you a developer? Tech support? Customer service?

I know many developers in Tokyo who didn't speak much Japanese when they started out. Some of them have decent jobs, and some work 60 hours a week. I don't think any of them would quit their jobs in order to start teaching English, though.

Since obviously you would want to visit Japan to scout things out before deciding to move, I'd suggest checking out Meetup groups in English that are aimed at various parts of the industry. These seem to be concentrated in Tokyo, so I'm guessing that's where most of the English-speaking developers are concentrated.

Sorry I should have probably been a little more specific. I am a Windows Infrastructural Specialist but I also have a background in project management and testing. I do have knowledge of coding, my current job involves SQL DBA and I have experience with C++ and Java development but I'm not really a programmer tbh.

I know from looking at Gaijinpot that programming opportunities for foreigners in Japan are plentiful but unfortunately it just isn't my specialism and more recently I have been focusing more on improving my Japanese rather than my IT skillset.

I have visited Japan approximately 8 times now and know my way around Tokyo well enough but I haven't previously looked into any networking groups or recruitment agencies while I've been there.

With your experience, you can definitely find a job in IT here in Japan. The more technical positions usually do not require any japanese at all. If you want to be a program manager or higher, then that's when you would need a bit more of proficiency.

Just come here and you'll soon meet people that can connect you, but please, don't go the english teaching route. Without any advanced qualifications as an english teacher (TESOL, etc), your best aspiration would be at an eikawa, very badly paid compared to something in IT, and with little to no career advancement.

Advice:
Go to career cross website and look for IT jobs that might be of your interest. Then check the name of the agency publishing the vacancy, go to their webpage, search for the same vacancy and write down the information of recruiting consultant representing that opportunity, or from any other recruiter. Many times they are non-japanese, so they speak english for sure, but even a lot of Japanese recruiters do as well. Then my recommendation is that you e-mail them your resume and call them directly a few minutes later. You can discuss your situation and background with them right away and they can tell you if they have something suitable for you and even suggest customers that might be interested. It's even easier for you because you won't be needing any sponsorship thanks to your wife. This is usually a point where many companies refuse to bring people from outside Japan. If you do this, you might have a job offer even before moving to Japan. Let me know if you need more suggestions, and good luck!

Thanks for yoyr advice, I really appreciate it. I had never seen that Career Cross website before but it looks like a really useful resource.

The other idea that I have is to either get to Japan and not work for a while, instead focusing on an intense language program or work part-time hours teaching and devote the rest of my time to language study for 6 months or so.

Right now I am trying to self-study the language outside of Japan and work in IT full-time which is obviously somewhat difficult.

Check with Robert Walters, and ask around for he names of similar headhunter firms.

Your e-mail might be ignored if you attached file of resume or include a link of your linkedin profile in the message, if recruiters are Japanese.
A wabun rirekisyo in addtion to your resume would be plus.
This is what my Japanese friends advised me when I was looking for a job in Japan.
Good luck!

The attachment file stuff is for 15 years ago.
He must have been ignored, simply.

Thanks guys, this is all really useful information. Prior to last night I had only really seen low level IT jobs/internship positions and positions in the games industry being targeted at foreigners and neither category seemed to pay particularly well tbh. It seems like I may have been looking in the wrong places though.

Do you mean include a ˜a•¶—š—ð�‘ (as in a Japanese translated version of my CV)? I obviously don't have one of those right now and I have always been cautious of creating one in case it gave the impression that my Japanese ability was better than it actually is however that is something that I could do if it would help.

How is the Japanese job market with regards to new foreigners, with the obvious exception of teaching/translation jobs and positions in the public sector? I worked as a foreigner in Canada a few years ago and was warned about the difficulties in job hunting without 'Canadian experience' however in the IT field that didn't really seem to be a problem.

DaiJob is another job site similar to Career Cross.

https://www.daijob.com/en/

https://www.hellowork.go.jp/member/career_doc01.html
http://ishijls.webnode.jp/english/rirekisho/

These are all really useful links, thanks guys.

I am Japanese worked for a job agent in Tokyo till last year .
In my opinion according to my experience, rirekisho brings you more chances , even if company staff can understand English well.
And, as someone said before, email with any link and attachment will be deleted, it is true.
(Even last year, there were many application by email with attachments and links in my company also, but they were all deleted.)

IT jobs seems to be better, ususally English teaching work contact is short and not renewred many times...
I give you this link https://www.yolo-japan.com/

And, as someone said before, email with any link and attachment will be deleted, it is true.

So essentially, emailing your CV to a recruiter in Word format would automatically result in that email being deleted immediately? That's strange because where I currently live most IT recruitment seems to happen that way these days.

Presumably that is a spam prevention measure and only applies if you are emailing your information over with no prior contact, right?

That's strange because where I currently live most IT recruitment seems to happen that way these days.

Read what mentioned in the link you were given.
Be open minded, and understand different country has different culture and different rules.

Be open minded, and understand different country has different culture and different rules.

No I totally understand that, I have worked and interviewed in other countries before and have had to tailor my application technique accordingly.

I will read through the links that have been provided in this thread though. Thanks again to everyone who provided them.

Japan is diffrent, things that was ok in many other countries are not ok in Japan, rirekisyo is handed at intervew or sent by snail mail, you will be instructed by the company which they want, and many companies demand hand written one.

Japan is diffrent, things that was ok in many other countries are not ok in Japan, rirekisyo is handed at intervew or sent by snail mail, you will be instructed by the company which they want, and many companies demand hand written one.
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Wow. And it works that way even in the IT/Technology sector? My partner had mentioned before that a lot of Japanese companies demand a handwritten application but when I looked at some jobs in technology companies that hire a lot of foreigners, that didn't seem to be the case.

Ideally I think that I would like to work at a game company in Japan if a suitable opportunity was available.

I am Japanese and I have never sent rirekisho by snail mail. How old are you...?