Moving to Japan into IT field, advice

Hey Folks, quick introduction to myself,

- I'm 23 and a Computer Science Student in my final Bachelor year in Germany, I plan to continue with my Master degree and I will be done around this time in three years.
- Besides my University I work since my Highschool final year in my Fathers Company as a programmer. From which I will get a certificate of employment, but not a payment file.
- I speak German, French, English, and I'm studying Japanese a bit but I'm not that good, it's more like a survival Level for when I come to Japan as a Tourist.
- I visited Japan 6 Times already, and I'm still excited whenever I arrive at the Airport there.
- I have saved 30k € right now and will hopefully have arround 50k or more in three years.

I tried to prepare myself as good as I can, I enjoy Japan and I would like to move there at first temporally for maybe five years to gain foreign work experience, and only after decide if I want to stay permanently.

I got some question which would be nice to get some reaction from People who were in a similar Situation.

1. Do you have any advice on my preparation, like should I consider something which I might have forgot ?
2. I would like to move after my graduation in three years, can I start "Job hunting" online before I graduate and use my future titel (Master) as reference & can I even start "Job hunting" before I graduate ?
3. In the case I would not find a Job before I graduate, I know that you can Sponsor your visa yourself, would my saving entitle me to do that ?
4. In Germany I could work in the Consulting, Project Management, Software- and Systems design Department, I wonder what the salary for those Kind of Jobs are in Japan ? And what are my chances to find work in those fields in Japan ?
5. Related to the last question, what Kind of Japanese skill do you recommend to have to work in those fields ?

Sorry for the Long post,
Thank you

Guten Tag

1. Do you have any advice on my preparation, like should I consider something which I might have forgot ?
I do not know what you have prepared, but to find work in Japan you need to have specific knowledge to have a visa sponsorship or you can try and apply for highly skilled foreign professional visa japan which is point based. Another good way is to have a network of people.

2. I would like to move after my graduation in three years, can I start "Job hunting" online before I graduate and use my future titel (Master) as reference & can I even start "Job hunting" before I graduate ?
Job hunting you can do of course, but since you do not have enough experience after graduation it will be difficult. You need to build your reputation first. You can try to build some experience in the IT field before coming to Japan. You can also just try to apply for jobs on the internet. Often Job hunting is for people who are living in Japan.

3. In the case I would not find a Job before I graduate, I know that you can Sponsor your visa yourself, would my saving entitle me to do that ?
No , there is no such thing as "self sponsor visa" however, you can apply for an ordinary working visa such as "Engineer / Specialist in Humanities and International Services".
If you are planning to start a new business you might like to consider applying for the "Investor/Business Manager" visa.

4. In Germany I could work in the Consulting, Project Management, Software- and Systems design Department, I wonder what the salary for those Kind of Jobs are in Japan ? And what are my chances to find work in those fields in Japan ?
If you start as freshman in a Japanese company around 300.000 yen a month if you lucky. If you work for an international company than it will depend on your experience.

5. Related to the last question, what Kind of Japanese skill do you recommend to have to work in those fields ?
Specialized skills to separate you from all the other people. You need to show why you should be hired.

I hope you do understand it is not just `I finished graduation and I can come to Japan for work` it is not that easy. People often think it is easy but lack of skills or other experiences it will be difficult but not impossible.

I pretty much agree with the answers above, but being myself a Systems Engineering Manager here in Japan, I'd like to give you my own answers.

1. You're preparing just fine and are on the right track. Lots of jobs related to your educational background here in Japan, but working experience is usually required when it comes to hiring someone from abroad. In average, I would say at least 5 years are required before your resume is seriously considered when submitted from abroad.

2. Of course you can start job hunting at any moment but I'm just giving you a heads up, don't get disappointed if your job applications get rejected almost immediately. If this happens repeatedly, it most likely means that you still need to build up some experience, and as the above poster mentioned, to build your reputation.

3. This is not possible. For an engineer/specialist in humanities visa, a company must be willing to sponsor you, which only happens after they have agreed to employ you. You can sponsor yourself with an investor/business manager visa, but requirements are very specific. Check it out but I don't think this is what you're looking for, unless you have a good business plan and a lot of money to shell out.

4. Even with your master's degree and no working experience, most companies will treat you as a junior. Salaries are in the range of 3 to 4M, which is just barely ok for a life in Tokyo, but not for splurging. If you've got experience you can expect a more, like for example, from 3 to 5 years of experience: 4 to 6M, from 6 to 8 years of experience: 6 to 7.5M. From 8 years and beyond and if you're fully bilingual, possibilities can go from 8 to eve 12M depending on how well you can sell yourself. As a reference, anyone above 6M is already above the average household income.

5. Opposite to what many on this forum say, it is actually possible to find some jobs that need no japanese skills, but those will be purely technical and at staff level where communication is limited to others in the same company. If you want to get into system engineering and program management roles, you'll definitely need at least N2 to communicate properly with customers outside of the organization.

So as a summary, on top of your degrees and academic achievements, practical experience is very important if you want to be considered for a job in Japan in the fields that are of your interest. Don't get me wrong, I think you're going great and maybe need to be a bit more patient. Germany has very well recognized engineering companies and if you work in one of them for some years, coupled with you academic background, I assure you that your resume will get a lot of attention in Japan. Just keep working steadily, and don't make the mistake to come as an english teacher because your desperate about moving here. be smart.

^ Excellent advice.

As an alternative, you could consider going for a PhD as well. From what I've learned the conditions in Germany are very good, allowing you to save quite some more money. This will definitely set you apart from the crowd and make it easier to get a job offer and an HSP visa.

Thank you for your answers!

I took every advice into account!
As for the last reply, I took a PhD into consideration already but first I need to know my masters grade before considering it.

It's better to get some working experience first! And also I was surprised by answer #2, japans freshmen salary is less than half a freshmen can get in Germany.

But, just wondering that I already work since my Highschool senior year as app/ software developer doesn't count as experience ?

In any case I will get more experience after my degree before thinking about moving or if an opportunity gets by.

I wonder why no one mentioned the working holiday visa scheme. I am not an expert on this at all, but I think as a young German you qualify for it. It's thought to be more basic work just to get some money for traveling but maybe this could give you also a chance at some IT experience in Japan. Just have a look. As said, I am not an expert on that matter.

Regarding Japanese skills, N2 level is advisable both for job hunting as well as daily life in Japan. N1 obviously is even better. (And yes, you can get jobs with English only, but they are limited and your overall living experience in Japan will also be limited if you can't communicate)

Now in my experience learning Japanese is hard, and even harder when done overseas. So you might consider coming to Japan initially for 1-2 years of language study. Then you can get a student visa which will even allow you to work a few hours (I don't know how many but Google sensei does) a week, so you could try to get some IT related side job.

Viel Glück!

information about working holiday
http://www.de.emb-japan.go.jp/konsular/workingholiday.html

For the IT sector it is a specific market which often requires different know how.
I, personally never hear from someone doing a working holiday in the IT sector, often it is English class, resorts or farming. But if there is a possibility for the IT sector you still need to find some company which offer this.

Regarding Japanese is totally up to the OP. There are many international IT companies where you do not need to speak Japanese, but outside work for social life and doing . If the OP choose for Japanese company than at least N2 level will often be asked.

For working hour with student visa is 28H max a week

Yes, working holiday is an option, but even better.... try internships. Honestly, I've seen lots of young germans coming here on 6-12 month internships with german companies. I work for a german company myself so I know they are very keen of bringing their own people here :)

Getting an internship is much easier than getting a full time position, and it'll give you real, in-the-field experience. It doesn't pay much but it'll be enough to enjoy and travel a bit. I've seen that the interns definitely have a blast here in Tokyo. When they perform well, most of the times they are offered full time positions. Though I have to say most of them decline it because of what you just noticed: starting salaries aren't that great in Japan when compared to Germany....

Some german companies that I know offer internships: Daimler, BMW, Continental, AVL, Bosch..... all of them excellent companies to work for. Sorry, all of them automotive (i work in automotive field), but all of them need IT people and if you're into automotive development, then software and system engineers as well.