Working in IT vs English teaching in Japan

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.

This is veeery old style and maybe only still used when soon-to-graduate students attend job fairs and fill out application forms right there. I'm not saying there aren't any companies that still work this way, but it would be a rare case, especially for recruiting mid-career people. Recruitment these days in IT (and in many other industries) for mid-career people occurs very much in the same way as in the U.S. or Canada.

Usually, the recruiters are the ones reaching out to you, but it can also happen the other way around. There's a phone or face-to-face conversation to understand your background, skills and interests. Recruiter agent will ask you to send your resume via e-mail and will find possible job matches for you. You pick those that interest you and give approval to the recruiter to send your information and introduce you to the company. You also agree to be represented by the recruiter, usually for up to one year, during which time you cannot be introduced to the same company by other agencies (and if it happens, it would look bad), so if you feel a recruiter is inexperienced or don't see much interest on his/her side in representing you, walk away.

Then it's the usual interviews with the employer, usually 2 or 3, and if you make it, you receive an offer letter.

Really, don't be afraid to contact them or to call them directly. They are not the company, and are usually hungry for skillful candidates to refer to companies. Remember they get payed if their referred candidate gets hired, so it is in their best interest to help you find a job.

Usually, the recruiters are the ones reaching out to you, but it can also happen the other way around. There's a phone or face-to-face conversation to understand your background, skills and interests. Recruiter agent will ask you to send your resume via e-mail and will find possible job matches for you. You pick those that interest you and give approval to the recruiter to send your information and introduce you to the company. You also agree to be represented by the recruiter, usually for up to one year, during which time you cannot be introduced to the same company by other agencies (and if it happens, it would look bad), so if you feel a recruiter is inexperienced or don't see much interest on his/her side in representing you, walk away.

What you've just described sounds more like what I'm used to however most initial contact tends to be from the recruiter's end. Like other professions such as accountancy, I.T. doesn't normally work like office temping and dispatch agencies do where you are added to an agencies books and then dispatched for short-term work with clients. From my experience in a few western countries, the recruiter will normally just approach you and hire you for that one specific contract.

I am not blaming on the others saying rirekisyo is old fasioned or not because I am not a troll (lol)
But I will answer to the question. I would apply IT works are worth to try for the moment, if I were you.
Because you have knowledge and skills (eligible to apply), while I can apply only English teaching works, which seems to be for everybody with degree from English speaking countries.
Just to remind you ES and rirekisyo is different but what you write is similar.

I am not blaming on the others saying rirekisyo is old fasioned or not because I am not a troll (lol)
But I will answer to the question. I would apply IT works are worth to try for the moment, if I were you.
Because you have knowledge and skills (eligible to apply), while I can apply only English teaching works, which seems to be for everybody with degree from English speaking countries.
Just to remind you ES and rirekisyo is different but what you write is similar.


Thank you. I think the only thing that worries me about working in IT there is the possibility of long working hours and rush hour commutes in Tokyo. I know that IT obviously pays more highly than teaching ESL but I would rather have a decent quality of life if that makes sense.

I'm Japanese and I send my rirekisho by email in pdf format.
Hand-written rirekisho is highly recommended "if you are a new
graduate applying for the first permanent job".

I bring printed rirekisho along with my work history called
shokumu keirekisho. (職務経歴書)

When applying for a job, I apply though the website such as
リクナビ https://next.rikunabi.com like other Japanese.
I fill in the form to give my basic academic record and work history when creating an account and the company you applied see the basic resume and if I'm short listed, I will be contacted directly from the company.
Then the company tell you about selection step I'm going through
such as 1 paper test, 2 or 3 interviews and what to bring.
I have never brought hand-written rirekisho.
I just print them out and bring and put "hanko" stamp on it.

Thanks. I don't think I could have a Hanko for obvious reasons and also I don't really handwrite Japanese. I only have limited available time for Japanese study and I have focused more on reading and listening than anything else.

I can comfortably handwrite hiragana and katakana and do from time to time however taking the time to learn how to handwrite kanji seems a little superfluous to be honest, especially in my line of work.

I think the only thing that worries me about working in IT there is the possibility of long working hours and rush hour commutes in Tokyo. I know that IT obviously pays more highly than teaching ESL but I would rather have a decent quality of life if that makes sense.

Sorry, but such balance in Japan is very rare. There's a big trade off between both options.

I'll just put the rough numbers and you can judge what works best for you.

Eikaiwa
Average salary: ~ 270k / month (~3.3M / year) gross, or around ~ 210k / month (2.5M / year) net.
Growth opportunities: Little. Maybe capped at 300k / month.

IT
Salary range for staff level (non-manager): from 3.5M / year for new graduates, to about 7M for senior mid-careers. For your age, maybe 5 or 6M (including bonus), which roughly translates into 500k / month gross, or 380k /month net.
Growth opportunities: 9 to 12M per year if you make it to managerial roles.

Avg. spending of a single person in Tokyo: 150 ~ 200k / month (depending on habits). If I understand correctly, you have a partner, so consider it.

In the U.S. and in some parts of Europe, people can still have a very comfortable and affluent lifestyle without having to dedicate much of their time to work. They even have the luxury of rejecting promotions and higher roles just because they're comfortable with their work-life balance and salary as it is and don't want to give more of their personal time.

In Japan that's not the case. If you want to achieve a decent level of comfort and affluence for you and your family, you have to work harder. It is just part of both the economy and the culture here. This is something to consider a lot when you're moving to Japan.

In the U.S. and in some parts of Europe, people can still have a very comfortable and affluent lifestyle without having to dedicate much of their time to work. They even have the luxury of rejecting promotions and higher roles just because they're comfortable with their work-life balance and salary as it is and don't want to give more of their personal time.


Thanks for your reply. Surely that principle is the same everywhere though isn't it? If you reach a point in Japan where you are comfortable and you cease looking for a new job or promotion then are your earnings actually going to decrease?

One of the reasons why I'm cautious about IT work there is because I absolutely don't want the salaryman lifestyle and my partner wants that even less than I do. I would actually prefer to work for a game company in Tokyo over anything else tbh.