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How do I find English speaking IT job? :(
Right now, I'm working as a haken with a crappy salary (less than 190K after tax) and have been searching for an English-speaking job for the past three months, no luck so far. I've tried DODA, G Talent, LinkedIn, and several recruitment agencies, but it seems impossible without N2 or N1. :<
What's confusing me is that I've seen tons of videos where other foreigners are working IT jobs in Japan with just basic Japanese. Where on earth are they finding these jobs?! I've been focusing on roles in IT consultancy, QA, and development, but they all seem to require N1.
I'm really in need of a better salary to support my family back home, so much so that I'm considering leaving Japan and moving to the UK or another English-speaking country, even though I love Japan.
What am I doing wrong? Is there any good platform for foreigners looking for jobs?😞 I seriously need help or some kind of guidance.
Note: I hold VISA type E, so can't do any other jobs unrelated to IT.
ngl your haken company is prob taking a huge cut if you're only seeing 190k after tax. that's like 2.5M annual which is robbery for 4 years android exp. have u tried going direct with product companies instead of agencies? a lot of the english-friendly dev jobs i know about are at places like Mercari or PayPay or even some startups in Shibuya. they hire english speakers for tech roles and the japanese requirement is usually lower if your code is solid
also your visa type E means you can switch employers within IT. so don't let that scare you off. the real trick is getting past the HR filter. most big companies use automated screening that cuts anyone under N2. but if you find the hiring manager's email on linkedin or a tech meetup, you can skip that whole mess. japan-dev.com and tokyodev are good but also try posting in the TokyoDev slack community, there's a job board there with direct posts from engineers who actually need people
one thing nobody mentions is that some of those english IT jobs are at foreign companies with japan offices like Indeed or Google or Amazon. they hire for english roles but the competition is brutal. for a quicker move try smaller startups on Wantedly or even cold emailing CTOs at companies that look western-run. i know a guy who got a 7M offer at a fintech startup in Roppongi with N3 just by
You're getting filtered by the HR screen, not your actual skills. Try skipping the job boards entirely and go straight to tech meetups in Shibuya or Roppongi, there's one called "Tokyo iOS Meetup" and another for Android devs that meets near Yoyogi. The people who show up to those are often leads or seniors who can introduce you to their hiring manager directly.
Also, check if your university has an alumni network here. A lot of CS grads from overseas end up at Rakuten or Line, and internal referrals bypass the language filter almost completely. I've seen N4 devs get interviews at Mercari just because someone on the inside vouched for their code.
For platforms, Wantedly has a "English OK" filter that catches some smaller startups DODA misses. And if you haven't already, set your LinkedIn location to "Tokyo" and turn on the open to work feature just for recruiters, the foreign-run agencies like Hays and Randstad will start messaging you directly.
honestly your salary is way too low for a dev with your exp, even with N4. check out TokyoDev and Japan Dev jobs, they filter for English-friendly roles. also try reaching out to recruiters like Michael Page or Robert Walters direct, they get roles that never hit DODA. your haken company is prob screwing you over, but with Android dev you could find something at 5M+ yen pretty quick if you just spam those sites
Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.
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