My Road to Success from the U.S. to Japan–PEI

Today, let’s listen to Mr. Bae’s experience from studying Japanese to successfully working in Japan.

Name：PEI
Education：Master’s Degree
Major：Computer Science
Studying in Japan：January 2023 enrollment and Yang
Japanese level when entering school: N4
Current Japanese Language Level：N1 Pass
Studied in the U.S. for 2 years
IT System Engineer for 1 year in a large manufacturing company in the U.S.
IT Project Manager for a large state-owned enterprise in Shenzhen, China for 3 years

How long did it take from the time I started to prepare for the job search to the time I got a job offer from a company?

I came to Wako Japanese Language Institute in January 2023, and the job hunting campaign started in December 2023 and lasted until late January 2024. The job search started in December 2023 and lasted until the end of January 2024. It took almost two months from the time I started to find a job in Japan.

What is the job description for participating in the inauguration?

I am working in an IT company in Japan. I worked on a project for a Japanese insurance company and was responsible for the design of the company’s system, data analysis, data warehouse construction and data processing. I was responsible for the design of the system, the analysis of data, the construction of a data warehouse, and the processing of data.

Any previous related work experience?

I have previously worked in the domestic IT industry for about 4 years, and have about 3 years of experience related to this current job. Before that, I was working for a large state-owned enterprise in Shenzhen, doing a similar job.

How does China and the US look at the difference in pay in Japan?

Currently in the field of it industry, in the United States should be the highest salary in the world. China’s domestic it industry is also divided into two parts, one is often mentioned in everyone’s mouth. The first-line Internet companies, such as Beijing’s Baidu, Hangzhou’s Alibaba, and Shenzhen’s Tencent, or Huawei, such large-scale IT enterprises. They give this salary package is no less than the same type of enterprises in the United States.

The second type of companies in the IT industry in China are non-tier one IT companies. They give the remuneration package then, compared with Japan may still have some gap. I previously worked in Shenzhen’s large state-owned enterprises, the pay package given less than 150,000 yuan a year. The company that accepted me in Japan this time, his annual income is given to a year is about 260,000 yuan of a salary.

Why did you give up America to come to Japan?

If a foreign student wants to find a job in the United States, he or she must have a job offer from an employer. After we receive the offer, we have to go to the U.S. Immigration Bureau to apply for a work visa. However, it is very difficult to get a work visa in the United States. This is because all the applicants for work visas in the United States do not participate in the work visa issuance organised by the USCIS. That is, if there are 100 applicants, only about 30% of them are lucky enough to get a work visa. I also participated in the work visa lottery when I was studying in the US, but unfortunately I was not successful. At that time, I decided to go back to my home country to work, but later I decided to come back to Japan. I decided to come back to Japan to see if there are better job opportunities.

What are the Japanese language requirements for IT jobs in Japan?

Nowadays, if you are looking for a job in the Japanese IT industry, the threshold of entry is that you have to pass the JLPT, which is the second level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, and only this second level of certificate can be used as a threshold of entry into the industry.

What are some of the anxious moments you’ve experienced when studying in Japan?

Last year, I think there were just two periods of time when I was more anxious. They were both before taking the JLPT twice. Because I had been working for a while, I had left the workplace and was now studying Japanese as a full-time, off-campus international student. I was not used to it for a while at first, but after I got used to it, I was busy preparing for the JLPT Level 2 and Level 1 exams. After I took the two exams, I found that they were quite difficult and required a lot of time to prepare. Before the exams, there was indeed a period of time when I was under a lot of pressure. Because I had to do a lot of exercises and a lot of exam papers. During this period of time, both energy and physical exertion are very large, and the mood is also relatively low.

What competencies do you think are more important in the interview process?

In my opinion, there are two very important points in the process of interviewing for a job with a Japanese company. The first point is the level of your Japanese language skills, which determines whether you can get the job successfully or not. The second point is whether the skills and experience you have acquired in your past work matches the position you are being recruited for.

What advice do you have for post-study students in terms of job placement?

My advice to students coming to Japan to study is that they should first choose a very good Japanese language school. Because the purpose of students coming to Japan to study is both to go to higher education and to find a job. Whether they want to go on to higher education or to find a job, the language school is their first stop in Japan. The platform of the language school, whether it is good or bad, may determine whether the student’s future development path is smooth or not. Especially for students who are looking for a job, choosing a language school that has a humane management and teachers who have a high level of Japanese teaching is the first thing that you should do.

The second point is that if you have passed the N2 level or N1 level of the JLPT during the school year, you can start the process of job hunting as early as possible. If you haven’t passed the relevant Japanese level, I recommend that you study at a language school for at least one year to build a good foundation in Japanese. Do your best to pass the JLPT N2 level exam. This will help you to start your job hunting activities in Japan after one year.

The third point is that you should do what you want to do. Concentrate on one thing. Job hunting is a goal that you want to achieve in the end. However, in the process, you will have to go through a lot of difficulties in the examination. It is recommended that you concentrate your efforts on the Japanese language test. In the process of preparing for the exam, don’t think too much about employment, just do well in the exam and get the Japanese language proficiency certificate. After that, we can do our best to find a job, and I believe that we can achieve better results.

How does WAYO help you?

I think I made a very, very good choice in choosing Wayo Japanese Language School. I think that Wayo Japanese Language School is the best Japanese school that can provide such a good service in terms of employment. In the process of employment, the school director of Wayo Japanese Language School provides us, the students who are employed, with very good job hunting companies in Japan. I think that these headhunters were very helpful to us, who are new to the Japanese job market, especially in the process of recommending interviews, conducting mock interviews, screening for opportunities, and then choosing a job and signing an employment contract. I think this is a great advantage of WAYO.

Another thing is that I really appreciate the teachers of the Japanese Language School. They teach us Japanese language and related knowledge tirelessly. They explained the important points over and over again. They gave us some conversation training, including basic grammar. All these things are of great help in the interview process.