Hi everyone,
I’ve been looking into frontend development/fullstack positions at Rakuten, Mercari, PayPay, and Hennge since they seem to be some of the most foreigner-friendly companies in Japan (despite reading in this subreddit that the best would be avoid them or just getting a short-term contract).
My current conditions are: 31 years old, have a N3 (aiming for N2 this July), and 3 years of experience as a frontend developer in my home country (Spain). I’ve also been married to a Japanese national for 5 years (in case that matters for visa purposes).
Until now, I’ve applied to all of these companies but got rejected each time so I’m wondering if it’s because of my background – I have a degree in physical therapy and will be finishing my master’s degree in web and application development this July -.
Thought the master's would be enough but now I wonder if I need a computer science degree? or maybe building side projects be much more useful? To be honest, since I transitioned to software development I’ve been working full-time and used the spare free to study programming related things such as how JavaScript or React works internally or some backend as I didn't know anything when I started working, so haven’t really built any significant side projects, just the usual tic-tac-toe or rock-paper-scissors.
I also don’t feel really comfortable applying for a Japanese visa just to go there and job hunt so I wonder if visiting as a tourist and look for a job there would make things easier?
I don't know, I'm totally lost, maybe I'm just missing something in my applications that they’re not even considering my CV? Is just the job market there oversaturated?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance 🙂
by Neith720