Hey everyone!
So as the title states, I'm (34M) in the process of figuring out how to make a move to Japan feasible within 3 to 4 years.
For context, we (my GF and I) visited Japan last year for the first time. I moved away from my home country 10 years ago and visiting Japan was one of the few times in the last 10 years that I felt like I was where I belonged, something that I don't get now even when going back to my home country. I met amazing people there who were so kind, considerate and open, in a way that I haven't experienced in other countries I've travelled to. We're very likely visiting again next year.
Additional context is – I work in digital marketing, previously agency-side and now in-house at a global company. One of the paths that I want to potentially explore is to over the next 3 years become as senior as I can within this company to then try to justify a move to their Tokyo office – while this might seem like the more straightforward path available to me there's a few blockers in the way.
- This is dependent on the company growing in Japan (still new in the country so there is definitely opportunity), and enough roles becoming available that they'd be willing to hire outside of the country.
- Currently my role is focused on a different market, so not sure how easily I can translate that experience. Working in digital marketing in Japan doesn't mean that I'll only be advertising within Japan, but it will very likely be part of my remit. I'm going to make an effort to be more involved with initiatives in the Japanese market.
Another route available to me is that I currently have a contact working in HR at a global marketing agency in Japan.
- This obviously means going back to the agency world, which can be quite brutal and I've heard that particularly so in Japan.
- This will also likely result in less benefits and a potentially lower pay for a similar level of seniority at an in-house role.
- We don't know how long they'll be there for, so not something I should count on being available 3 years from now.
Learning the language – I've already made a start on this with 1-on-1 lessons online. Teacher seems to be good, and she ensures that I understand the broader context of the language.
So a few questions:
- For those who work in marketing/digital marketing in Japan – what's the best way to stay on top of industry trends in that market?
- For those who have moved into a new role when moving to Japan, taking into consideration the two approaches above, which one do you think is more sensible?
- Which recruitment agencies (if any) should I be keeping an eye on that have a trend of hiring outside of Japan?
- For those who have been successful in making a similar move happen, while also having dependents, what were the steps you took to ensure that you were in the best position to make that move happen and how long did it take you to achieve it?
- In terms of learning Japanese – I understand this is going to take a while, but as I'm working on a studying schedule how much time should I be dedicating on a weekly basis to ensure a decent level of proficiency (N1) that will also apply to the context of my work?
- Any tips on what I should be doing to complement my learning from the 1-on-1 classes?
- What's the best way to work on my conversational skills as I learn Japanese?
To answer a couple of potential questions:
"Why only 3 to 4 years from now?" – Essentially I've worked really hard over the last 10 years to finally get into a good job that I like, pays well, has decent career prospects and great benefits. So I want to be able to build up from here. It also required a lot of patience on my GF's side for me to get to this stage, so it would be irresponsible of me to now just turn and do this without consideration for her. If this happens, I want it to happen in a way that we'd be living a comfortable life that we worked hard for.
"A lot can change in 3 to 4 years" – that is absolutely true, but there's no way for me to control for that. Worst case scenario, if it doesn't happen, then I have just continued to put energy into developing my career and learning a new language, which is still super important to me.
Any input or relevant experience you guys can share would be super useful and very much appreciated! Thank you all!
by Marvoth