Hi r/movingtojapan! I'm a product professional from the Philippines looking to join international tech companies in Japan. I have 14 years of experience working with global teams in digital agencies and (in the last 2 years) in-house product teams. Living and working in Japan has been a long-time dream of mine. I'm not sure if this is viable, but I'd like to explore possibilities.
Current focus:
- Managing cross-team product development
- Product strategy and UX/design
- Seeking Product Manager or Product Designer roles in international companies
Background:
- Starting basic Japanese lessons in January
- No college degree but progressed to senior roles
- Agency work under NDAs = limited public portfolio samples
- Recent experience in SaaS product development
- Led design teams as creative director, design ops
- Built/maintained design systems and documentation
- Extensive agency/client management experience
Research so far:
- Based on the visa wiki page here, most roles require a bachelor's
- Checked japan-dev.com: desired roles need conversational Japanese
- Most positions require residence in Japan
Questions:
- What's a realistic path given these requirements? How viable is my agency/product background without formal education?
- Does the language barrier impact PM/design roles in international companies, especially in stakeholder management?
- Insights on age discrimination? (I'm turning 40)
by snarlingdarling