(Repost with clearer structure. My earlier post was removed for being too rambling. Sorry, tend to do that a lot)
Background:
Late 30s, used to live in Osaka for a couple of years, decided to pivot career into webdev (self-taught) while working in Japan. Had to leave for family reasons back home in Europe. Intended to just deal with family things, grind to get better at webdev, then go back. Relatively quickly found a webdev job here though. That was 2 years ago.
Current situation:
Full Stack dev for 2 years. Job is comfortable, but pay is rubbish for cost of living, projects are low quality with bad practices, and I’m not being challenged, thus not learning much. Life outside work is shit as the country is a dumpsterfire. Miss life in Japan a ton, and desperate to get back. Grinding coding/webdev/personal projects/Japanese(between N2-N3) in my free time every day to get better on my own. While it works, progress is slow due to work taking up a lot of time.
Goal:
Get a web dev job in Japan. Family issues resolved a while back already, and been trying to get back since, but to no avail. Been applying to tons of jobs on TokyoDev, JapanDev, Linkedin, etc for quite a long time now, but most companies don't hire overseas, especially at my experience level, or I never even hear back. 0 interviews.
My considerations:
- Stay at current job: Stable income, and company experience (not great though), but risk coasting, and slow progress in both coding and Japanese
- Quit current job: Focus on coding/Japanese/job hunt – more time, potentially better progress, but financial pressure, and no guarantee of better results
- Gamble on getting a low hanging eikaiwa job to get a visa and back into the country, and then apply locally for the bigger pool of open positions that don't hire overseas, but not sure if that really improves chances
Questions:
- Which path gives the best shot at landing a web dev job in Japan ASAP?
- Is quitting to study by myself full-time worth the risk in the current market?
- Would taking on a dead-end eikaiwa gig just for the visa and being in the country realistically help? Domestic applications and all
Appreciate any insight. Especially from people in the dev space in Japan right now.
by untimely-dev