Accepted Tech Job in Tokyo as someone in their early 20’s

17 comments

1. If you just need validation, you’ll be fine I think. 2-4years in you will probably find out if this is the place for you and then you could go back to US if you wanted – finding a job wouldn’t be so hard with experience on hand. Tech jobs in the US pay enough to create a pool of “savings for your 30s” even if you enter the market at a later stage of your 20s.

2. There is a near-zero chance you will ever make as much as your friends back home. In contrast to the US, salaries here are low, raises are low and require time investment to earn, and bonuses can be cut at a moment’s notice.

   It’s best just to forgot about the money and consider what else Japan, and Tokyo especially, has to offer. Investing financially into your future is important, but you don’t really need to be concerned with that in your 20s.. at the very least, you’ll be contributing to a pension fund which you can withdraw if you decide to leave Japan before retirement.

3. I moved at 22 right after college and stayed for 10 years. I had no job and no plan. Just wanted an adventure. I left because I got a great offer I “couldn’t refuse” to move to Switzerland. Been here ever since. Still visit Japan to see family for a month per year or so.

   Whether it all “makes sense” for you is something only you can decide. I absolutely would have shriveled up and died if I’d stayed in the US. Looking back now long term I can also confidently say that at least in my case it had zero negative impact on my earning potential.

   But that is largely a luck game anyway. Opportunities come and go. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. The only thing I would maybe change about my decisions is I think I would have tried to keep better track of the usb drive with Y5000 of bitcoin that I “invested” in in late 2010 during grad school…

4. Honestly, I think it is chill. You get international experience, you got a job straight after graduation, and will have substantial work experience when things get better.

   Also, you get bonuses in full-time jobs so that go to your savings if necessary.

5. Sounds like your main concern is money, and you’re not at all thinking about what daily life in Japan is like or how it differs from the US. Unless you’re highly interested in Japanese culture, don’t go.

6. I changed careers at 42 from teaching to tech and now work near Tokyo. I think you’ll be happy with your decision. You’re still young and will be building up a good resume here.

7. I am also having an offer in jp for sw engineer about 7.5M and I’m 29.

   Considering take it or not as there is a 40% pay cut after tax… but I really want to try it out.

8. I think this sounds like an amazing experience, but you do have to accept that financially, you’ll be behind your peers in the US. It’s a tradeoff.

   Personally, I would only go, but only for a couple years. Software engineering earning potential in the US is just way higher

9. As you know, tech roles are tough to find in the US now. Yes, in theory you could make a lot more in the US, but what would that realistically look like? Rejecting the role you got, and spending a couple weeks or a couple months unemployed looking for a job? I think you shouldn’t worry about comparing your future to a future that doesn’t actually exist and try to make the most out of the one that you have. Like you said, the experience will be good to have for your resume and you can always come back if you feel like it didn’t work out the way you wanted.

10. That salary is abysmally low in comparison to the US. If money is your concern, stay in the US.

    However I had a similar choice 6 years ago when I graduated with a bachelor’s in CS and Japanese. If money wasn’t an issue, I would have really regretted not going.

    If you do go, get at least a year experience. Quitting earlier than a year will look pretty bad to recruiters here, and the junior market won’t improve in a year here. I would recommend getting 2 years experience there, but that could be a stretch if you hate it there.

    Understand that you will not have much money, and you’ll be missing a financial headstart that some of your tech peers may have, but when applying to jobs here you’ll be able to catch up quickly enough that it won’t matter by retirement age.

    I’ll say that I really wish I have that opportunity right now. But I’m a lot more financially stable now so I’ve got the privilege to say that.

    Edit: Any debate about going is contingent on you getting a job offer in the US. If you can’t do that, then job>no job, and you should go.

11. Impressive ,how you landed a Job in Japan, of all places, with such little experience ? I reckon you must be nearly natively fluent or japanese by ancestry right ?

12. Can you speak Japanese?

13. Sounds like you are about to do your 20s in hard mode. If you’re up for the challenge, do it. 30-45 are your big money making years anyhow.

14. do it. do it for all of us who couldn’t. you owe it to us. haha. would do this in a heartbeat. you’ll have the best time of your life.

15. Money is something, but not everything (I say this as someone in their 40s an industry who COULD be making bank if I chose to ignore my morals, and is instead financially comfortable in a role that contributes positively to the world). 

    I’d suggest look at the job as a whole package: salary + experience of living overseas as if it were an employee benefit. If the adventure appeals enough to compensate for a lower salary, go for it! A few years in your 20s on lower pay can be made up for, and the international experience will look good on a resume later. 

16. how did you find a job, what website did you use

17. I think it’s good start for someone fresh out of college.

    You’re young, and single. There are worse places to start your adult life at, and doesn’t have to be permanent. come, get some life/work experience and move back if you want.

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