Is this Thread dead? I hope it's not! It has been awhile since the first post back in 2016, after i read thru all the way down till the latest post. Minnasan dou desuka? minna genki? How are u guys doing now? @Flanegan @sacwoc @Innovation @Riolis @honesty tan. I'm sorry i dont know how to tag u guys properly, I hope u guys are doing awesome!, i'm looking forward to hear from u guys again.

I wanted to know what u guys are doing now? Having a great life?

Btw, i really enjoyed reading this thread.

Owh so u (sacwoc) are in Hong Kong now? What about the other people? i mean what is your current job?

Hi @orangegurl, i think it is hard if you dont have skills that are outstanding, like maybe software engineering, and etc, it's easier if u have degree, about speaking japanese, i think it depends on company, and honestly, i just started worked here for almost 1 week already, and i found out that every fcking thing is in Japanese, but of course there r sometimes got abit of english like the kiosk and etc, everything related to government stuff is all in Japanese (service, fill up document, etc). I got a degree in Electrical engineering, but i taught myself software engineering stuff, now i work as Software Engineer here in Sapporo. You can ask me anything related to work and etc on my email: herodotus94@gmail.com

Do you need to know Japanese in order to work in Japan? it also depends on the company, and also what kind of job, for example if sales kind of job of course you need good japanese, as for my case we just focus on coding and make great products, we dont need to talk to client and stuff (keigo), BUT!, we still need to able to speak basic Japanese in order to communicate with the Japanese in the company especially the HR staffs, besides that, u also need to be to communicate with the officer here in order to deal with the government and other stuff like post office, or create bank account and etc. You MUST at least know the basic, at least able to have a conversation in japanese, once you have that, the officer will try their best to help you out. Unless your company provide you a human translator or do everything for u.

Must follow their working culture? It really depends on the company you are working at, different company has different culture, but the still the general Japan culture is still there, but as for my case, all the Software Engineers in my company are foreigners, and the management staffs (all japanese) they understand and want us to work our best by letting us work with flexible hour and we are able to work remotely. Of course some japanese here also they dont work OT, like once their work is done, they just go back, of course they would say Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu , and inside your Malaysian heart would whisper aiyah beh hiao kin lah, just go bak and get a good rest lah dont worry. Nowadays japanese people are changing i guess? My company people are different from what i had in mind before i work there.

Anyway, i'm working on the story of how i change from fresh graduate as E & E engineer to become Self-taught software engineer and got employed in Japan. It's going to be on Medium. Stay tune~

I'm not sure about front-end engineer demand here in Japan, but u will have higher chance if u are a full-stack engineer, but i believe u will have a good chance here in Japan if u give it a try. Ganbatte Kudasai~ But of course it is waaayy better if u can speak japanese, because it shows that you are interested in Japanese culture and etc. They really like those people who loves japanese culture.

And By the way guys, my journey as a self-taught developer story is ready! You can read it on HERE on Medium.

You know, i don't think i have talent in the first place, if you live together with me, u'll find out i'm actually quite dumb, i mean, i have been thru many hardships, i always make mistakes and feel so dumb every time making it, and sometimes i repeat the same mistakes, it feels like i am not born for doing anything awesome (i mean awesome is subjective), plus i always wish i was born in First world country so that i can have better life (yeah in the past i always thought life is great overseas), but little did i know being born in this family and being born in Malaysia is one of the best lottery that i have won. I think the most important 'talent' everyone should have is DONT BE LAZY, if you are born without any serious handicap, i think you can achieve your dreams if u work hard enough.

The reason why i kept going is because i feel like i have a purpose in life. So i hope u could find one (it doesnt have to be super awesome), and life would be adventurous, fun and meaningful ahead.

There is this short paragraph i found on Youtube comment for this song called I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2. And i want to share it.

People spend their lives trying to look for happiness with no success and it is most likely this will happen to you if you try to look for happiness. You will spend a miserable journey trying to look for something that is not there. Happiness is not something that you look for because happiness comes from within. Happiness is you. stop looking and live in the now. Experience the moment. get away from your computer, stop comparing yourself to others, be happy. happiness is living confronting things with fear but with the courage to face them, to do things that you have never done before. fail, get back up again, live with uncertainty, live unpredictably, don't comfort yourself with living comfortably. Happiness is for the ones who live in the struggle, happiness is not something you can achieve. Happiness is something you live.

This post has been edited by moon004: Jul 24 2019, 09:03 AM