Mr. Feng is a systems developer in School With Inc. a Japanese leading company operating the review site of Language Study. (JIKOPY)

Name	Mr. Feng DeJiang (35)
Nationality	China
Company	School With Inc.
Industry	Education
Career	IT Engineer
Location	Tokyo
Japanese skills	Before Japan：JLPT-N5 Current level：JLPT-N1
Study abroad experience (Japan)	Yes
Latest educational history (before Japan)	University Graduate
Work experience before Japan	None

Why do you want to work in Japan?

Tell us about your interests and motives of coming to Japan.

When I graduated from University in China it was the peak of China’s job crisis period. So I decided that it was the time to study abroad and find employment. I wanted to get to know about Japan back then, so I decided to study abroad in Japan.

When did you decide that you want to work in Japan?

When I was around 26 years old.

When did you start work in Japan?

At 28 years old.

Why do you want to work in Japan?

• A lot of opportunities and challenges in my job.

Tell us about your job search for work in Japan.

What was your method of job searching?

• Recommended by someone/connections

What was your criterion when choosing a company? Please rank the following from 1- 3 from the choices below based on priority.

1. A company where I can learn and further my career for the future.
2. A company that provides adequate training / education after hiring.
3. As long as I’m hired, anywhere is fine.

 

When attempting to get a job in Japan, what was your biggest challenge?

• Japanese written tests, SPI, and aptitude tests are too difficult for foreigners.

Tell us about your current job.

Tell us about your main role/responsibility.

My main role in the company is system development in general. Requirements definition, net construction, infrastructural design, and anything in the database.

 

Tell us about what you consider important and concerns you other than your job.

Work is not one person’s job; it is about cooperating with your fellow colleagues. In the IT industry, there are a lot of people who think that as long as you have the technology, you will pull through. But in reality, it is about having good communication between your members that great service and products are born. Listen to the opinions of your partners and objectively analyze your thoughts, this is important.

What is the appealing factor/attractive feature of your current employment?

Everyday is an excitement. Between the engineers in the company, we often talk about things like stocks, investments and the Japanese economy. Sometimes we ask ourselves if we really are engineers. (laughs)

Tell us about working in Japan.

Tell us why working in Japan appeals to you.

Anyone gets an equal chance of opportunity – that appeals to me.

Are there any other struggles you are facing aside from work in Japan? How did you manage to deal with it?

I started work in Japan as a new graduate, and it wasn’t particularly stressful or out of my control. I think it was just about working for that paycheck. But if I was forced to say one, it was when I first entered the company with full of questions and confusion on technical terms. However, a senior in the company followed me through and taught me. I soon memorized everything and got the hang of it after 6 months.

Tell us about your job aspirations (Career developments) in the future.

I haven’t really thought about that much (other than financial plans), but to live in the present is my way of living. For as long as I live, I work towards having the same vision as my colleagues, having a career that I enjoy, make full and productive use of my skills and contribute to my company.

Tell us what you do in your everyday life in Japan.

Type of accommodation.

Rental

How did you find an accommodation when you first came to Japan?

Recommended from friends/people I know

How do you spend the holidays?

I spend it with my family. I would play with the kids, or give my wife a nice massage for pocket money negotiations, ha-ha!

Are there any struggles that you are experiencing other than living in Japan? How are you dealing with this issue?

Opening a bank account, registering for a mobile phone, credit card applications – things like these. Especially when it comes down to financial institutions, they are very strict on foreign inspections. I was told that you always need a guarantor. Also, administrative documents (e.g. resident card renewal, PR applications, etc.) is an extremely complicated process.

Any words of advice you would like to give for those who are thinking about working abroad?

Due to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the promotion speed of Japan’s global society is remarkable as expected. There is an increasing amount of foreigners being employed into the Japanese corporate world. If you are still in doubt on whether you want to work here, muster up that courage, take a step forward at a time. As the saying goes – the early bird catches the worm.

Just do it.

When?

That’s now!