Re: [tlug] UNIX jobs on TLUG (was: Database frontend in Linux)

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Doug McLean writes:

 > Since the question has come up, I do wonder for some of us in IT who
 > would *like* to work in Japan (currently working elsewhere), what are
 > the recommended steps to finding a good job?

0. Once you've got a bit of language skills (more the bowing than the
   vocabulary), hang out with Japanese who do what you know how to do.
   A lot of jobs never get advertised or handed out to the head
   hunters.  (You knew that, but you can make it work for you here
   too, even with minimal language skills.)

1. Grab the most recent copy of "What Color is Your Parachute?", read
   it and apply it.

2. Japanese language skills certainly help.

3. In general, you should probably forget about core MIS in Japanese
   firms unless you have strong language skills (or wrote R3 or
   similar famous software -- Japanese have a weakness for famous
   market-crushing firms).  The core functions vary so much from firm
   to firm that you really need the language skills to get a handle on
   the requirements.  Look at specialty areas (security is an example,
   see below).

4. There are people on this list who can hire you.  But they're pretty
   picky.  Show your stuff.

5. I think the gaishikei securities companies will be coming back
   strong, before the native firms do.  Look for foreign companies
   with a strong presence in Japan.

6. If you've got or can acquire security skills, that should help.
   The Japanese are extremely paranoid about leaks of sensitive
   information.  "Putting a lid on the stink" is a national mania.  In
   a recent case that an American would recognize as "frat-boy rape",
   the university officials explain that they weren't covering up,
   their failure to report the incident to the police was due to
   "(careful) consideration of the educational aspects" of the
   incident.  Yeah, right.  If you've got skills that aid in
   concealing information and preventing its unauthorized flow (and
   aren't too squeamish about how your bosses might apply those
   skills), there are plenty of firms looking for those skills.  OTOH,
   the fact that you're gaijin automatically makes you less
   trustworthy.

 > and my language skills, while weak, are improving through study.

It's not the language so much as the rest of Japanese culture.[1]  See if
you can get a hold of a copy of "Manga Nihon Keizai Zeminaru" from
Nihon Keizai Shinposha.  You definitely want the Manga version.  I've
been told by Japanese (academics, though, so take it with a grain of
salt) that while a lot of the plot is sensationalist, the stylized
characters are archetypes of the Japanese business world, and their
interactions are realistic.

 > That coupled with prior long-term IT experience leads me to hope
 > that even in a bad economy a few IT jobs available to 外国人 are
 > available.

Footnotes: 
[1]  The Nipponized cop in Crichton's "Rising Sun" notwithstanding,
you will never be able to speak Japanese fluently, if only because the
Japanese can't speak it fluently to you.  You cannot speak Japanese
properly to a person unless you know the standing of both in the
social total order, and gaijin are, well, gaijin.  Rising Sun captures
some of Japanese business culture ... the vicious side.  It all
actually happens, but it's rare that that much nastiness gets packed
into one place.  Easy to forget, though, so read it with salt shaker
in hand.  You can ignore Tom Clancy, he's ineducable (although fun to
read).  van Wolferen's "The Enigma of Japanese Power" is a must-read,
IMHO, although it might scare you back to the Lower East Side where
it's safe. :-)