At G Talent, our bilingual career advisors who are well versed in the IT industry will assist IT engineers from around the globe with their career change. We have many interesting stories to tell from our past candidates who were successful with their job hunting through our support and today we interviewed Mr. G.S to share his experience. Coming to Japan after building a career as an infrastructure engineer ―Could you briefly tell us about your background? After graduating from university, I worked for eight years at the same university as an infrastructure engineer. At the same time, I also worked as a freelancer for a biotech company in the Netherlands and took a part in a couple of start-ups in my local city. I was responsible for building pipelines and automating different parts of infrastructure, as well as operating and maintaining Linux servers as a Linux engineer.To be able to grow faster I wanted to work in a larger team and also wanted to try different areas, so I started working in a hosting company with a team of great SRE engineers. I worked there for a year before coming to Japan in May 2022. It was a meaningful time for me. I can definitely say that I learned a lot during that time. ―What made you decide to work in Japan in the first place? My wife is Japanese. We met in Russia and lived there for quite some time, but we wanted to try living in another country. New Zealand was initially on the top of our list of places to move to, but after some discussion, we decided to try moving to Japan, my wife’s home country.  Reliable, considerate, and supportiveThat’s how my career consultant was like at G Talent ―Could you tell us why you chose G Talent?Actually, I was not actively looking for a job when we first came to Japan in May 2022 because I had a part-time job. But after living in Japan for a while, I decided to open my profile on LinkedIn. Various recruitment agencies immediately contacted me, including G Talent, which I already knew as a professional IT recruitment agency that helps foreign IT engineers find professional jobs in Japan. What was really appealing to me about G Talent was the professionalism of the career consultant who contacted me. As an IT-savvy bilingual career consultant, she paid close attention to my experience and desire to find a job that would allow me to make the most of my skills in Japan. This is the main reason I decided to register with G Talent. She answered my questions carefully, one by one, and was very considerate and supportive. Because of her, I was able to move forward with my job change with peace of mind. Thanks to all her efforts and support, I was able to find the perfect company for myself. Inspiring passionate team members and the company’s future vision ―What factors made you decide to join the current company?Out of four companies that I received offers from, I chose the one that is a leader in its area and has a team of very passionate engineers. I met with them in person and found them to be very friendly. I also thought the relaxed atmosphere in the office suited me.Another major factor was that the company’s technical direction matched the skill areas I wanted to enhance from then on. I signed on with them on September 1, 2022, thinking that the company would enable me to grow further as an engineer while learning new technologies.―Tell us about your current job and work environment.As a Linux Server Engineer, I am primarily responsible for the maintenance of Linux servers. If there are any additional management requests or user issues which need to be resolved, working closely with my team members, I also help in identifying potential issues.The current company introduces a hybrid work style that combines working from home with coming to the office. Currently, I work from home once a week and come to the office four days a week. But starting next year, I will be working from home three days a week and coming to the office only two days a week. The company’s official language is Japanese, including most of the documents. So, it is sometimes a little difficult for me because my Japanese is not very good yet. However, whenever I don’t understand something, people around me explain it in English. Thanks to their support, I have been able to proceed with my work smoothly. Before joining the company, I met with my current team and was told, “Language is not a problem. You can always communicate in English if you have difficulty with Japanese.”. Our team has non-Japanese members, including myself. We communicate with each other using whatever language (English or Japanese) is suitable at the time. We also have a lot of interaction within the team, such as going out to eat sushi together after work.In terms of living, Japan and Russia have many cultural differences, so I had to get used to that. It was fun to learn new things one at a time. It has been about eight months since we moved to Japan, and I have been enjoying a fulfilling life with a good work-life balance. Dedicated to further growth as an engineer ―Where do you see yourself in the future?I think there are two main career paths for IT engineers. One can either switch to management after gaining experience, or specialize in a particular field as an engineer. From now on, I aim to grow as an engineer by acquiring various new skills and knowledge, rather than driving the team as a project manager. Although I don’t have a specific goal, I want to develop my skills in automation, virtualization and cloud, and eventually become an engineer well-versed in those areas. The company provides us with access to an online learning platform where we can learn the skills we want to acquire through videos, and I plan to use it proactively.ーFinally, do you have a message for foreign IT engineers considering a career in Japan?Based on my experience, I can tell you that G Talent is one of the most reliable recruitment agencies for finding jobs in Japan’s IT industry. As I mentioned earlier, their career consultants carefully pay attention to your experience and desires, and evaluate the company culture, desired conditions, and other fine details to find the optimal match for you. You don’t have to be afraid if you’re not good at Japanese. There are more options to leverage your abilities than you can imagine. So, just follow your passion! After the interview What did you think? We hope that this article will be of help to those who are looking for a new career in Japan, and for those who are currently working in Japan, considering a career change.G Talent/GitTap supports global talents with their job search. Please click the banner below to learn more about our services. Please feel free to contact us as well.

At G Talent, our bilingual career advisors who are well versed in the IT industry will assist IT engineers from around the globe with their career change. We have many interesting stories to tell from our past candidates who were successful with their job hunting through our support and today we interviewed Mr. K.H to share his experience. “I wanted to acquire advanced skills from the leading source of technological advancement in Asia.” ―Could you briefly tell us about your background? After graduating from a Bangladeshi university, I came to Japan in May 2006 and studied Japanese at a Japanese language school in Hyogo Prefecture for two years. This was followed by further education at an IT vocational school, and in 2014, I graduated from the Graduate School of Applied Information Science at Hyogo Prefectural University.In April of that year, I joined a company in the same prefecture and worked as a web director for two years. In 2016, I wanted to further utilize the skills and knowledge I had cultivated, so I moved to a system development company based in Ibaraki Prefecture, where I was involved in web application development for about six years. In October 2022, I joined a company that provides technical human resource services. ―What made you decide to work in Japan in the first place? I first became interested in Japan when I learned about Japanese culture at school as a child. I often wondered what kind of country it would be like. The main reason I decided to come to Japan was very simple – I wanted to acquire advanced skills from the leading source of technological advancement in Asia.Japan and Bangladesh have completely different cultures, so I had a very difficult time acclimating to the new living environment. In the beginning, the hardest part was the food. As I’m a Muslim, I don’t eat any pork or drink any alcohol. But just before leaving for Japan, I was disappointed to hear from a friend that there are many foods in Japan that contain pork. During the first three days, I could not eat anything. After that, I subsisted only on milk and bread until I adjusted to my situation. After living in Japan for almost 17 years, this experience has become a fond memory. Nothing is more reassuring than receiving support from an IT-savvy professional in both languages ―Could you tell us why you chose G Talent?I found out about G Talent when I was starting to think about changing jobs, and I looked at its website. I was very interested to know about the support I would receive from their bilingual career consultants who are well-versed in the IT industry. I have lived in Japan for a long time, but since Japanese is not my mother tongue, I sometimes have difficulty in understanding when it comes to complicated topics. There are times communicating in English is so much easier. I thought it would be a great help if I could get support in both languages, so, I decided to contact them.The career consultant at G Talent exceeded my expectation. Not only did she explain everything in detail switching between Japanese and English depending on my level of understanding, she was also able to read between the lines and showed a deep understanding of what I was trying to say. I was pleasantly surprised, and at the same time, I decided to register with G Talent, thinking that with her support, I could proceed with my career move with confidence.I was also grateful for the fact that she remembered me even after a period of time had passed.　To tell you the truth, I had my first meeting with her in February 2021 and was referred to several companies for interviews, but I had to pass on the opportunity as we couldn’t reach an agreement for several reasons. After that, I took a break from career change for a while. However, when I received a New Year’s greeting e-mail from her, I made a promise to myself, “In 2022, I will definitely work on a career move once again”. When I called her a while later, there was another surprise. Even though it had been more than six months since we last spoke, she remembered me immediately, just by giving my name, and I was so thrilled. It made me even more determined to do my best. Subsequently, I managed to get an official job offer from the company I wanted to join. It happened only two months after the phone call. Thanks to her extraordinary support, everything went so smoothly this time. The decisive factors were: a work environment that allows skill improvement & work location ―What factors made you decide to join the current company?Among the job offers that I received from three companies, I decided to join the current company that focuses on the technical human resource services business for two reasons. First, the company could provide an environment where I could enhance my skills and knowledge in the software field while making use of them.Another deciding factor was the work location, which also affected my decision t change jobs. There was no international school for my five-year-old child in the vicinity of my former workplace and home. I did a lot of research and found a suitable school in Kanagawa Prefecture that I really wanted to send my child to. It would be great to move and work for a company near there if possible, and surprisingly, G Talent’s career consultant found me a perfect position that matched my background and skills in the same area. With a lot of luck coupled with happy coincidences, I was finally able to join my current company.―Tell us about your current job and work environment.I am currently working as a reverse engineer and have two main roles. One of them is to convert an existing desktop application into a web application. The other is to decipher the desktop application program and create a basic design document in Japanese.Basically, every application has a basic design document, and engineers use it as a basis for coding and other tasks. But this desktop application doesn’t have one. I never thought I would be in charge of this project, and it is so challenging to write everything in Japanese, but I am finding it very rewarding. In parallel with these tasks, I also share the knowledge of web applications that I acquired through previous jobs for many years with other IT engineers.I am very satisfied with the work environment. Employees are friendly and helpful, and if I have any questions or concerns, they are always willing to be of assistance. I am especially grateful to my boss, the group leader, for taking great care of me from day one so that I can work with peace of mind. As for working style, each employee can decide at his own discretion. I like the fact that I can flexibly make my own decisions, such as coming to the office if I want to and working from home if I prefer to do so. Aiming to be an IT engineer who can complete the entire software development process alone ―Where do you see yourself in the future?As an IT engineer specializing in software, my primary goal is to be able to complete the entry-exit process of software development on my own. In the future, I would also like to work for a Japanese company that is expanding into the global market.What I find attractive about Japanese companies is that the people working there all have a spirit of harmony. People at ｔhe Japanese companies I have worked for so far have all fostered an attitude of mutual respect for differences in position and values while working together to achieve a common goal. I thought it was wonderful that even when cleaning the office, the CEO himself proactively participated in the activity with employees.I would like to take the next step when I am able to fulfill my duties at my current company and make significant progress as an IT engineer. At that time, I would be happy to consult with the career consultant at G Talent again.ーFinally, do you have a message for foreign IT engineers considering a career in Japan?When you catch a cold or feel unwell, you go to the hospital. If you don’t describe your symptoms, the doctor will not be able to determine the cause. The same is true of the relationship between a recruitment agency and a job seeker. If you don’t tell the truth about your skills and background, there will be a mismatch between you and the company, and this could lead to a major problem. I think the first step to a successful job change is to draw a clear line between what you can do and what you cannot do, and to present your true self without trying to make yourself look good. At the same time, I think it is very important to clarify what you want to do in your new job and tell your career consultant about that. After the interview What did you think? We hope that this article will be of help to those who are looking for a new career in Japan, and for those who are currently working in Japan, considering a career change.G Talent/GitTap supports global talents with their job search. Please click the banner below to learn more about our services. Please feel free to contact us as well.

At G Talent our bilingual career advisors who are well versed in the IT industry will assist IT engineers from around the globe with their career change. We have many interesting stories to tell from our past candidates who were successful with their job hunting through our support and today we interviewed Mr. M.H to share his experience. Seeking a place to demonstrate and further enhance his skills and abilities ―Could you briefly tell us about your background? After graduating from Mawlana Bhashani Science & Technology University in Bangladesh with a Bachelor of Science (Engg.) degree in Information & Communication Technology, I started working at a domestic company as an iOS engineer in 2013. I worked for several companies in Bangladesh for about five years. After that, I received an offer from a Japanese company and came to Japan for the first time in 2019. My stint with that company lasted for two years. I then made a career move to another Japanese company and lived and worked in Fukuoka city for some time. However, I had to make a hasty decision to leave the company and return to Bangladesh temporarily for some of my personal family-related issues.Fortunately, I received an offer from another Japanese company around the same time. It was a short-term contract that allowed me to work remotely from my home country, so I worked for them for about 8 months. In 2022, I decided to return to Japan and seek new employment, and in November of the same year, I moved to a Japanese fintech company where I am working now. ―What made you decide to work in Japan in the first place?  The reason why I choose Japan in the first place is that there are far more opportunities for IT engineers than in my home country. Recently, there have been some new developments, such as a Japanese firm launching a software company, but the IT industry itself in Bangladesh is not that large at this point. I chose to work in Japan because I was seeking a place where I could demonstrate and further enhance my skills and abilities. Working in tandem with the career consultant to create a new career path ―Could you tell us why you chose G Talent?I have heard that some recruitment agencies do not understand the details of the positions that companies are looking for and end up contacting candidates who are not a good match. The career consultant at G Talent was completely different. She scrutinized my profile on LinkedIn before contacting me and fully grasped my experience and skills, thus finding the optimal position that would allow me to make full use of them. I felt confident that I could rely on G Talent and decided to register with them right away. I felt like it was destiny calling because I received the email from the career consultant about the same time I returned to Japan. She was very supportive and responded to my questions in a timely manner. It was like I was working in tandem with her on planning my career path, which was very reassuring, and I am grateful for that. Moved by appealing work environment & business areas with great potential ―What factors made you decide to join the current company?I received offers from three companies, including one that provides QR code payment services and another that sells a mobile messenger application. I chose the fintech company with cryptocurrency as its core business for two main reasons. First, the friendly and comfortable work environment that I was able to perceive through the personality of the person who interviewed me. This man, who is now my boss, was positive, friendly, cooperative, and very pleasant to talk to. I felt that his character reflected the atmosphere within the company. Second, I thought that by joining the company, I would be able to create something new by utilizing my expertise and skills. In the fintech industry, which has been growing rapidly in recent years, cryptocurrency requires extremely advanced technology to ensure strong security. It is a field with great potential, not only in terms of business growth, but also in terms of dramatic technological advancement.I never imagined that I would be involved in cryptocurrency, but it has always been my hidden desire to work in a field where I can enhance my technical skills by tackling difficult issues. I am very happy that my dream has come true through this new job.―Tell us about your current job and work environment.I am currently working as an iOS engineer, while also taking on the role of managing the team. I am also involved in the hiring of engineers and interviewing candidates on a weekly basis. In addition, I actively participate in meetings where the company makes decisions.The work environment is just fantastic and far exceeds my expectations before joining the company. At work, we are encouraged to come up with and develop new ideas and try them out on a trial basis. The development team members and all the other employees are very supportive and friendly, while the company itself is a great place to work. What I find wonderful about this company is the culture of mutual respect and care for each other as individuals, which transcends the relationship between company and employee, or boss and subordinate. I am especially grateful to my boss, who was very understanding of my decision to continue working from Fukuoka. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, but I had been used to working in Fukuoka since my previous job, and I wanted to continue living there if possible. When I discussed this with my boss, he suggested, “Then how about working remotely from Fukuoka?”.I joined the company in November 2022, and for the first week, I stayed in Tokyo and worked in the office. After that, I started working from home in Fukuoka. Daily communication with my boss and team members is done via Slack. 40% of our engineers can speak English, so we communicate in English at meetings. Some Japanese members are not very good at English, so we sometimes use translation tools to communicate with them. Making steady progress in career at the current company ―Where do you see yourself in the future?I am very satisfied with my current company, including the salary and benefits provided, and would like to work there for a long time. I would also like to improve my skills as an IT engineer, and in the future, advance my career and become a manager. I believe that in the not-too-distant future, cryptocurrency will become a new standard comparable to currencies such as the Japanese yen, US dollar, and Euro. Even in the stock market, I expect that many people will be interested in investing in it as well. The company I work for now is one of the leading firms in this field in Japan, and I am confident that we will eventually become the top company. I am determined to strive for a bright future with them.In my spare time, I run a community for university students in Bangladesh remotely, where I teach programming for free for an hour every Saturday. I teach them how to prepare for job interviews as well since they are aiming to work as IT engineers for companies in Asia like Japan, Singapore and USA, Europe after graduation. I would definitely recommend G Talent to any competent person who is looking for a job in Japan.ーFinally, do you have a message for foreign IT engineers considering a career in Japan?Regardless of your field of expertise, years of experience as an IT engineer is just a number, and it is meaningless unless it is accompanied by skills that you can be proud of. This is something I always try to keep in mind, and I always remember to keep on learning and working to improve my skills. Another important thing is not to chase after rewards. I can tell you from experience that as long as you continue to grow, the rewards will follow. If you are willing to take on new challenges and improve yourself, I am sure you will find a job that is perfectly suited for you. After the interview What did you think? We hope that this article will be of help to those who are looking for a new career in Japan, and for those who are currently working in Japan, considering a career change.G Talent/GitTap supports global talents with their job search. Please click the banner below to learn more about our services. Please feel free to contact us as well.

At G Talent, our bilingual career advisors who are well versed in the IT industry will assist IT engineers from around the globe with their career change. We have many interesting stories to tell from our past candidates who were successful with their job hunting through our support and today we interviewed Mr. H.W to share his experience. Studied NLP while working as a support engineer ―Could you briefly tell us about your background? I majored in computer science at a university in China. After graduation, I came to Japan to study NLP (natural language processing) in the master’s program at Waseda University and received my master’s degree in March 2022. As for research on NLP, I worked on the theme of “how to turn difficult sentences such as academic papers into simple sentences at the level used in daily conversation” and developed a text generation model.Wanting to acquire not only skills as an IT engineer but also business skills necessary for practical work, I accepted a job as a support engineer for a foreign telecommunications equipment manufacturer for a year while I was still in school. I was in charge of the entire process from inquiries from major telecommunications carriers about router malfunctions and other problems to analyzing and identifying the causes and reporting them to the client in cooperation with overseas IT engineers.I was responsible for a number of projects that rivaled those of my seniors on the team, and I started my career move when my most challenging project was successfully completed. Consequently, I met with G Talent and was introduced to Japan’s leading AI company, and I have been working as an AI engineer at that firm since August 2022. ―What made you decide to work in Japan in the first place? The first reason was language. When I was a second-year high school student, I became interested in the Japanese language and started studying on my own. I continued my studies and in my first year of college, I took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and was able to pass the N1, the most difficult level. I then decided to come to Japan to study NLP at a Japanese university while making use of my language skills.I have been living in Japan for four years now, and I was surprised at times in the beginning because the culture and business practices are different from those in China. For example, Japanese companies are paid after developing and providing products and services, but in my county, payment is generally made in advance. I sometimes imagined that if I were to run a company in Japan, it would be difficult to manage cash flow. A job offer in just two weeks and efficient support ―Could you tell us why you chose G Talent?I learned about G Talent while doing research on job transferring. I was very interested in G Talent because the company could introduce carefully selected vacancies at global and venture companies to people like myself who are seeking an opportunity in Japan. It all started when I contacted them, the job-transferring agency for high-class global engineers.I sent an email and was surprised to receive an immediate reply from a career consultant. As we continued to communicate with each other, she always responded promptly, which was very reassuring. After paying close attention to my experience, skills, and desires, she introduced me to the most suitable company. Thanks to her efficient support, I was able to receive an official job offer within a short period of two weeks. Encountering the optimal company where he can use all his acquired skills ―What factors made you decide to join the current company?I strongly felt that the AI company was the best possible place for me because I could leverage my knowledge in NLP, programming skills, and the business skills I had cultivated in the field. I was deeply moved by the company’s vision of realizing a future society where everyone can share values through universal design that combines natural language processing, speech recognition, and image analysis technologies with data structuring technology. I have been able to apply the various business skills I acquired in my previous job, such as how to work in a team, report writing skills, and customer relation skills, to practical use. I am happy to be working for a company that promotes the research and development of cutting-edge AI technologies.―Tell us about your current job and work environment.As an AI engineer, I am involved in the development of our company’s unique high-precision information search service. Let’s suppose that there is a natural question such as “What kind of services does G Talent offer?”. With this service, you can get an answer that collects and processes highly similar information from accumulated knowledge and information.If the answer derived by the AI does not meet your expectations, you can also navigate the pull-down menu of the response rankings to find the next possible answer. It’s a completely new service, so there are a lot of things to do, such as learning new knowledge and applying it to practical work. However, it’s the only area I want to master further in the future, and besides, I enjoy the hard work as well.In terms of working styles, except for meetings with clients, we basically work remotely. The location and hours of work are left to the discretion of each individual, so I am able to work in a very flexible manner. I am currently having a relationship with a Japanese woman, and she has a job that requires her to take weekdays off. In order to make time to spend together, I often take weekday afternoons off and work on weekends instead. My immediate goal is to improve NLP skills ―Where do you see yourself in the future?My main goal is simply to hone my NLP skills, and when I am able to grow further as an IT engineer, I would like to advance my career to the next stage.On a personal note, I have not been back to China in the four years since I came to Japan, and I hope to return with my girlfriend soon for a trip. Just as I chose to study in Japan because of my interest in the Japanese language, she is studying Chinese and has a strong interest in Chinese culture. Depending on her wishes, we may move to China in the future. Having met someone I want to share my life with, I am even more motivated to work, and I am able to spend my days fulfilled both professionally and personally.  After the interview What did you think? We hope that this article will be of help to those who are looking for a new career in Japan, and for those who are currently working in Japan, considering a career change.G Talent/GitTap supports global talents with their job search. Please click the banner below to learn more about our services. Please feel free to contact us as well.

Because of the rapid growth of the IT industry, as well as population decrease, the demand for IT engineers in Japan is increasing day by day. This means that international engineers who wish to work in Japan are likely to have many job opportunities.Nevertheless, because of the language and cultural barriers, it is often not easy for international engineers to find the right company in Japan. This article will introduce you to the rankings of tech companies in Japan, which will help you find the best companies to work for, as well as help you learn the trends.The tech companies with the highest growth rate in Japan in 2021This is the ranking of the tech companies that have the highest growth rate in 2021 in Japan, according to Deloitte.Many of these companies are actively hiring new employees, and are experienced in international recruitment. If you find a company that interests you, do not hesitate to contact them.RankCompany NameInternational Recruitment History*1BE AIRー2Spartyー3SheepMedical〇4AI inside〇5HOPEー6YAMAPー7Crunch Styleー8zig-zag〇About 30 % of the employees. Official language in the engineering department is English9stmnー10AmaziaーReference：Deloitte（https://www2.deloitte.com/jp/ja/pages/about-deloitte/articles/news-releases/nr20211214.html）※Companies that mention international recruitment on their official websites (June, 2022)：SheepMedical (https://www.sheepmedical.com/recruit)AI inside (https://inside.ai/career/)zig-zag (https://www.zig-zag.co.jp/recruit/202201-backendengineer/)The companies offering the highest annual salariesFor many job seekers, salary is one of the most important things to consider when choosing a company to work for.These rankings show the companies offering the highest annual salaries in the system integration sector, the AI sector, and the SaaS sector.System IntegrationRankCompany NameAverage Annual Salary (M)International Recruitment History*1Nomura Research Institute1,225ー2Information Services International-Dentsu1,047〇18 international employees（December, 2021）3SRA Holdings1,033ー4Kudan1,022ー5Mitsubishi Research Institute1,009ー6ITOCHU Techno-Solutions933〇7OBIC933ー8HITACHI890〇About 10 % of the employees (April, 2021)。Aiming to exceed 30%, by 2030.9FUJITSU865〇475 international employees（2020）10KOZO KEIKAKU ENGINEERING860〇39 international employees (June, 2021)Reference：業界動向サーチ（https://gyokai-search.com/）※Companies that mention international recruitment on their official websites (June, 2022)：Information Services International-Dentsu（https://www.isid.co.jp/sustainability/data.html）ITOCHU Techno-Solutions（https://www.ctc-g.co.jp/company/sustainability/reports/document/CTC_CSR_10_all.pdf）HITACHI（https://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/month/2021/04/0420.pdf）FUJITSU（https://www.fujitsu.com/jp/about/csr/esgdata/social/）KOZO KEIKAKU ENGINEERING（https://www.kke.co.jp/corporate/organization/）AIRankCompany NameAverage Annual Salary (M)International Recruitment History*1ExaWizards814〇2AI inside776〇20% of the employees3MetaReal730〇9% of the employees4BrainPad721ー5PKSHA Technology714ー6FRONTEO705〇About 53% of the employees in the group7Neural Pocket684〇8Silver Egg Technology677〇9HEROZ668ー10Morpho666ー参照：業界動向サーチ（https://gyokai-search.com/）※Companies that mention international recruitment on their official websites (June, 2022)：ExaWizards（https://exawizards.com/team/member）AI inside（https://note.inside.ai/n/n7f06a5d87a17）MetaReal（https://www.metareal.jp/recruit/metareal-style/#figure）FRONTEO（https://www.fronteo.com/corporate/locations/）Neural Pocket（https://www.neuralpocket.com/recruit.html）Silver Egg Technology（https://www.silveregg.co.jp/archives/recruit/2239）SaaSRankCompany NameAverage Annual SalaryInternational Recruitment History*1PLAID887ー2SCALA886〇3Asteria834〇4Uzabase797ー5TeamSpirit757〇6Property Data Bank755ー7freee705ー8HENNGE704〇9SRE Holdings697ー10OBIC BUSINESS CONSULTANTS686ーReference：業界動向サーチ（https://gyokai-search.com/）※Companies that mention international recruitment on their official websites (June, 2022)：：SCALA（https://scalagrp.jp/ir/esg/）Asteria（https://www.asteria.com/）TeamSpirit（https://www.teamspirit.com/ja-jp/blog/entry/b-20191125.html）HENNGE（https://hennge.com/jp/ir/images/202011161500.pdf）The largest tech companies by revenueRevenue is another important factor when choosing a company to work for. These are the rankings of the companies that have the largest revenue in the field of system integration, AI, and SaaS. System integrationRankCompany NameInternational Recruitment History*1FUJITSU〇475 international employees（2020）2NEC〇251 international employees(2020) 3NTT DATA〇About 10% of the employees in the group(2022)4HITACHI〇About 10% of the employees in the group(April, 2021)。Aiming to exceed 30% by 20305OTSUKA CORPORATIONー6Nomura Research Instituteー7ITOCHU Techno-Solutions〇8TIS〇155 international employees（2020）9SCSK〇42 international employees（April, 2020） 10BIPROGY〇Reference：業界動向サーチ（https://gyokai-search.com/）※Companies that mention international recruitment on their official websites (June, 2022)：FUJITSU（https://www.fujitsu.com/jp/about/csr/esgdata/social/）NEC（https://jpn.nec.com/csr/ja/data/index.html）NTT DATA（https://www.nttdata-gsl.co.jp/recruit/company/vision/）HITACHI（https://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/month/2021/04/0420.pdf）ITOCHU Techno-Solutions（https://www.ctc-g.co.jp/company/sustainability/reports/document/CTC_CSR_09_all.pdf）TIS（https://www.tis.co.jp/documents/jp/ir/finance/annual_report/ar2020_05.pdf）SCSK（https://www.scsk.jp/corp/csr/diversity.html）BIPROGY（https://biprogy.disclosure.site/ja/themes/107）AIRankCompany NameInternational Recruitment History*1FRONTEO〇About 53% of the employees in the group2Appier Group〇3Preferred Networksー4PKSHA Technologyー5BrainPadー6AI inside〇20% of the permanent employees7Double Standardー8Advanced Mediaー9MetaReal〇9% of the employees10ALBERTー参照：業界動向サーチ（https://gyokai-search.com/）※Companies that mention international recruitment on their official websites (June, 2022)：FRONTEO（https://www.fronteo.com/corporate/locations/）Appier Group（https://www.appier.com/ja-jp/about）AI inside（https://note.inside.ai/n/n7f06a5d87a17）MetaReal（https://www.metareal.jp/）SaaSRankCompany NameInternational Recruitment History*1Sansan〇2Cybozu〇3RAKUSー4Money Forward〇5freeeー6EM SYSTEMSー7Appier Group〇8Info Martー9OBIC BUSINESS CONSULTANTSー10SMSーReference：業界動向サーチ（https://gyokai-search.com/）※Companies that mention international recruitment on their official websites (June, 2022)：Sansan（https://jp.corp-sansan.com/mimi/2020/05/ocean-02.html）Cybozu（https://cybozushiki.cybozu.co.jp/casestudy/oneteam/）Money Forward（https://recruit.moneyforward.com/member/interview/0007）Appier Group（https://www.appier.com/ja-jp/about）SummaryData of companies’ growth rate, revenue, and the average annual salary helps to find the right company. In addition, you are more likely to land a position by getting in touch with the companies that already have experience in international recruitment.Bizmates, Inc. offers services that connect international engineers and companies that are actively hiring international IT engineers.GitTap is a job platform for international IT engineers who wish to work in Japan. All companies on the platform are actively hiring international IT engineers. Many of the most highly respected companies in Japan are using GitTap, including ExaWizards, which offers the highest salary in the AI sector.Browse jobs on GitTap G Talent is an employment agency for international IT engineers who wish to work in Japan. Bilingual consultants who specialise in the IT sector will introduce you to appropriate jobs that match your skills and experiences. To register the service, please visit the page below. Register on the platform 

There is a serious shortage of IT engineers in Japan. Engineers needed the most include cyber security, machine learning and cloud engineers. For international IT engineers who wish to work in Japan, there are more opportunities in these sectors.Moreover, language requirements and cultural etiquette are less important in these sectors. Learn IT skills in demand, and land a job that offers attractive working conditions and pays well. Read this article in Japanese. IT skills in demand in Japan in 2022 Cyber security The demand for cyber security engineers is significantly increasing. In 2021, the domestic market value was 1,135.7 billion yen with a growth rate of 13.4%. The growth rate is projected to increase, given the acceleration of remote work and the current social conditions. If you are a security engineer, you are likely to have many job opportunities in Japan.   Useful certifications for security engineersRegistered Information Security Specialist Examination: A qualification to prove your expertise in information security, offered by IPA. After the qualification is obtained, you are eligible to apply for a national certificate for Registered Information Security Specialist.CISSP: A qualification to prove your expertise in information security, offered by (ISC)², International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium. Cloud As more and more internet services shift to cloud, the demand for cloud engineers is increasing. The market value of cloud computing was 2,875 billion yen in 2020 with a growth rate of 22%. In addition, the demand for public clouds, such as SaaS and IaaS, is especially high.More than half of the Japanese companies that provide cloud services use AWS. If you are an AWS engineer, you have many job opportunities in Japan.   Useful certifications for cloud engineersAWS certifications: A certificate to validate cloud expertise. AWS offers several levels: associate, professional and speciality. There are also certificates for those who are specialized in the fields such as network, data and machine learning.Google Certified Professional: A certificate to prove your expertise in Google cloud platform. Machine Learning The use of AI in services and products is now commonplace. The sales in automation services and personalised services are increasing rapidly.In 2019, the market growth rate of machine learning was 95%. As the use of machine learning will increase in the future, machine learning engineers will have many job opportunities in Japan as well. Useful certifications for machine learning engineersDeep Learning for ENGINEER: This is a certificate to validiate your knowledge and implementions skills in deep learning. It is offered by the Japan Deep Learning Association (JDLA). *The exam is available only in Japanese.Python 3 Certified Data Analyst Examination: A certificate to prove your advanced knowledge and skills in deep learning.  5G The market growth rate of 5G is projected to be 80.3% between 2020 to 2027. It is a field that is expected to create many job opportunities in the near future. Jobs related to 5G include embedded engineers, network engineers and IoT engineers. To work with 5G, the knowledge and skills in the development of embedded software and network are required.The article below explains the details of the 5G market in Japan and skills you need to be an engineer who works with 5G.5G market in Japan and skills you need to be an engineer who works with 5G Programming languages and developer tools in demand in Japan According to the research conducted by GitTap, the skills that are most in demand among Japanese companies are AWS, Python and JavaScript (January, 2022).AWS is a cloud computing service offered by Amazon. In Japan, more than half of the companies that provide cloud services use AWS. The market of cloud computing is expanding and the demand for AWS engineers is projected to increase. The article below explains programming languages in demand in Japan in detail. The programming languages in demand in Japan Summary International IT engineers have many job opportunities in Japan since there is a serious shortage of IT engineers. This is especially the case in some fields such as cyber security, cloud and AI. The following  jobs are some of the examples of jobs that are in demand in Japan. Python engineer Job Summary：Implement mathematical models, develop optimization algorithms, conduct software testing while working closely with professors. Salary：7M yen~ Learn More about This Job Automation engineer Job Summary：Develop and maintain automation platforms. Develop new automation products. Salary：7M yen~ Learn More about This Job CTO Job Summary：Chief Technology Officer for a financial system Salary： 8M yen~ Learn More about This Job GitTap is a job matching platform for highly skilled international IT engineers. The platform has many senior level jobs, which leads the average salary range of the advertised jobs to be 6-12M yen. There are also many remote positions available. The platform allows you to find a job efficiently by not only applying for positions but also getting scouted and conducting informational interviews. It is free to use, please feel free to register. Browse Jobs on GitTap G Talent is an employment agency for international IT engineers who wish to work in Japan. Bilingual consultants will assist you to land your dream job! To learn more about the service, please click the link below. Learn more about G Talent

DevOps engineers create solutions for improving the development speed of applications and systems as well as ensuring the stable operation of services. Being involved in both development and operations, they are responsible for a wide range of tasks, from developing and improving applications and systems to building and operating infrastructure environments such as the cloud. “DevOps” is a word coined from combining “Development” and “Operations”. To put it simply, it is an idea that the development side and the operation side cooperate to ensure speedier development, while also providing stable service operation. Due to the focus of DevOps on improving development speed, it is easy to confuse this with agile development, which will be explained later. Amongst all the different IT engineering jobs, to be a DevOps engineer requires a wide range of skills and plenty of experience. With a higher level of responsibility comes higher salary. The average annual income for a DevOps engineer is somewhere between 5 to 15 million yen, while the average for IT engineers in general is 4.52 million yen (※doda company survey). In the future, the demand for DevOps engineers is expected to rise, as the industry becomes more specialized due to increasing system complexity and more infrastructure environments transitioning to the cloud. This article provides a brief overview of what a DevOps engineer does and explains how you can become one too. DevOps engineers differ from infrastructure engineers A lesser-known position amongst IT engineers, the DevOps engineer is often compared to infrastructure engineers. This is because both are involved in tasks like server management. The table below provides a brief overview of the differences between DevOps engineers and infrastructure engineers, for you to get a good idea of what DevOps engineers do. ◆Differences between DevOps engineers and infrastructure engineers What sets a DevOps engineer apart from an infrastructure engineer is the former’s involvement in the development side. Both DevOps engineers and infrastructure engineers work on networks and servers, but DevOps engineers also engage in application and system development. You can think of DevOps engineers as one level beyond infrastructure engineers. This is why DevOps engineers must have more knowledge and experience than just infrastructure engineers. The No.1 role of DevOps engineers is automation Now let’s take a look at what DevOps engineers do. As explained earlier, DevOps is a concept born to “speed up development” and to “enable stable operation” of the system at the same time. What do DevOps engineers do to achieve these goals? Here are some of the specific roles DevOps play in the IT industry. “Infrastructure as Code (IaC),” essential for stable system operation Infrastructure as Code (IaC) means to get infrastructure settings written in code in order to automate the building process of the environment for operating and developing systems and software. In creating infrastructure, the task of typing all the commands according to a design can be extremely tedious and costly, especially as the scale increases. In addition, people cannot always avoid making little mistakes. Once infrastructure settings are written in code, all you need is just to execute it in order to automatically create an infrastructure environment. Also, executing the same code means you can reproduce identical environments at scale without the risk of human error. By allowing multiple servers to reproduce the same environment, problems caused by differences in infrastructure settings are less likely to occur. As a DevOps engineer, you want to achieve the stable operation of a system. Therefore, IaC is an important skill to keep in mind in order to minimize the workload and avoid human errors when creating infrastructure. However, you need skills for building the infrastructure to be able to practice IaC, which means more investment in acquiring those skills may be necessary. You may also need experience working as an infrastructure engineer. Build a CI/CD Pipeline to speed up development Building a CI/CD pipeline is a key skill for DevOps engineers who seek to “speed up” the development of applications and systems. A CI/CD pipeline is an automated set of steps required to practice CI/CD. CI/CD is a method of automating build, integration, testing, etc. to make software development faster and increase the speed before production. CI (Continuous Integration) is a method of automating code changes from build to test. CD (Continuous Delivery) is a method that allows software that has passed testing to be automatically released into a production environment. ◆ CI/CD pipelines Simply put, by building a CI/CD pipeline, the entire process of Build – Integrate – Test – Release – Deploy becomes automatic. Any changes to your code will be automatically applied to every step from build to test to deployment, thus reducing the lead time of your development process. By getting everyone on a development team to work with this pipeline, software release becomes much faster. CI/CD tools include on-premises and cloud types, with some examples being Jenkins and Drone for the on-premises and Travis CI and CircleCI for the cloud. DevOps engineers need to use different tools to build CI/CD pipelines depending on their objectives. “Knowledge of managed services” to reduce management cost and working time A managed service allows a company to outsource part of the operation management and maintenance of a serve. Stably operating a server is no simple task. From hardware procurement to equipment/line management to trouble handling, the operation management and maintenance of a server requires expertise offered by dedicated professionals, which can be quite costly. This is where managed services come in. By capitalizing on managed services, you can reduce the amount of work devoted to issues such as fault response and security measures. This allows for improved efficiency and ultimately leads to stable system operation. Since not all engineers in a company are knowledgeable about infrastructure, leveraging managed services to reduce management costs and work hours is an important task for DevOps. As you can see, being a DevOps engineer is not so much about working directly on products and services, but rather focusing on creating solutions to increase productivity for developers and operators. 2021 Roadmap for becoming a DevOps Engineer So, what does it take to become a DevOps engineer? This section is based on the article, “The 2021 DevOps RoadMap for Developers” which is another highly recommended read. Now, let’s take a look at the roadmap for becoming a DevOps engineer. There are 9 steps in total. ◆Roadmap for becoming a DevOps Engineer 1. Learn a programming language To be involved in system development, you need to know a programming language. If possible, become proficient in at least one of: Java, Python, or Ruby Each has its own characteristics. Java is generally an all-rounder in any environment, while Python is relatively simple and easy to understand. Ruby originated in Japan and thus more resources are available in Japanese. Its code is simple and easy to read, making it beginner friendly. 2. Understand different OS concepts This comes under the area of “Operations.” In the past, only system operation managers and support personnel were responsible for the OS and hardware. However, as DevOps engineers engage in both systems and infrastructure, OS-related knowledge is necessary. You need to be familiar with important systems such as process management, memory storage and file systems. 3. Learn server management For stable service operation, you must build a server to create a system and environment. More specifically, you need to monitor the operational status of applications/services and the usage of CPU, memory, and other resources; update the system, fix programs that need to be improved, and respond to failures. All of these require general knowledge of a server. 4. Learn about network and security The evolving technology nowadays allows for easy access everywhere on the web, which also means security challenges are on the rise. As poor security measures can lead to the leakage of important data such as customer information, it is critical to learn about network and security. Make sure to have basic but essential ones down, including DNS, FTP, SSL, etc. 5. Understand middleware and learn how to set it up Middleware is software that performs intermediate processing between an application and an OS in a computer. Examples of middleware are the web server, application server, and database management server. ◆About middleware Understanding the structure of a web server or application server, and learning how to set it up, will give you a better understanding of the system. Doing so allows you to proceed to the next step where you make the system operation more efficient and automate the building of the infrastructure environment. 6. Learn Infrastructure as Code (IaC) As explained earlier, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) means to have the infrastructure settings written in code in order to automate the creation of operation/development environments for systems and software. The benefits of IaC include no need to manually repeat the same process when creating a different environment, an easier grasp of current infrastructure and server configuration, and no need to manage procedures. 7. Learn CI/CD pipeline building tools Again, CI/CD is a method of automating build, integration, testing, etc. to speed up software development and to make it ready for release into production immediately. There are various tools for building CI/CD pipelines from open source to commercial ones. However, one tool cannot automate all of CI/CD, and it is common to create a CI/CD pipeline by combining tools that are appropriate for a specific development stage. This means you need to learn to use multiple tools. 8. Learn to monitor software and infrastructure In addition to middleware setup and deployment, software and infrastructure monitoring is another important role of DevOps engineers. Monitoring means constantly checking for anomalies or problems with the functionality of an application, network, server, OS, or middleware. There are already a variety of tools available for monitoring, so DevOps engineers need to be able to choose the right tool for their companies’ needs. 9. Learn about the public cloud The public cloud is a service that provides cloud computing environments such as servers, storage, databases, and software through the Internet to an unspecified number of users, including companies and individuals. These include Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM Cloud, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Since there is no need to own a server in-house, the use of the public cloud is rapidly spreading nowadays, and many companies have already moved their servers to a cloud environment. As a DevOps engineer, you need basic knowledge of the public cloud. AWS and GCP are well known public clouds that you should get a grasp of. This is the 2021 roadmap for becoming a DevOps engineer. A DevOps engineer, being a type of IT engineer, of course needs a programming language. On top of that, you should also know how to work with various tools and infrastructures (especially the cloud). As mentioned at the beginning of the article, to be a DevOps engineer requires a wide range of knowledge and experience, and therefore it is a position one step beyond application engineers and infrastructure engineers. Sounds worth aiming for? “DevOps” is a model or concept, “agile development” is a development method As already explained, “DevOps” is a coined word that combines “Development” and “Operations”. The idea of DevOps was born from the contradiction between the development side and the operation side. While the former wants to develop applications and systems quickly, the latter wants to ensure stable operation. In other words, in order to make a system better, the development side generally takes a policy of “adding new features and updating existing ones.” On the other hand, the operation side often takes a policy of “if things are running stably, keep them as they are,” in order to consistently provide a comfortable experience to the users and to avoid troubles with systems and functions as much as possible. The concept of “DevOps” was born to bridge these contradicting interests. Now, “agile development” is a method that, when developing applications and systems, repeats the development process of “planning → design → implementation → test” many times in a short period of time. Once you have a rough idea of the system you want to create, you iterate through planning, design, implementation, and test, and release the system relatively early. After the system is released, you then repeatedly improve it based on feedback from users and clients. This allows for agility and flexibility in development. Agile development is the opposite of waterfall development. Waterfall development is a method in which the development process of “design → development → implementation → test” is divided into each stage and developed step by step. In this method, developers decide in advance all the functions and spec details to be installed in the system, then start development and complete one step after the other. Basically, you never go back to the previous stage, and thus systems and software are released only after the entire process is completed. In the past, this has been the customary strategy for many companies. However, it is common to discover improvements or to receive feedback from users after releasing systems or applications. Even with all the time spent during waterfall development, extra work is always necessary to use this method successfully.. As a result, more and more companies are adopting agile development because it is easy to respond to user needs when “planning → design → implementation → testing” is repeated over and over in a short period of time. Agile development is very compatible with “DevOps,” an idea that enables both speedier development and stable service operation. By incorporating agile development, DevOps engineers can “speed up development” while creating a mechanism that allows developers and operators to collaborate to achieve “stable service operation.” This is why this newer development method is currently in high demand. ◆The difference between agile development and waterfall development Source: Agile and DevOps Quality Assurance and Reliability By the way, the word DevOps first appeared in 2009 at a conference called “O’Reilly Velocity 09” hosted by O’Reilly. The term appeared in the presentation, “10 Deploys a Day：Dev and Ops Cooperation at Flickr” by John Allspaw and Paul Hammond, who were at the time engineers at an image-hosting service, Flickr. In this presentation, they proposed that the development side and the operation side can bring about fast development that deploys more than ten times a day by cooperating toward a common purpose. (*To deploy means to make the program usable.） DevOps Engineers are increasingly in demand as IT and DX advance Today, there is a growing demand for DevOps engineers. This is because, along with the progress of IT and the promotion of digital transformation (DX), there is a growing need for a shorter development period and flexibility in system development. As previously explained, development today requires companies to continue to improve their services after release using feedback from users. This makes for the rising demand for DevOps who can contribute in stabilizing operations while accelerating not only development but also improvement speed. According to the article, “Ask Hitachi, the Current Role of DevOps and DevSecOps in Large-scale Development“, the company has adopted the idea of DevOps. The article reports that DevOps is getting increasing attention due to many Japanese companies and organizations having begun to work on DX. DX is typically applied in new businesses, and therefore the business model is not clear, and the system specifications are not fixed. Thus, the idea of DevOps has been adopted because it is necessary to improve fixing the problems that come out after development and release, while also ensuring stable operation. In this way, the concept of DevOps is gaining more recognition regardless of whether it is a large company or a small- and medium-sized venture company. Moving forward, given that the demand for public clouds such as AWS and GCP will also increase, there will be more spotlight on DevOps engineers who provide expertise on these areas while also being able to engage with the development side. Summary Now you have it, an overview of DevOps engineers. The path to becoming a DevOps engineer is steep, given the wide range of knowledge and experience required. There is no correct way to become a DevOps engineer. However, if you are an inexperienced IT engineer with a goal of becoming a DevOps engineer, it is relatively easy to step up after gaining experience as an infrastructure engineer or a WEB application engineer. We offer two services for IT engineers: “G Talent“, a career transition service and “GitTap“, a scouting and job information website that allows you to contact companies directly. For foreign IT engineers working in Japan and Japanese IT engineers seeking a global environment, we offer a variety of recruitment opportunities. Please check out the “G Talent” and “GitTap” service pages.

IT engineer is a general term for technicians who deal with IT (Information Technology), and positions such as “systems engineer” and “programmer” fall under this category.Since there are many different types of IT engineers, many people who want to become IT engineers may not know what to aim for. If you are thinking of becoming an IT engineer, you should first know the “five high-demand job categories” in the IT market, which we will introduce today.After all, if you want to pursue a career as an IT engineer, it is important that you learn the latest programming languages and get exposed to the latest technologies. You should also think about your future position, such as whether you want to be a systems engineer or a programmer.In this article, we will focus on the five job categories of IT engineers that are in demand in the market today.Five IT high-demand engineering jobsBelow we explain the five IT engineering job categories that are currently in high demand by companies. This table was created in consultation with GTalent recruiters and was originally designed to reflect the latest needs and trends among companies.◆ Five IT high-demand engineering jobsWe have ranked the IT engineer job categories from 1 to 5 based on company demand, but basically the demand for all categories is very high. The average annual salary for IT engineers is 4.5 million yen. Data Scientists (ranked 3rd) and DevOps Engineers (ranked 5th) have the highest average annual salary among IT engineers, and since they require a high level of expertise, there is not much talent on the market.In contrast, the annual salaries of Web Application Engineers (ranked 1st) and Mobile Application Engineers (ranked 2nd) are closer to the average, as there are relatively many workers available due to high demand from companies.Below is a detailed explanation of each job category.#1: Web Application EngineerA web application engineer is an engineer who designs and develops web applications that run on a web browser.Specific web applications include the following:SNS applications such as Twitter and FacebookMail applications such as Gmail and Yahoo!Online shopping sites such as e-commerce sites.Web application engineers are involved in the design and development of these applications. Among web application engineers, there are “back-end engineers (or server-side engineers)” who focus on server-side development, and “front-end engineers (or client-side engineers)” who create the screens that users use while viewing UI /UX.Back-end engineers need to know about servers and databases, and front-end engineers need to be able to design websites that are easy to use. In terms of annual salary, back-end engineers tend to earn more than front-end engineers.The most common technologies used by web application engineers in development are Python, PHP, and Ruby for the server side and HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the front-end side.#2: Mobile Application EngineerSimply put, a mobile application engineer is an engineer who plans, develops, and operates applications for smartphones. They are responsible for planning, developing, and operating applications that are installed on smartphones and tablets through application stores such as App Store and Google Play.Specific responsibilities of a mobile application engineer include the following: Plan and define requirements for applications.(Plan the type of application to be built and define application feature requirements). Design, implementation, and testing(Based on the defined requirements, design, code, and implement the application and then test to see if the intended function is performed). Operation and maintenance(Once the application is released, perform regular operation and maintenance to ensure that the application is used without any problems).As smartphones become more widespread and the applications developed become more diverse, mobile application engineers must constantly seek to learn new skills and technologies.Another feature of this job category is that it is in high demand by businesses as the internet becomes more accessible and the demand for smartphone applications increases.The languages that mobile application engineers often use for development are Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android.#3: Data ScientistA data scientist is a job category that uses statistics and algorithms to collect and analyze large amounts of data and information, known as Big Data. Although the word “engineer” does not appear in this job category, it is a type of engineer because it uses programming skills to collect and process data.Job categories that are often confused with data scientist include “AI engineer,” who develops artificial intelligence; “machine learning engineer,” who develops a mechanism for a machine to learn automatically by providing data and instructions to an artificial intelligence computer; and “data analyst,” who analyzes data and solves problems based on the analyzed data. The definitions of these job categories vary from company to company. Therefore, it is important to know the details of each job posting to understand what exactly the job entails, rather than judging it solely on the job category.The specific responsibilities of a data scientist include the following: Identification of problems(Consider what problems exist in the business being analyzed and what type of data is needed to solve the problems).Data collection and analysis(Once the data to be collected is determined, collect and analyze the data, while processing the collected data).Utilization of the data(Based on the analyzed data, find a solution to the problem, and use it for future work).Data Scientists must have highly specialized skills such as programming and database skills, mathematical skills such as statistics and algorithms, logical thinking and marketing skills.They may also work with technologies such as “image processing” used in AI cameras for automated driving and “natural language processing” used in voice recognition systems such as Siri. As a result, the market value of Data Scientists is high, and the average annual salary is 5.2 million yen, but it is not uncommon for them to earn much more than this amount.However, since Data Scientists must have specialized knowledge, it is relatively difficult to work in this field without experience. Even if you have programming experience, it is not easy to become a data scientist without knowledge of statistics. The most common language used by data scientists is Python.#4: Infrastructure EngineerAn infrastructure engineer is an engineer who supports IT infrastructure such as networks and servers. Specifically, they build, operate, and maintain IT infrastructure such as networks and servers.Infrastructure engineers work in a variety of fields, and there are many different types.Server Engineers(They build, operate, and maintain mail servers and web servers).Network Engineers(They build, operate, and maintain a network that connects a server to terminals or a server to a server). Security Engineer(They protect company networks and systems from external attacks).Cloud Engineer(You design, build, and operate systems that use cloud environments like AWS).Basically, start with operations, maintenance, and monitoring, and gradually build on that experience to expand your expertise as an infrastructure engineer.The skills required of an infrastructure engineer include specific knowledge of IT infrastructure, of course, but also, depending on the company, tasks such as setting up security, which sometimes requires a broad range of knowledge in different areas.Since knowledge of IT infrastructure is of utmost importance for infrastructure engineers, no specific languages can be presented as commonly used. However, recently it has become common to use cloud services to build infrastructures, and Amazon’s AWS, Google’s GCP, and Microsoft’s Azure are very popular.As for development languages, it is recommended to learn Java, Python, Shell, etc. to improve work efficiency.#5: DevOps EngineerA DevOps engineer is an engineer who performs a variety of tasks to improve the speed of development and achieve stable operation of services. The term “DevOps” is made up of the words “development” and “operations” and came about in light of the fact that there is a conflict between the goal of rapid development of software on the development side and the goal of stable operation of systems on the operations side.The role of a DevOps engineer is to resolve this conflict between “development” and “operations”. Specific tasks include the following:Build and operate the infrastructure environment(Design of infrastructure environments including servers and selection of appropriate network environments). System development, maintenance, and operation(Design and development of the system and operation of the system once completed).Provide guidance to the “development” team and the “operations” team.(They stand between the “development” team and the “operations” team, relating to the arguments of the two teams and promoting collaboration between them).DevOps engineers have a wide range of responsibilities with their role of “accelerating” on the development side and “improving efficiency” on the operations side.Skills DevOps engineers need to have include an understanding and knowledge of tools and technologies in the IT industry, experience in “ensuring scalability” to extend systems to handle server loads, an understanding of networks and infrastructures, and the ability to coordinate to connect the operations and development sides.The path to becoming a DevOps engineer is tough because it requires you to be comfortable with a wide range of knowledge. There is no silver bullet to becoming a DevOps engineer but moving up the ladder after gaining experience as an infrastructure engineer or web application engineer is a relatively easy way to become one.Even if you work for a small company, you may be asked to take on the role of DevOps engineer due to a shortage of manpower.Since it’s not a development-centric job category, development languages are not central to your skill set, but languages DevOps engineers commonly use for development include Java, Python, and Ruby.The IT engineering industry faces a persistent shortage of human resourcesThe following table is from the report “Survey on IT Human Resources Supply and Demand” published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry in March 2019.◆There will be a shortage of up to 790,000 IT employees by 2030.Reference: Survey on IT Human Resources Supply and Demand (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)According to this report, there will be a shortage of between 160,000 and 790,000 IT employees by 2030.To solve this problem, quite a few companies are trying to IT secure engineers by recruiting foreigners. Large IT companies such as Mercari and Rakuten also hire foreigners, and there are even start-up companies in the field of AI technology that are mainly composed of foreigners.There are three reasons for the shortage of IT engineers.Reason (1): The evolution of IT technologyReason (2): Declining birth rate and ageing populationReason (3): Backward IT education in JapanNow let us look at these reasons one by one.Reason (1): The evolution of IT technologyIT technology is advancing at a dizzying pace. A well-known example is the Internet of Things (IoT), which includes SNS, smartphone apps, and home appliances, and has spawned one new technology after another.The same is true for businesses, and in particular, more and more companies are trying to drive DX, i.e., reform their business by leveraging IT tech data and digital technologies such as cloud, AI, and Big Data.As DX is related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (technological innovation using IoT, AI and Big Data), it will attract more and more attention in the future. In the IT industry, technology is evolving rapidly, and the skills required are changing with the times, making it difficult to find IT personnel who can keep up with the times and causing a shortage of human resources. The following article also mentions the shortage of DX personnel.Reference Article: External recruitment but not enough DX staff, two-stage ‘retraining’ to develop staffReason (2): Declining birth rate and ageing populationAnother factor is the declining birth rate and aging population. The decline in the labor force due to the declining birth rate and aging population will also affect the industry IT.Some companies are taking measures such as extending the retirement age and hiring new people, but this is not a fundamental solution because there are not enough young people who want to become engineers.Some companies are hiring new graduates with no experience or only those with experience. If you have skills in advanced technologies like AI, you can suddenly earn over 10 million yen a year as a new graduate.Reference Article: The fierce battle for “IT graduates,” even with 10 million annual salaryReason (3): Backward IT education in JapanAccording to the following data from the Cabinet Office, the scientific and mathematical literacy of 15-year-old Japanese is higher than that of Western countries, and Japan’s potential in ICT (information and communication technology) is not low.Reference data: School Education Issues in Japan (Cabinet Office).However, due to the lack of experience in using ICT (information and communication technology) in schools, the level of IT education in Japan is low compared to other countries. Japanese people have a high level of scientific and mathematical skills, which constitute the basic knowledge of IT. However, because they do not experience IT in their school years, they remain dissatisfied with IT even as adults.Finally, programming education will be a compulsory subject in Japanese elementary schools from 2020, but this has not solved the shortage of people to support IT due to the declining birth rate.It is very important that you know what language and environment you want to become an engineer in, rather than just a “systems engineer” or “programmer”When you hear the word “IT engineer,” most of you probably think of “systems engineer (SE*)” or “programmer (PG*).” *In the IT industry, “systems engineer” and “programmer” are sometimes abbreviated to “SE” and “PG” respectively.A “systems engineer” is an engineer who is primarily involved in the development, design, testing, and other aspects of an entire system, while a “programmer” is an engineer who writes code and programs based on the specifications created by the systems engineer. In short, both are IT engineers.However, if your goal is to become IT an engineer, whether you are a systems engineer or a programmer, you will need to work in an environment where the latest programming languages are used to advance your career.For those of you who want to become IT engineer, it is important to know what kind of IT engineer you want to become, such as a web applications engineer, and not just a programmer.Because if you become a programmer working with “COBOL” or “FORTRAN”, which were the most common programming languages 30 to 60 years ago, your career and employment opportunities will be limited, and it will be very difficult to build a career as an IT engineer.Therefore, aspiring IT engineers should first aim for the latest job categories, such as “Web Application Engineer” or “Mobile Application Engineer”.To become an IT engineer with no experience, attend a university or a programming schoolMany readers of this article may not have experience in the IT industry but are interested in becoming IT engineers.There are two main ways to become IT engineer without having experience in the IT industry.(1) Take a job as IT engineer with an IT company that is looking for people with no experience.(2) Acquire specialized knowledge and skills at a university, trade school, or programming school.In my opinion, I recommend the second option: acquire specialized knowledge and skills at a university, trade school, or programming school, and then become an IT engineer. The reason is that this will expand your career after you become IT engineer.If you attend a university, trade school, or programming school, you can gain specialized knowledge and skills there and use those knowledge and skills to advance your career after you become IT engineer.On the other hand, if you find a job as an IT engineer without experience, as in (1), you may not be able to gain much knowledge or skills and therefore your career will not advance. There are many companies looking for IT engineers with no experience, but even if you get a job there, you will often be given only rudimentary tasks. If you are only doing such work, it will be difficult to move up to the next level.Even if you become IT an engineer with no experience, at some point you will need to further your education outside of work itself. Therefore, it is more efficient to first acquire professional skills and knowledge at a university, trade school, or programming school, and then build your career as an experienced IT engineer.If you are currently working in another industry and want to become an IT engineer without experience, I recommend attending a university, trade school, or programming school to acquire knowledge and skills part-time, and then take on projects as a freelancer to gain experience.Recently, there have been tools that allow you to learn programming on your own. You may want to try these out first, or you may want to get the certifications/licenses recommended for each of the job categories above to determine your aptitude.Some of you may be interested in becoming IT engineer but are afraid of the thought of changing jobs to become IT engineer without having experience in the IT industry. From the article below, about 80% of people who changed jobs to become an engineer without prior experience are more satisfied with their new job than their previous job.◆Thoughts on changing careers to become an engineer without prior experienceNote: Data from 【未経験からのエンジニア転職に関する調査】転職者の8割超が「やりがいが向上」、約7割が「給与アップ」、未経験からエンジニアへのキャリアチェンジ (アデコ)(https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000692.000001264.html)Some of the comments from those who have switched jobs are, “The work is interesting,” “It’s very rewarding,” and “I can now work in a way that’s closer to my ideal.” Given the current severe shortage of IT engineers, it might be a good idea to take up IT engineering as a career.Certification/License that IT engineers need to acquire for each job categoryAs for the certifications/licenses we talked about earlier, please look at the table below for a list of certifications/licenses you should acquire by job category.◆ List of Certifications/Licenses You Should Acquire by Job CategoryIf you are interested, please review the certification/licensure exam questions to see what you need to know for each job. For example, those who want to become web application engineers should look at the Systems Architect exam, which tests your knowledge of defining system requirements and systems, and those who want to become native application engineers should look at the Authorized Certification Engineer for Android exam, which tests your knowledge of Android application development.Programming languages you should know to become an IT engineerNow let us look at the programming languages you need to know as an IT engineer.Please look at the table below. It summarizes the languages used in the five IT engineering job categories I mentioned earlier.◆ List of commonly used programming languages by job categoryIf you look at this table, Java, Python and Ruby are the most widely used and these three are the programming languages you should keep in mind.Python is a relatively simple and easy to understand programming language that can be used for web application development, opportunity learning, and statistical learning, which are currently the focus of interest.Ruby is a domestically produced programming language that makes it easy for beginners to get started, as no knowledge of English is required, and the code is simple and easy to read. It is also versatile and very versatile.Java is a programming language that can be used in virtually any environment, from systems development to web application development. It is also used by many companies. So, if you know Java, you will have little trouble finding a job.If you want to work as an IT engineer, it would also be useful to speak English, even if it is not a programming language. Reference books on the latest programming languages are written in English. So, if you cannot read in English, it will be difficult to read and understand them. Also, many Japanese companies are now hiring foreign engineers, so you can use English to communicate.There are already a lot of foreigners in the fintech and cutting-edge technology fields. So, if you are interested in these fields or want to pursue them in the future, I highly recommend learning English.SummaryThere is a shortage of IT engineers worldwide, and as mentioned earlier, many Japanese companies are hiring foreign engineers. However, due to Japan’s declining birth rate and aging population, and the resulting decrease in the labor force, the country is also facing a serious shortage of IT engineers from a global perspective.Therefore, more and more companies are looking for IT engineers even if they have no experience in the IT industry or are hiring foreign IT engineers. It used to be difficult to change jobs to become an engineer if you were over 35, but today many companies are willing to accept people from a wide age range if their skills match the company’s hiring needs.We offer two services for IT engineers: “GTalent”, a career transition service, and “GitTap”, a scouting and job information website that allows you to contact companies directly. For foreign IT engineers working in Japan and Japanese IT engineers seeking a global environment, we offer a variety of recruitment opportunities. Please check out the “GTalent” and “GitTap” service pages Browse G Talent Browse GitTap

Many foreigners haven’t yet understood the Japanese salary system properly, so when the salary is transferred to their account, they are surprised to find out that it is less than what they were expecting to receive. That is why I will explain in detail the following guideline and, also, the calculation method.The salary system that everyone who works must knowSalary can be obtained as compensation for labor and for contributing to the company. It is an indispensable asset for living. If it is a fixed salary such as a monthly salary, it is a very important indicator that determines the standard of living of every month. However, if you get a lower amount than the salary you thought it would be before you joined the company, you will be shocked. To prevent such a situation, deepening the knowledge into the salary system should be helpful for starting to work comfortably when changing jobs.What is Salary After Tax Income?In Japan, the amount of money that is actually transferred to a designated bank account is called the “After-Tax Income”. This is the total salary paid by the company minus social insurance premiums and taxes. People who don’t know the details will feel that it is “less than what they expected …”.What does “After-Tax” mean?Actual income that you receive= “After-Tax”, but there are various breakdowns in salary. It is referred to the amount of money deducted from premiums such as company insurance premiums, pension and taxes such as income tax and resident tax from the face value provided by the company, like base salary (hourly wage, daily wage, monthly salary), paid overtime and company’s allowance.About “Face Value” and “Deduction”Rather than knowing the amount of money after-tax, what is important to know is the “face value (total payment)” and the “deduction” amount. By gaining knowledge about face value and deductions, you can improve your understanding of how your income is determined.The details are as follows.The “face value” is the total amount paid by the companyThere are various face value breakdowns. This should be noted because there are differences between companies.（1）Basic salaryThis is the basic amount for which the amount of payment is determined, such as hourly, daily, and monthly wages. This basic salary does not include incentives such as overtime, allowances, and commissions.（2）Overtime allowanceAn allowance that exceeds the business hours (working hours) determined by each company or that exceeds the legal working hours of 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week (an increase of 25% or more from the hourly wage). In other words, paid overtime.（3）Late Overtime allowanceThe allowance paid when working overtime after 22:00 (over 25% from the hourly wage) or working on holidays (over 35% over the hourly wage) among overtime exceeding the business hours.（4）Qualification allowanceAllowance paid to professionals and other persons who have the qualifications required for the business specified by the company. In some cases, the amount varies depending on the level of difficulty in obtaining national qualifications.（5）Executive allowanceGenerally, it is paid to those who are promoted and move to managerial positions. In most cases, the amount varies depending on the position, chief, director or general manager.（6）Commuting allowanceAllowance for subsidizing a full or fixed amount of transportation expenses for those who commute using transportation such as trains and buses. Some companies may pay gasoline to those commuting by car.In addition to these, there are many peculiar benefits like family allowances paid as a subsidy for employees with dependents, housing allowances to support housing expenses such as rent and mortgages, and business allowances for companies with business trips.“Deduction” is the total amount deducted from salary“Deduction” is calculated from half of the total amount of social insurance, such as insurance premiums and pensions, resident tax and income tax are deducted from salary. Excluding income tax, the amount will not change for the first year after the amount is determined.（1）Health insuranceThis is a national medical insurance policy that allows you to visit a medical institution if you are ill or injured. The insurance premium will be halved with the employer. Also, the insurance premium rate will vary depending on the health insurance association you are registered.（2）Employment insuranceIt is widely recognized as an insurance policy that provides unemployment benefits in the event of unemployment, even though there are various benefits. The insurance premium rate will depend on the company’s business.（3）Nursing insuranceWith insurance that requires participation when the target age is over 40, you can receive welfare services at 10-20% when you need nursing care.（4）Employee’s PensionThis is a system in which the participant himself / herself and the employer pay half the price and pay a premium to receive pension payments.（5）Income taxThis tax is imposed on the income earned by an individual for a year, and the tax rate varies depending on the annual income. If you work for a company, it will be deducted by “withholding” and settled by “year-end adjustment or final tax return”.（6）Resident taxThis tax is paid to the prefecture or municipality where the worker resides. The amount is determined by the annual income of the previous year.In addition, there are cases where labor union fees, retirement reserves, company housing, etc. are deducted.Let’s actually take a look at the salary detailsIt is easier to understand when you see the actual salary details, rather than just checking the amount of the salary after-tax. The details and item names of the pay slip may differ depending on the company, but in general, the amount indicated in the item “Amount of deduction” is the “withholding amount”.What is the guideline for after-tax income?I’ve told you in detail about “face value” and “deduction”. But, if before joining the company you know the salary listed on the job offer information, you can get a clue of the amount of after-tax income. So, from here, I will explain how to get the amount of money that will serve you as a standard.What percentage of face value can you receive as an after-tax income?An approximate standard is 80% (75-85%) of the face value is the “after-tax income”. However, the percentage varies depending on the person even at the same face value. For example, the amount of deductions varies depending on the previous year’s annual income and the number of dependents. Besides, the higher the face value, the higher the income tax rate. If it exceeds approximately 600,000 yen/a month, the percentage of the after-tax income will fall below 75%.Example of tax exemption for dependents between a single person and someone with dependents.In the case of a single person, if the monthly salary is 250,000 yen, about 80%, ¥197,690 will be the net income. In the case of a married couple with two dependents, you can receive a “dependence deduction” that is preferentially paid by income tax/resident tax. ¥ 200,430 will be the net income, which is an increase of ¥ 9000.What is the calculation method?As I mentioned earlier, about 80% of the face value is taken. In other words, as a calculation method, you can calculate the approximate take-up amount by multiplying the face value by 0.8.* Please note that the amount of income may change in conjunction with the deduction total depending on income tax and dependents.How to accurately calculate salary after-tax incomef you know the face value (total amount of payment) and the breakdown of deductions, you can easily derive the exact proceeds. The calculation method is [basic salary + fixed allowance + variable allowance (other than bonus)]-[social insurance premiums (health insurance, long-term care insurance, welfare pension, employment insurance)]-[tax (income tax, resident tax)]. By following those steps, you can calculate it.How to derive an approximate amount from a bonusSome companies offer bonuses twice a year or once a year. For that bonus, you can calculate the approximate take-up amount at approximately 82% of the face value. For example, if a single person with a basic salary (monthly salary) of 220,000 yen gets a 660,000 yen bonus for three months, the proceeds will be approximately 540,000 yen. This also applies to your case, as the percentage of net income varies depending on the total deductions.Important points when changing jobsDuring your career change period, you will see a variety of job offers. In that case, it is very important to pay attention to the net amount. If you make don’t get it right, your income may be lower than your previous job. Be sure to check prior information and to get a deeper knowledge of it, to find a company that meets your needs.The salary in the job offers is not the net income.Most salaries listed in job listings and job sites in Japan will show the “face value”. In other words, the net income you will receive as a salary will be less than the amount listed there. Therefore, if you are looking for a place where you can change your salary to a better than the previous job (the current job at the time of job change), you can compare the face value or multiply the salary listed in the job offer information by 0.8 to calculate the approximate net income. Let’s consider it after that.Tell the face value of the desired salary instead of the net amount.There are cases where the salary changes depending on the job seeker’s experience and ability, such as “monthly salary of over ~” or “monthly salary of ¥ xxx to ¥ xxx”. Be sure to tell the face value when you are asked about your desired salary. If you tell the net income, the recruiter will think of it as the face value and you will have a lower income than the one you wanted. Let’s confirm the desired salary with face value so you don’t regret it after joining the company.ConclusionEven if you meet a good company or job as your next destination, you will not be able to improve your life if your salary is less than expected. To prevent this from happening, it is very important to know the “after-tax income amount” which is the money you will have at hand. Acquire the knowledge to determine the correct salary for each opportunity, regardless of the face value amount listed in the employment information, and use it for future job change activities.