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IT engineer is one of the jobs in demand in today’s society.
IT is now an inseparable part of our lives.
In this lesson, you will learn if and how you can work as an IT engineer with no experience.
If you are interested in becoming an IT engineer, web application developer, or programmer, please refer to this page.
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If you apply for a job with no experience, you will not be hired.
Even if you have studied IT at university, you will not be hired if you do not have any practical work experience.
So why don’t companies hire people without experience? There are mainly two reasons.
① Concerns about Japanese language proficiency
To begin with, in job applications for foreign talent, whether the applicant has experience or not, JLPT N1 (or an equivalent level of Japanese proficiency) is required.
This is because, when working in Japan, all communication with colleagues and clients is conducted in Japanese. Business emails and technical documents, such as design specifications used during development, are also all written in Japanese.
This is the main reason. In the case of someone with no experience, training is necessary. And if you are a foreigner aiming to become an IT engineer without prior experience, you will be participating in the same training as Japanese people who are also aiming to become IT engineers.
The training, of course, is conducted in Japanese, and all materials such as textbooks and handouts are also entirely in Japanese.
Learning programming is already difficult for someone with no experience, and having to learn it in a foreign language makes it even more challenging. That’s why a high level of Japanese proficiency is essential to fully understand the training content.
Companies also need to increase profits and reduce costs. By hiring a Japanese person from the beginning, the training can proceed more smoothly, and if they can move on to on-the-job training (OJT) and start working in the field quickly, it saves time, effort, and cost.
② Age
In Japan, there is an unspoken understanding of age limits for changing careers into inexperienced fields.
Career changes into fields without prior experience are generally accepted up to around 25 years old. By the time a person approaches 30, the chances of successfully switching to an inexperienced field drop significantly.
The reason why Japanese companies do not hire inexperienced candidates over 25 years old is that the older a person is, the longer it takes for them to learn new knowledge.
Compared to fresh graduates and young workers in their early twenties, it takes significantly more time for older inexperienced candidates to become immediately productive, which often leads to their rejection.
There are also cases where candidates are not hired due to concerns about the increased burden on on-site mentors.
For example, if a 30-year-old with no experience joins a company, they will be taught by a younger senior colleague who is 25 years old.
In Japan, there is a culture of respecting seniors and a seniority-based system called ‘nenko joretsu.’ From the mentor’s perspective, some may find it difficult to teach work to a junior who is older than themselves.
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How to become an IT engineer from an inexperienced background
We will learn the specific steps on how to become an IT engineer without prior experience.
In conclusion, by following these steps, even those without experience can work as IT engineers.
①As a fundamental prerequisite, obtain the JLPT N1 certification (or an equivalent qualification).
②Attend a programming school to learn coding.
③Work as a freelancer to gain practical experience.
I will explain each of the three steps in detail.
①As a fundamental prerequisite, obtain the JLPT N1 certification (or an equivalent qualification).
The reason why JLPT N1 level Japanese proficiency is necessary is to be able to keep up with training after joining a company.
If you cannot fully understand 100% of the training content, you will fall behind other inexperienced engineers and also start late as a junior programmer.
Moreover, since Japanese is used daily after joining, communication in a business setting becomes difficult without N1 proficiency.
If you have an understanding ability comparable to that of a native Japanese speaker, you can finish the training quickly and start coding work sooner.
②Attend a programming school to learn coding.
If you learn coding at a programming school in advance, you will be able to code faster during the training after joining a company compared to Japanese beginners with no experience.
Even for Japanese people whose native language is Japanese, it takes time to fully understand training when they have no prior experience.
That is why it is important to acquire some knowledge beforehand and gain a certain level of coding experience.
One of the biggest benefits of attending a programming school is that some schools introduce job openings upon graduation.
If you can study programming and start job hunting at the same time as graduation, it’s like killing two birds with one stone.
The idea of passively receiving training while getting paid and learning about IT is a bit naive.
From a company’s perspective, they think, “You should learn by yourself!” and they do not want employees who only have a passive attitude.
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③Work as a freelancer to gain practical experience.
Even if you have gained some knowledge and experience in coding through a programming school, you should not immediately start looking for IT-related jobs. Instead, begin by working as a freelancer.
This is because, even after studying at a programming school, you are not yet fully ready to be an immediate asset in the workplace. Therefore, if you apply directly to job openings, you may often be rejected.
Simply studying at a programming school does not even put you at the starting line yet.
As the first step to becoming an IT engineer, gain practical experience by working as a freelancer.
First, start with easier tasks in the later stages of development, such as coding and testing.
As you gain experience and become able to code quickly and accurately, actively challenge yourself with tasks in the earlier stages, such as designing wireframes and databases.
The period you work as a freelancer counts as practical work experience. Therefore, when applying for job openings, you will no longer be considered inexperienced but can proceed as a qualified, ready-to-work engineer.
These are the steps to become an engineer even without prior experience.
How many years you should work as a freelancer depends on your Japanese language proficiency level. Please refer to the following guidelines for the timing of applying to companies from freelancing.
JLPT N1 passers
Gain about two years of coding experience as a freelancer.
JLPT N2 passers
Gain more than three years of experience in coding and design working as a freelancer.
JLPT N3 to N4 passers
With more than four years of experience as a freelancer, participate in projects from the early stages of development and work on developing various applications.
Even if you have no prior experience in a certain industry, if you take the initiative to learn on your own and gain experience as a freelancer, you become an experienced professional.
Companies seek to hire individuals who can take initiative and learn independently.
Therefore, by learning at a programming school as a beginner and gaining development experience through various freelance projects, you can confidently convey this experience in interviews and successfully work as an IT engineer at a Japanese company.
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