r/movingtojapan 2d ago

General I want to move to Japan with a Cybersecurity background, what are my chances?

I'm looking to move to Japan from Australia within the next to 2-3 years after having lived there for a year as an exchange student and I am pretty set on my decision. My Japanese falls around N3 (Will acquire N2-N1 before moving)

Currently fall under the Cybersecurity space with a Bachelors in Cybersecurity and was wondering what the current market direction is looking like over there? Are there particular skillsets that are highly sought after? I specifically work in engineering so I help develop solutions and consult. Also I'm primarily looking to move to Tokyo (where I lived).

From my understanding, IT appears to be a great opportunity for foreigners who don't even speak Japanese, but this is my personal experience and would like to hear on what others who have experience have to say!

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u/Trucein 1d ago

Just me being completely honest, as a network engineering and cybersecurity consultant myself that wants to move to Japan, N2 isn’t enough to consult and unless you plan to be unemployed and immerse for 6-8 hours a day the jump from N3 to N1 is a mountain. There are also so many cultural nuances and differences beyond just the language that make a job like that particularly hard for foreigners.

You will very likely have to fall back onto a technical role and work in a SoC. It sucks, but I came to the same realization as well. If I want to get a job offer and a visa, I’m going to have to go back to implementations or keeping the lights on somewhere.

1

u/yoshihi-ko 1d ago

I see! Sounds about right..

3

u/ZeusAllMighty11 Resident (Work) 1d ago

I have only met a single person working in csec here. He works for a very large international company and speaks almost no Japanese.

Such positions are very rare and very competitive.. as one may expect I guess.

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u/yoshihi-ko 1d ago

I figured that'd be the case.. besides cybersecurity, are there any super in demand IT skills that are known to be paid well?

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I want to move to Japan with a Cybersecurity background, what are my chances?

I'm looking to move to Japan from Australia within the next to 2-3 years after having lived there for a year as an exchange student and I am pretty set on my decision. My Japanese falls around N3 (Will acquire N2-N1 before moving)

Currently fall under the Cybersecurity space with a Bachelors in Cybersecurity and was wondering what the current market direction is looking like over there? Are there particular skillsets that are highly sought after? I specifically work in engineering so I help develop solutions and consult. Also I'm primarily looking to move to Tokyo (where I lived).

From my understanding, IT appears to be a great opportunity for foreigners who don't even speak Japanese, but this is my personal experience and would like to hear on what others who have experience have to say!

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1

u/FAlady Resident (Spouse) 1d ago

This is my field and the job market is tough right now. Seconding that you need business Japanese. If not, Rakuten sometimes hires English-only speakers.

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u/yoshihi-ko 1d ago

Is that for IT in general? Or for just cybersecurity? I have a friend that works at those English only roles at Rakuten (I think she's a front-end developer), however the pay seems to be below average and not particularly riveting stuff as she likes to put it.

1

u/FAlady Resident (Spouse) 19h ago

Both. And yeah Rakuten has a shitty reputation but they will take anything with a pulse.