English Teacher to Web Developer in Japan

TL;DR: Started as an English teacher in Tokyo 2011 earning ¥200,000-¥250,000 a month, decided to switch careers to web development in 2015, studied HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on my own for a year, built a portfolio, reduced teaching hours to focus on learning, faced many challenges, and eventually landed my first web developer job. Now working as a freelance web developer.

The Beginning

In 2016, I was an English teacher in Tokyo, earning around ¥200,000 to ¥250,000 a month. In some countries, that's a lot, but in Tokyo, it's barely enough, depending on your lifestyle. At that time, I was around 27 years old, struggling with taxes and life in general.

I didn't finish high school and barely went through until 16 years old. I quit early and got into a polytechnic college through the backdoor, just to get a degree. At 26 or 27, I had no real skills and wanted to change that. I wanted a job with a promising future but didn't know where to start. So, I went to a bookstore, considered architecture or design, but had no idea what I was doing. Eventually, I gravitated towards the IT section and picked up books on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Self-Study and Determination

For the next few months, I used those books to study by myself. I decided to become a web developer no matter what and gave myself a one-year timeframe to go from zero to employment. However, having no teacher made it challenging, and the internet's vast information was overwhelming.

I considered a boot camp, but the price was too high, and I had no savings. I knew I had to learn everything myself for free or as cheaply as possible. Not finishing high school and not paying attention in class affected my learning, but I was determined to get a job and secure my future.

After six months of studying, I reduced my teaching hours to about 20 hours a week and spent the rest of my time studying and creating my own projects. I read that having your own product makes it easier to get hired, so I used YouTube, Stack Overflow, and Google to learn and create my own portfolio.

Challenges and Breakthroughs

During this period, I had a very old computer with many issues, but I made do with what I had. Spending hours on small problems was something I had to get used to. I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I knew I had to get there somehow.

At one point, I was working 20 hours a week and sleeping under five hours a night, which wasn't ideal. I remember one day I fainted at the station due to exhaustion. Despite these challenges, I remained focused on my goal of becoming a web developer.

First Job and Moving Forward

Towards the end of the year, I had two projects in my portfolio. I quit my teaching job to focus 100% on finding a web developer job. I received several negative replies but eventually got three positive responses. One of them matched the technologies I was studying, so I applied and completed a test project for them.

Even though I wasn't fully prepared, I managed to get a job. This was the biggest step in my life, considering my background of working various labor jobs. Getting that job was a huge milestone, and I am always grateful for where I am today.

End

I hope my story can help you if you want to come to Japan and become a web developer or IT professional. Whether you're already in Japan or in another non-English speaking country, I hope my journey can inspire you to achieve something greater.

Stay tuned for more content about technology, working in Japan, and more. Thank you for Reading.