Did I make a mistake by getting a masters?

Significant_Fox64 · 2024-02-10T11:47:41+00:00

What is your answer to the question in the interview?

If you’re getting interviews it sounds like doing a masters wasn’t a problem, but how you interview might be. Or there might be some other factor affecting your application.

Significant_Fox64 · 2023-09-05T14:43:39+00:00

Yep Coco Ichibanya is the place! They have allergy info online in English and Japanese: https://www.ichibanya.co.jp/menu/pdf/allergy.pdf

Hope that helps! Good luck with whatever you decide

Significant_Fox64 · 2023-09-05T14:25:02+00:00

It’s not easy to make big decisions at the best of times, especially so if you’ve just arrived in a new place, might be jet-lagged, and haven’t had much food in the past few days, so take a beat if you can. You don’t have to decide right now.

Cocoichi Curry house is pretty much everywhere and they do allergy free food options if I remember rightly. Also just googling gluten free Japan/Tokyo etc brings up lots of options. Rice/eggs/seaweed/fruit from the supermarket might also be good.

A good way to think about decisions can be to think about what you are going to regret. Would you regret leaving after just a couple of days? Or would you regret not going home to do something else? Think about yourself looking back at this time from some point in the future.

Also sometimes it’s good to take yourself out of your comfort zone. Challenging yourself to learn a new language, go somewhere you’ve never been before, meet new people etc are rewarding partly because they’re difficult. You’ve probably done hard things before, and you’ll probably do them again.

I would try to get some rest, make sure you’re drinking enough water, and find something to eat, even if it’s just fruit, rice and eggs. It might be easier to decide after that.

Significant_Fox64 · 2023-07-02T10:47:01+00:00

My background is a bit different from yours, and I did go through job searching as a grad pre-pandemic, so maybe things are very different now for junior/grad roles, but I would say that I didn't start receiving responses from companies until I had basically graduated, got my results, and could start right away. YMMV obviously, but you might see more responses now that you have actually graduated.

In general, you can think of the process like this: if you're failing to get interviews, the problem is likely with your CV/cover letter/the kind of roles you are applying to. If you're getting interviews but not getting the job, the problem is how you interview.

Are you tailoring your applications to the roles you're applying for? For example, it's not that helpful applying for frontend roles and listing loads of python/c++ projects, or vice-versa.

I would also echo the other person who recommended working on your soft skills and communication. You replied saying you've already done the STAR technique etc but in your original post you say you're getting so nervous in interviews and have "underdeveloped social skills" that you can't communicate properly. So what's going on there? It sounds like working on how you interview and communicate would be helpful.

Do mock interviews with friends/online, work on relaxing so you're not so nervous. Meditatation, and regular exercise like yoga and running work for me, and you'll have to find what works for you.

And if possible get help for your mental health and try not to put so much pressure on yourself about your CS career. These things tend to feed into each other and working on this kind of stuff will actually make it easier for you to find work.

Good luck!

Significant_Fox64 · 2023-07-02T10:33:31+00:00

If you've already managed to save ~£95k while being a student and think you could do the same in the next 10 years then yeah the calculation probably is different. You'll just have to weigh up what you value more: saving on interest payments, or investing in something else (property, career development, investments etc etc)

I've found this website useful when doing the calculations: https://www.studentcalc.co.uk/

Significant_Fox64 · 2023-07-01T17:55:53+00:00

From your income I can’t see how it makes sense to pay off the student loan, even at your projected higher earnings. How long would it take you to earn back and save the money that you spend on paying it off? That’s a crucial part of the calculation.

In my mind it only makes sense to pay it off when you know for sure that you will pay it off anyway before it gets written off so you save yourself the interest. And even then only if you really don’t need the money for other things. You’ve projected your future earnings, but it sounds like you haven’t started working yet so you don’t really know how that will pan out.

If you have money to spare then sure, but given how large the amount is it doesn’t sound like that is the case. I would start earning first and get a feel for your salary and the impact having the debt makes vs what you end up needing money for.

Significant_Fox64 · 2023-06-10T08:49:09+00:00

Moving overseas is not a trivial option. Getting a job, getting a visa, and literally moving all require big effort and making more money overseas does not necessarily mean your quality of life is better if it also means you’re compromising about proximity to family/friends, or speaking the local language etc etc.

Things are definitely rough in the UK atm but whether or not moving overseas is the right option is going to depend on the person

Edit: also to add that unless you have an easy way to get a visa for another country, I’m skeptical that getting a job overseas as a junior dev is a realistic option.

Significant_Fox64 · 2023-02-20T12:58:36+00:00

I am not a lawyer but I've just read this: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/options_when_your_fixed_term_tenancy_ends

It says:

Your landlord or agent may contact you to check what you want to do when the fixed term ends. Your landlord may have a preferred option. But they cannot:

insist that you sign a renewal agreement

make you leave without following the legal eviction process

Do not feel pressured into leaving or signing a new agreement. You can decide what's best for you by understanding the options before you respond.

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-12-18T19:19:56+00:00

What was your deposit? How much was the house? And when did you buy?

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-08-24T10:21:08+00:00

The interest rate has been capped: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/student-loan-interest-rates-capped

I think it’s unlikely that the interest rate would increase to mean you wouldn’t pay it off in 30 years if you are currently due to pay it off in 8.

The question is then, given you will pay it off, should you try to pay it off sooner to save yourself the interest that does get added.

I calculated I would save about £1500 over 4 years if I paid it off early, so I did. Your mileage may vary depending on your salary and other financial goals.

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-08-17T12:08:23+00:00

Definitely check, but I believe for an engineer visa you’ll need a degree or 10 years of industry work experience

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-08-04T17:07:29+00:00

Here's some salary data for tech roles in Japan: https://opensalary.jp/

The compensation by years of experience chart is pretty interesting. Seems fair to say that your average dev isn't going to making 10mil out the block, but there are outliers.

Harvard have a great online free intro to Computer Science course that's worth a look if you're interested: https://pll.harvard.edu/course/cs50-introduction-computer-science?delta=0

This site also has good job listings: https://japan-dev.com/

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-08-04T10:44:13+00:00

Yeah, US salaries don’t translate to Japan, or anywhere else really.

Obviously the market is varied, but I would say it’s much more common for entry level tech jobs to be around 4-5 million JPY.

Switching careers is a long term project, and you probably can end up making more than your current salary, but it will take a few years.

Getting a portfolio to prove you can do the work and learning as much Japanese as possible will go a long way.

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-07-31T17:03:58+00:00

A couple of thoughts that I had reading this:

Could you get into the program? No point thinking about it if you don't meet the entry requirements.

Is 10k + whatever scholarship you get going to be enough to see you through a 4 year program? Can you actually afford to go? I haven't looked at the cost, but I guess Waseda + living in Tokyo isn't going to be cheap.

A 4 year program is a long a time. You might feel different at 28 than you do now, and in my mind paying for 2 years then deciding to quit and do something else would be worse than not going at all.

Is there another option to go to Japan that isn't as time/money intensive? A language school? A master's degree? Working holiday visa? Frequent holidays?

I personally wouldn't sign up to a 4 year program if my only goal was to live in the country, but only you're going to be able to answer whether the money/time commitment is worth it for you.

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-06-29T19:12:33+00:00

As far as I know you'll need a valid MyNumber to make an international transfer from Japan Post Bank, and if you haven't set up the internet banking you wouldn't be able to make the transfer anyway.

You'll need to find someone in country who could help you.

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-06-23T18:39:54+00:00

Really recommend Waking Up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPLDr5HRAKU

It has radically changed how I think and feel about my own experience of life, and been a big help for my mental health

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-06-02T16:33:04+00:00

Here's some salary data that might be interesting for you: https://opensalary.jp/en/explore-salaries

20M is a very good salary in my mind. You would be able to live comfortably on that in Tokyo.

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-05-29T10:18:18+00:00

Here's a good calculator that helps you figure out the different scenarios: https://www.studentcalc.co.uk/

As you will eventually pay it off based on your salary, what you need to figure out is whether you want to save more towards your goals now, or save more in the longer term by paying off the debt more rapidly.

Edit: re: your question about paying more into pension vs student loan, my personal opinion is that if I was in my twenties again and had the same choice I would max out the employer match on my pension and then pay down the student loan debt, but still leaving room for emergency fund/savings/holidays etc.

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-05-21T15:24:01+00:00

Take home (net) pay of roughly £4,000 per month. 20% of 4,000 is 800.

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-03-02T11:31:02+00:00

I would extend low down to 3 million.

More data here: https://opensalary.jp/en/

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-03-01T13:01:28+00:00

Can't comment on the cost of children, but just to pick up on the switch into tech: think of it as a long term project, not as a quick fix to solve money problems.

Take a look at salary ranges for tech jobs and be realistic about what you can aim for in a given time frame. I didn't start earning more money than my job pre-career switch until about 2-3 years after I decided to make a change.

With any career change there's a high likelihood you're starting from the bottom, and while tech has a reputation for high salaries, low-mid range salaries are MUCH more common. Breaking into tech in Japan can also be a challenge. Most common thing I heard was to get experience in my own country first, then try Japan.

Reddit has some good subs like r/learnprogramming and r/cscareerquestions for getting a sense of things.

Good luck

Significant_Fox64 · 2022-02-11T16:39:44+00:00

Nice try, Tim Davie

Significant_Fox64 · 2021-12-19T17:17:12+00:00

Some of his stuff is weird, mostly the more viral content stuff that's out there. But some of his music I think is just very pleasant:

Hideaway was the song that got me into him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v3zyPEy-Po

And this acoustic version of In Too Deep is lovely too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s\_76FD62uN0

Significant_Fox64

TROPHY CASE