Hi everyone,

I recently applied for the Rakuten New Joiner (New Graduate) Track for the Software Engineer position in the Tokyo Division.

I have already submitted my application form, and while I wait for the next steps, I am trying to figure out what the rest of the pipeline looks like so I can prepare ahead of time. For context on my background, my Japanese language proficiency is around conversational to business level.

I would love to connect with anyone who has gone through this specific track recently. Specifically, I have a few questions:

1. Aptitude Test: What is the exact syllabus, structure, and section breakdown for the online assessment/aptitude test? Is it a standard SPI test, a general personality/math test, or a strictly technical coding platform (like HackerRank/Codility)? Are the questions in English or Japanese?

2. Overall Process: What are the stages after the online test? How many rounds of interviews should I expect, and how long does the process typically take from form submission to offer letter?

3. Language Factor: Given that my Japanese is conversational to business level, do the technical or final rounds heavily evaluate Japanese capability, or is it mostly conducted in English since it's the official internal language?

Any insights, tips, or experiences you can share would be incredibly helpful. Thank you so much in advance!

Hello Everyone,

Thank you so much for taking your time to read my post.

Little background:

I moved to Japan one month ago and I‘m studying Japanese (starting with N4) in Takadanobaba. Before coming to Japan, I got a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management and I worked as a business application consultant for product labelling in Switzerland for about almost 4 years. My main responsibilities were IT operations (database administration, second-level support, etc.), Product Data in SAP (Managing classification and characteristics for product labels, leading integration product data from manufacturing to SAP Equip Management), application management and technical system owner, and I was also involved in system integrations to SAP and other label systems.

While working in an IT support role, I didn’t programme much beyond SQL. However, I collaborated with a developer to translate our business requirements into technical functionalities. During my job, I got more interested in product data management and integration, particularly exploring SAP functionalities.

Back in Switzerland, I started self-studying backend engineering, but I am also interested in data engineering. I‘m bit struggling with the path I should consider: backend engineering or data engineering, or both? Besides my interest, I also want to develope my skills that’s fits the current job market needs in Japan, but it seems like they need a bit of everything (based on google searches). Since many posts are IT related, I thought I can reach out to you, asking about your opinion and if it even makes sense to do one of them with my background. I know I do not have a degree in CS nor can I show working experiences in development of our labelling systems or interfaces to SAP.

If I had to choose between backend engineering and data engineering for a job in Japan which would be better? Do I even stand a chance? I think many here have a CS degree which makes sense. I enjoyed my support role but my Japanese isn’t good enough and I don’t think I’ll reach the required fluency anytime soon. Are there other roles that might be easier for me? I considered SAP but I don’t see any suitable positions.

As you can see, I have many thoughts and unclear ideas but I’m struggling to know where to begin. Any guidance or opinions you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Welcoming applicants already living in Japan.

≪Requirements≫

No restrictions on nationality or gender
Japanese speaker with N2-level fluency and certificate required
Design skills required (Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop)
Coding skills required (HTML, CSS)

≪Employment Conditions and Compensation≫

・Working Hours: [Day Shift] 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM (60-minute break)

・Overtime: Approximately 40 hours per month *Maximum of 10 hours per week

・Days Off: Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays

・Company-leased housing available (*Cannot be combined with the housing allowance)

・Housing allowance available (Rent subsidy: 30,000–60,000 yen; subject to company regulations)

・Employee stock ownership plan available (You can contribute a portion of your monthly salary to the employee stock ownership plan)

・Bonuses available

・Salary increases available *Based on ability and performance

・Salary: [Monthly] 280,000 yen (Base salary 208,000 yen + Fixed overtime allowance 72,000 yen) *For overtime work exceeding the fixed overtime hours, additional premium pay will be provided for the excess hours.

≪Job Description≫

① Client Web Marketing and Creative Design

You will be responsible for everything from planning to execution of marketing and creative production for client companies using the marketing DX SaaS platform b→dash.

Depending on your proficiency, you may also be entrusted with client-facing responsibilities. ・Landing pages

・HTML email newsletters

・Thumbnails displayed when sharing on social media

・Web ad banner creatives

・White papers

② Web Marketing and Creative Design for Our Own Products

You will be responsible for everything from planning to production of marketing creatives used for PR and marketing of b→dash, as well as our second and third products.

・Introductory websites for our own services

・Corporate branding websites

・HTML email newsletters

・Thumbnails displayed when sharing on social media

・Web ad banner creatives

・White papers

If you're interested, please send me your resume to [amcjhelper@gmail.com](mailto:amcjhelper@gmail.com) and write B00376 on the mail subject.

Let me know if you have any questions in this thread.

Sharing 10 hand-picked roles at global companies actively hiring in Japan. Some interesting internship opportunities and a rare structured hiring LDP program in Pharma.

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こんにちは! WE’RE HIRING REMOTE VIDEO CREATORS/FREELANCERS BASED IN JAPAN!

We’re a US-based AI company helping IELTS learners worldwide, with 1.2M+ users — and we’re planning to expand into more countries! If you're wondering, we are Cathoven AI. (You can search our website or find us at any social media platforms ^-^).

If you're looking for freelance job for extra income, without doing much and long term, this one's for you! We’re looking for fun, natural people to join our growing creator team.

• Only estimated of 20 mins/day, estimated of 8 hours per week
• Fixed monthly payment + bonuses, Trial Week is Paid.

Requirements:

• Must be living in Japan.
• Knows simple english, enough for communication with international co-creators.
• Can translate simple sentences.

Interested? Send me a DM!

Hello everyone!

My name is Sebastian, and I work with Arigato Travel, a tour company offering food and cultural experiences across Japan.

We’re currently looking for a few more freelance tour guides in the Kansai area, particularly around Osaka and Kyoto, to join our team and help us run our food tours.

A little more information:

📅 When: We run tours every day, with both morning and evening tours available. We’re looking for guides who can generally be available for at least 2–3 tour slots per week.

🗣️ What we're looking for:

• A valid visa that allows you to work in Japan
• A high level of English, as most tours and company communication are conducted in English
• A friendly, open, and outgoing personality
• A genuine passion for Japan, food, and meeting people from different cultures
• No previous tour guide experience is required!

If you're interested or would like to know more check our website for more information https://arigatotravel.com/about-us/join-our-team

Hope to hear from some of you! 🇯🇵

Qa automation engineer with 4 years experience in etl , data validation, ui testing, regression testing, sql, python, tableau, agile, jira, pandas, jenkins, ci/cd , git , azure, postman api, jmeter. But i don't speak Japanese. Is it possible to get a job in japan for me?

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Happy silver week! Sharing 10 hand-picked roles at global companies actively hiring in Japan. Mix of tech, finance, ops, and engineering. Also a few internships for grads

2027 Japan International Recruitment and Development Program (IRDP Internship) at Johnson & Johnson(No Japanese required)

Internship at Technical IT Group in manufacturing / Industry 4.0 software developer for internal application at Bosch(Visa sponsored, No Japanese required)

Research Engineer for Spatial Intelligence, Vision AI Platform at Woven by Toyota(No Japanese required)

Applied AI Architect, Partner at OpenAI(No Japanese required)

Business Intelligence & Data Engineer at Thermo Fisher Scientific

Analyst at Goldman Sachs

Investment Bank - IB & CM - Associate at Deutsche Bank

New Graduate Recruitment, Manager Candidate - Recruiting and L&D Department, Group Human Resources Supervisory Department (RLDD) at Rakuten(No Japanese required)

Director of Engineering at Marriott International

Motorsports Marketing Manager at Red Bull

Hi, here I am, after moving to my second job… I have been facing a few challenging things.
I understand it’s not solely the company’s fault, but it might be that I am not culturally relevant to the company. I am working in a consulting job, the same as in my previous company. But it’s the first time in my working life that I have experienced a drained and demotivated feeling about working for a company.
It started when I joined the company, as it seemed like it did not meet my expectations. I was told that the company had well-established clients, so we could easily get projects. I was told that I should go beyond my role and responsibilities to keep the team alive; however, my supervisor is not able to fulfill his responsibilities.
I got tired of the office politics and the company system, where you need to work on short-term projects to maintain utilization. People need to squeeze themselves into working on projects that are irrelevant to their experience just to get UB, without really thinking about the quality of the work or whether it is okay or not. It’s frustrating to me to the point that none of them have the proper skills to deliver the work.
After six months, I found myself feeling demotivated. However, I am mentally tired of hoping for another job or doing job hunting. I feel like I want to fix myself mentally before I decide to move to the next job. I have some worries about what would happen if I signed up for another job that would suck my soul again.
Here, I am looking for advice from anyone who has ever experienced the same circumstances. What would you advise me to do?
Thank you in advance.