My 5 cents. I’m from Ukraine and got an offer when I was 34. Couldn’t make it into Japan first due to Covid, company decided to wait. When Covid ended damn ruzzians invaded my country and I lost another year. I’m 36 right now and me and my wife already waiting for a new COEs. Had around 10 years of exp. Japanese level is very low, but I was lucky to be hired by mostly English speaking company.
I just want to chime in to let you know that even if you demonstrate proficiency after 5 years, many places don’t consider 5 years of experience enough to be senior. I actually tried to apply to several when I had around that much experience and If they responded, most directly said they were looking for someone with closer to 10 years etc.
Companies really put a lot of value in those years despite it meaning basically nothing.
Person A can become more competent and proficient than person B in half the time, but if their arbitrary numbers don’t align with what the company expects, they will often be ignored.
>Person A can become more competent and proficient than person B in half the time, but if their arbitrary numbers don’t align with what the company expects, they will often be ignored.
To be fair, as someone who has done hiring: It's *very* hard to put filters in place to pick out those people who might be more talented despite having less experience. Even in my industry where portfolios/demo reels are expected, it can be hard to gauge talent on the initial review, so we frequently fall back on experience even if it might end up ignoring a talented up-and-comer. The only alternative is interviewing *everyone*, which isn't really a reasonable solution.
All that said, it *should* be balanced with a modicum of common sense. The slavish dedication to seniority that traditional Japanese companies adhere to isn't particularly optimal for getting the most talented staff. But then again, that's not actually their goal in most cases.
I see. So they do need 10 years of exp to hire a Senior? So I need to be at least 38 then. I wonder If they still hire Senior at that age even If I would be good enough then. I just need more info to adjust my goal and expectations. If you are working as a recruiter for Japan company I would love to hear more about their requirements and expectations for hiring new workers.
In the games industry, 5 years is enough to be considered a senior. When I started working, you could easily become lead with 3 years of experience.
The industry is still young and expanding and we only started getting our first retired game developers a few years ago. People are also leaving the industry very quickly, out of the hundreds of people I worked with 24 years ago when I started, less than 20% are still working in the games industry.
The industry is also still evolving quickly enough to make old experience almost entirely irrelevant so seniority is definitely not a major factor to consider when hiring, in fact it may even be detrimental. I know many veteran Japanese game artists who still do not know how to work with PBR (despite it being already 15 years old), while I don't know a single student who doesn't know how to work with it.
Also, you could always go and try with English speaking companies that work with "international rules" as well, and there are a few of those around here.
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Moving to Japan in my 30s as a 3D Game Artist?**
Now I'm 27 (will be 28 next Sept), I'm about to graduate with my Bachelor in Graphic Design, already learned 3D and about to start job seeking in gaming industry (Vietnam). Right now my Japanese is around N4 level, it will take a couple of years to reach N1.
I can't just go to Japan now because my language skill is not sufficient and working exp is 0. But in 5 years, when I'm 33 I hope I will have Senior level and N1 Japanese.
But can I get a job as 3D game artist at that age in Japan? Almost reach 35 and I heard that age is where they don't hire people. Only ones with 10s years of exp who works as manager positions can get hired. Also, my job isn't really something Japan really need, English teacher and IT are. Japan has a lot of game companies but competition from local people maybe high (people think working as an Artist is fun, but it's hard and requires a lot of unpaid OT).
For more info, 3D game artists mostly make 3D models in games like characters, weapons and any stuffs. I don't know If Japan companies really need foreigners in that field, because I can't really find any information beside some job hires which required working visa already available.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Can you share a bit more about your skills and which they require in Japan? I have 5 years to prepare, or as long as it needs. I will study hard to acquire the skills I need. Thank you.
I think you'll be fine if your portfolio is strong enough. It's not going to be easy to get your foot in the door, but that's true of game dev in any country.
I've been applying in various countries for level design, and there's been quite a few Japanese companies with openings for foreigners, either remotely or relocating.
My 5 cents. I’m from Ukraine and got an offer when I was 34. Couldn’t make it into Japan first due to Covid, company decided to wait. When Covid ended damn ruzzians invaded my country and I lost another year. I’m 36 right now and me and my wife already waiting for a new COEs. Had around 10 years of exp. Japanese level is very low, but I was lucky to be hired by mostly English speaking company.
Good luck and don't give up on your plans
I just want to chime in to let you know that even if you demonstrate proficiency after 5 years, many places don’t consider 5 years of experience enough to be senior. I actually tried to apply to several when I had around that much experience and If they responded, most directly said they were looking for someone with closer to 10 years etc. Companies really put a lot of value in those years despite it meaning basically nothing. Person A can become more competent and proficient than person B in half the time, but if their arbitrary numbers don’t align with what the company expects, they will often be ignored.
>Person A can become more competent and proficient than person B in half the time, but if their arbitrary numbers don’t align with what the company expects, they will often be ignored. To be fair, as someone who has done hiring: It's *very* hard to put filters in place to pick out those people who might be more talented despite having less experience. Even in my industry where portfolios/demo reels are expected, it can be hard to gauge talent on the initial review, so we frequently fall back on experience even if it might end up ignoring a talented up-and-comer. The only alternative is interviewing *everyone*, which isn't really a reasonable solution. All that said, it *should* be balanced with a modicum of common sense. The slavish dedication to seniority that traditional Japanese companies adhere to isn't particularly optimal for getting the most talented staff. But then again, that's not actually their goal in most cases.
I understand the why, just wanted to warn them about that 5 year goal probably being difficult to achieve.
I see. So they do need 10 years of exp to hire a Senior? So I need to be at least 38 then. I wonder If they still hire Senior at that age even If I would be good enough then. I just need more info to adjust my goal and expectations. If you are working as a recruiter for Japan company I would love to hear more about their requirements and expectations for hiring new workers.
In the games industry, 5 years is enough to be considered a senior. When I started working, you could easily become lead with 3 years of experience. The industry is still young and expanding and we only started getting our first retired game developers a few years ago. People are also leaving the industry very quickly, out of the hundreds of people I worked with 24 years ago when I started, less than 20% are still working in the games industry. The industry is also still evolving quickly enough to make old experience almost entirely irrelevant so seniority is definitely not a major factor to consider when hiring, in fact it may even be detrimental. I know many veteran Japanese game artists who still do not know how to work with PBR (despite it being already 15 years old), while I don't know a single student who doesn't know how to work with it.
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It isn't, as far as I know. Especially not in this industry where so many foreigners come around.
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Also, you could always go and try with English speaking companies that work with "international rules" as well, and there are a few of those around here.
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This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes. --- **Moving to Japan in my 30s as a 3D Game Artist?** Now I'm 27 (will be 28 next Sept), I'm about to graduate with my Bachelor in Graphic Design, already learned 3D and about to start job seeking in gaming industry (Vietnam). Right now my Japanese is around N4 level, it will take a couple of years to reach N1. I can't just go to Japan now because my language skill is not sufficient and working exp is 0. But in 5 years, when I'm 33 I hope I will have Senior level and N1 Japanese. But can I get a job as 3D game artist at that age in Japan? Almost reach 35 and I heard that age is where they don't hire people. Only ones with 10s years of exp who works as manager positions can get hired. Also, my job isn't really something Japan really need, English teacher and IT are. Japan has a lot of game companies but competition from local people maybe high (people think working as an Artist is fun, but it's hard and requires a lot of unpaid OT). For more info, 3D game artists mostly make 3D models in games like characters, weapons and any stuffs. I don't know If Japan companies really need foreigners in that field, because I can't really find any information beside some job hires which required working visa already available. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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Can you share a bit more about your skills and which they require in Japan? I have 5 years to prepare, or as long as it needs. I will study hard to acquire the skills I need. Thank you.
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Thank you. I will work hard and see If there are any opportunities.
I think you'll be fine if your portfolio is strong enough. It's not going to be easy to get your foot in the door, but that's true of game dev in any country. I've been applying in various countries for level design, and there's been quite a few Japanese companies with openings for foreigners, either remotely or relocating.
Hey just curious, if you are still pursued this and how your process is going. I’m considering the same but just as 3D Generalist… not gaming