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How to Survive and thrive as an engineer in a foreign land

How to Survive and thrive as an engineer in a foreign land

JA:「私は如何にして異国でエンジニアとして生き抜いてきたか」

Talk given at Oedo Ruby Kaigi 04 on thriving as a programmer in a foreign country by embracing language and culture.

- http://regional.rubykaigi.org/oedo04/

(Language: Mixed Japanese/English)

Leonard Chin

April 19, 2014
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Transcript

  1. H O W T O S U R V I V E A N D T H R I V E A S
    A N E N G I N E E R I N A F O R E I G N L A N D
    ࢲ ͸ ೗ Կ ʹ ͯ͠ ҟ ࠃ Ͱ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ͱ ͯ͠ ੜ ͖ ൈ ͍ͯ ͖ ͨ ͔
    O E D O R U B Y K A I G I 0 4
    L E O N A R D C H I N
    a k a ϨΦ

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  2. I ’ m L e o n a rd
    a . k . a Ϩ Φ
    Ye t A n o t h e r
    E n g i n e e r
    f ro m
    C o o k p a d
    H E L L O !

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  3. B u t , y o u p ro b a b l y k n o w m e f ro m h e re :

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  4. H O W T O S U R V I V E A N D T H R I V E A S
    A N E N G I N E E R I N A F O R E I G N L A N D
    ࢲ ͸ ೗ Կ ʹ ͯ͠ ҟ ࠃ Ͱ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ͱ ͯ͠ ੜ ͖ ൈ ͍ͯ ͖ ͨ ͔
    O E D O R U B Y K A I G I 0 4
    L E O N A R D C H I N
    a k a ϨΦ

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  5. O K

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  6. A L O T O F E N G I N E E R S
    H E R E I N J A PA N S AY

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  7. – J A PA N E S E E N G I N E E R D U D E
    “I really want to work overseas”

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  8. W H AT T H E Y R E A L LY
    M E A N I S …

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  9. – J A PA N E S E E N G I N E E R D U D E
    “I really want to work in America”

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  10. O R , M O R E L I K E LY…

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  11. – J A PA N E S E E N G I N E E R D U D E
    “I really want to work in Silicon Valley”

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  12. W H Y S I L I C O N VA L L E Y ?
    • Lot’s of great engineers
    • Great salary
    • Lot’s of cool startups
    • It’s easier to get funding from VCs
    • and more!

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  13. T H AT ’ S C O O L .
    I T ’ S G O O D T O H AV E R E A S O N S

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  14. B U T…

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  15. V E RY F E W P E O P L E
    A C T U A L LY D O I T

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  16. W O R K I N G I N A F O R E I G N
    C O U N T RY I S H A R D

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  17. A N D I T A C T U A L LY
    D O E S N ’ T M AT T E R
    W H I C H C O U N T RY

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  18. A S Y O U C A N P R O B A B LY
    T E L L F R O M M Y FA C E ,

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  19. I ’ M A N A U S S I E

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  20. 2003
    2014
    THIS IS MY
    11TH YEAR
    IN
    JAPAN

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  21. 2003
    2014
    AND ABOUT MY
    8TH YEAR
    WORKING AS A
    RUBY PROGRAMMER
    IN .JP
    2006

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  22. I T H I N K I ’ V E G O T H I S
    “ W O R K I N G O V E R S E A S ”
    T H I N G D O W N PAT

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  23. T H I S I S H O W I D I D I T

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  24. 9 9 T W O B I G P R O B L E M S

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  25. 1 . L A N G U A G E
    2 . G E T T I N G A J O B

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  26. 1 . L A N G U A G E
    2 . G E T T I N G A J O B

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  27. W H AT D I D N ’ T W O R K
    • Just living in Japan (but it helps)
    • Dating a Japanese person (but it helps!)
    • Marrying a Japanese person (this helps too!)
    • Hanging around with friends in your own language

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  28. ✔ Great for basics and
    structure
    ✗ Costly
    ✗ Diminishing Returns
    I S T U D I E D F O R 3 M O N T H S A T
    T H E YA M A S A I N S T I T U T E

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  29. ✔ Helps you set goals
    and learn with structure
    ✗ Just a piece of paper.
    Not really valued
    ✗ Content is often not
    practical
    I T O O K A F E W T E S T S T O O

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  30. M O R E I M P O R TA N T LY

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  31. – T H O M A S E D I S O N
    “Genius is one percent inspiration,
    ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

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  32. – M E
    “Learning a language is one percent study,
    ninety-nine percent practice.”

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  33. P R A C T I C E
    P R A C T I C E
    P R A C T I C E
    P R A C T I C E
    P R A C T I C E
    P R A C T I C E
    P R A C T I C E
    P R A C T I C E
    P R A C T I C E

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  34. 1 . L A N G U A G E
    2 . G E T T I N G A J O B

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  35. P R E R E Q U I S I T E :
    J O B S K I L L S

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  36. ✔ Expect multilinguals
    ✔ Less competition?
    ✗ Small job pool
    ✗ Few truly local
    companies
    J O B S I T E S F O R F O R E I G N E R S
    E X I S T ( J O B 1 ! )

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  37. ✔ Huge pool of openings
    ✔ Local companies
    ✗ Don’t expect foreigners
    ✗ Difficult to navigate
    J O B S I T E S TA R G E T I N G N A T I V E S
    C A N B E B E T T E R ( J O B 2 ! )

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  38. T H E R E I S A B E T T E R WAY

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  39. S A M E A S B A C K H O M E …

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  40. N E T W O R K
    B Y J O I N I N G T H E R U B Y C O M M U N I T Y

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  41. View Slide

  42. View Slide

  43. View Slide

  44. T H A N K Y O U ,
    R A I L S M E E T U P T O K Y O !

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  45. View Slide

  46. View Slide

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  48. T H A N K Y O U ,
    R U B Y K A I G I !

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  49. 1 . L A N G U A G E
    2 . G E T T I N G A J O B

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  50. I S T H AT I T ?

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  51. H O W T O S U R V I V E A N D T H R I V E A S
    A N E N G I N E E R I N A F O R E I G N L A N D
    ࢲ ͸ ೗ Կ ʹ ͯ͠ ҟ ࠃ Ͱ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ͱ ͯ͠ ੜ ͖ ൈ ͍ͯ ͖ ͨ ͔

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  52. T H R I V E A S A N E N G I N E E R

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  53. 1 . L A N G U A G E
    2 . G E T T I N G A J O B

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  54. N E C E S S A RY,
    B U T N O T S U F F I C I E N T
    T O T H R I V E

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  55. 1 . L A N G U A G E
    2 . G E T T I N G A J O B
    3 . L E A R N T H E C U LT U R E

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  56. C U LT U R E ?
    • What does that crazy slang mean?
    • What jokes are funny?
    • Where does that image/reference come
    from?
    • What do engineers like to talk about?

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  57. H O W I D I D I T

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  58. E N C O U N T E R
    E M B R A C E L E A R N

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  59. E N C O U N T E R
    E M B R A C E L E A R N

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  60. I N T E R N E T C U LT U R E

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  61. E N C O U N T E R
    E M B R A C E L E A R N

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  62. E M B R A C E !

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  63. M I N D S E T
    ✗ Don’t: Dismiss it as stupid
    because it is different
    ✔ Do: Try to enjoy it!

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  64. E N C O U N T E R
    E M B R A C E L E A R N

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  65. T H E I N T E R N E T I S Y O U R
    F R I E N D

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  66. View Slide

  67. View Slide

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  70. E N J O Y T H E I R C U LT U R E
    A N D M A K E I T Y O U R O W N

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  71. ※ ͜ ͜ ͔ Β ͸ ॏ ཁ ͳ ࿩ Ͱ ͢ ͷ Ͱɺ
    ೔ ຊ ޠ Ͱ ࣦ ྱ ͞ ͤ ͯ ͍ ͨ ͩ ͖ · ͢

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  72. ӳ ޠ ݍ ʹ ਁ ͔ Γ ͨ ͍
    ೔ ຊ ਓ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ʹ ΋
    Ԡ ༻ Ͱ ͖ Δ ͱ ࢥ ͏

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  73. ࢲ ͕ ࢥ ͏ ೔ ຊ ਓ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ૾
    ✔ ֶߍͰӳޠษڧͨ͠ʂ
    ✔ ӳޠͷٕज़ࢿྉಡΊΔʂ
    ✔ Ϋϥε΍ϝιου͸ӳޠͰ໋໊Ͱ͖
    Δʂ
    ✔ ڭՊॻʹ৐ͬͯΔදݱͳΒͰ͖Δʂ

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  74. ࢲ ͕ ࢥ ͏ ೔ ຊ ਓ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ૾
    ✗ ޠኮ͕଍Γͳ͍
    ✗ ωλ͕Θ͔Βͳ͍
    ✗ ੜ͖ͯΔӳޠʹ৮ΕΔػձ
    ͕ͳ͍

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  75. จ Խ Λ ֶ Μ ͩ Β Α ͍ ͔ ΋

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  76. ω ο τ จ Խ Λ
    ֶ Μ ͩ Β Α ͍ ͔ ΋

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  77. E N C O U N T E R
    E M B R A C E L E A R N

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  78. View Slide

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  80. R E D D I T ?
    ✔ ωλͷๅݿ
    ✔ ίϛϡχςΟͷίϛϡχ
    ςΟ
    ✔ ͜Ε͸ੜ͖ͯΔӳޠͩʂ

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  81. E N C O U N T E R
    E M B R A C E L E A R N

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  82. E M B R A C E !

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  83. R E D D I T ೖ ໳

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  84. Upvote/Downvote
    Posts
    Comments
    Subreddits

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  85. View Slide

  86. R U B Y

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  87. I A M A ( A S K M E A N Y T H I N G )

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  88. T I L ( T O D AY I L E A R N E D )

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  89. E L I 5 ( E X P L A I N L I K E I ’ M 5 )

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  90. E N C O U N T E R
    E M B R A C E L E A R N

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  91. ωλ ͕ ෼ ͔ Β ͳ ͚ Ε ͹ ɺ
    ௐ ΂ Α ͏

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  92. ଏ ޠ ࣙ ॻ

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  93. ωλ ࣙ ॻ

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  94. G O O G L E ͸ ༑ ୡ ͩ Α ʂ

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  95. H AV E F U N O N R E D D I T !

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  96. A N D T H R I V E

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  97. E N D

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