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)

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
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 !
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 :
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
5. O K
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
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”
8. W H AT T H E Y R E A L LY M E A N I S …
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”
10. O R , M O R E L I K E LY…
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”
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!
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
14. B U T…
15. V E RY F E W P E O P L E A C T U A L LY D O I T
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
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
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 ,
19. I ’ M A N A U S S I E
20. 2003 2014 THIS IS MY 11TH YEAR IN JAPAN
21. 2003 2014 AND ABOUT MY 8TH YEAR WORKING AS A RUBY PROGRAMMER IN .JP 2006
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
23. T H I S I S H O W I D I D I T
24. 9 9 T W O B I G P R O B L E M S
25. 1 . L A N G U A G E 2 . G E T T I N G A J O B
26. 1 . L A N G U A G E 2 . G E T T I N G A J O B
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
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
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
30. M O R E I M P O R TA N T LY
31. – T H O M A S E D I S O N “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
32. – M E “Learning a language is one percent study, ninety-nine percent practice.”
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
34. 1 . L A N G U A G E 2 . G E T T I N G A J O B
35. P R E R E Q U I S I T E : J O B S K I L L S
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 ! )
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 ! )
38. T H E R E I S A B E T T E R WAY
39. S A M E A S B A C K H O M E …
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
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 !
48. T H A N K Y O U , R U B Y K A I G I !
49. 1 . L A N G U A G E 2 . G E T T I N G A J O B
50. I S T H AT I T ?
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 ͖ ൈ ͍ͯ ͖ ͨ ͔
52. T H R I V E A S A N E N G I N E E R
53. 1 . L A N G U A G E 2 . G E T T I N G A J O B
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
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
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?
57. H O W I D I D I T
58. E N C O U N T E R E M B R A C E L E A R N
59. E N C O U N T E R E M B R A C E L E A R N
60. I N T E R N E T C U LT U R E
61. E N C O U N T E R E M B R A C E L E A R N
62. E M B R A C E !
63. M I N D S E T ✗ Don’t: Dismiss it as stupid because it is different ✔ Do: Try to enjoy it!
64. E N C O U N T E R E M B R A C E L E A R N
65. T H E I N T E R N E T I S Y O U R F R I E N D
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
71. ※ ͜ ͜ ͔ Β ͸ ॏ ཁ ͳ ࿩ Ͱ ͢ ͷ Ͱɺ ೔ ຊ ޠ Ͱ ࣦ ྱ ͞ ͤ ͯ ͍ ͨ ͩ ͖ · ͢
72. ӳ ޠ ݍ ʹ ਁ ͔ Γ ͨ ͍ ೔ ຊ ਓ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ʹ ΋ Ԡ ༻ Ͱ ͖ Δ ͱ ࢥ ͏
73. ࢲ ͕ ࢥ ͏ ೔ ຊ ਓ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ૾ ✔ ֶߍͰӳޠษڧͨ͠ʂ ✔ ӳޠͷٕज़ࢿྉಡΊΔʂ ✔ Ϋϥε΍ϝιου͸ӳޠͰ໋໊Ͱ͖ Δʂ ✔ ڭՊॻʹ৐ͬͯΔදݱͳΒͰ͖Δʂ
74. ࢲ ͕ ࢥ ͏ ೔ ຊ ਓ Τ ϯ δχ Ξ ૾ ✗ ޠኮ͕଍Γͳ͍ ✗ ωλ͕Θ͔Βͳ͍ ✗ ੜ͖ͯΔӳޠʹ৮ΕΔػձ ͕ͳ͍
75. จ Խ Λ ֶ Μ ͩ Β Α ͍ ͔ ΋
76. ω ο τ จ Խ Λ ֶ Μ ͩ Β Α ͍ ͔ ΋
77. E N C O U N T E R E M B R A C E L E A R N
80. R E D D I T ? ✔ ωλͷๅݿ ✔ ίϛϡχςΟͷίϛϡχ ςΟ ✔ ͜Ε͸ੜ͖ͯΔӳޠͩʂ
81. E N C O U N T E R E M B R A C E L E A R N
82. E M B R A C E !
83. R E D D I T ೖ ໳
84. Upvote/Downvote Posts Comments Subreddits
86. R U B Y
87. I A M A ( A S K M E A N Y T H I N G )
88. T I L ( T O D AY I L E A R N E D )
89. E L I 5 ( E X P L A I N L I K E I ’ M 5 )
90. E N C O U N T E R E M B R A C E L E A R N
91. ωλ ͕ ෼ ͔ Β ͳ ͚ Ε ͹ ɺ ௐ ΂ Α ͏
92. ଏ ޠ ࣙ ॻ
93. ωλ ࣙ ॻ
94. G O O G L E ͸ ༑ ୡ ͩ Α ʂ
95. H AV E F U N O N R E D D I T !
96. A N D T H R I V E
97. E N D