(2015-11-29, 6:33 pm)TheVinster Wrote: I feel it's definitely important to use my time in Japan in 1 of 2 ways. I can either try to actively build value for our company while I'm out there. Figure out companies to talk to, likely partners, who would be interested in selling our product.
Option 1 is obviously something that is possible but without knowing your product I couldn't say; even then, I'd probably be too critical and down play the likelihood of success, to be able to provide anything constructive. That said, it'll probably be a gamble either way since you probably won't be able to do both options at the same time. Spreading your company will probably involve a lot of actual facetime and running around.
One thing I can say is that trying to move your current company into Japan might get you to Japan eventually, but at a far slower rate than probably looking for a new job. The flip side is that your work life is far more likely to be positive (assuming you like your current situation) than if you get a new job. This is simply due to the fact that you can probably use your current office culture in Japan vs more traditional Japanese work culture. Plus you can probably move your current salary over with you AND maybe tack on an expat package as well, which will probably trump 90% of anything you can find anywhere else in Japan. If your company isn't actively pursuing going to Japan right now though, you could probably expect to add a year or two onto the "when I expect to be in Japan" expectation. This is simply due to the bureaucratic administrative issues that arise: filing paperwork to register a company in Japan, filing stuff for having employees in country, and other things; FOLLOWED BY filling paper work for visas for your new workers. This is all stuff that starts happening from the time your employer decides they want a presence in Japan, which they still haven't.
Quote:My major was Business Admin, which is fairly general. I'm currently at a tech start-up that builds software for the Salesforce CRM. One idea is to then pursue a job at Salesforce Japan.Your major is pretty good then and your ideas are good, but you'll definitely want to keep your options open instead of pinning them all on one company if you want to increase the speed at which you get to Japan. Most of what I mentioned in my previous post is at least still relevant to you. You might even be in a good position for most tech startups in Japan as well.
Something I forgot to add in my prior post that I just thought of. Another route for trying to find jobs in Japan, if you go that direction, would be to try and line up your time in Japan so you can hit up "startup meetings." Most major cities in the US and even Tokyo have stuff like this. A certain cafe or bar where people interested in startups will meetup and just talk (or give talks). Its a potential good place to network for a new job. It might even be a good place to network for your company depending on how applicable your product might be to other startups.