Physics graduate and Japan SE who became a Vancouver backend engineer via college co-op
SIer then mobile-game coding in Japan; Vancouver college hire about 15 months into the path, now backend on co-op.
バックエンドエンジニア · Vancouver
Profile
Ikuto (20s) is a backend engineer at a software company in Vancouver. He holds a physics bachelor’s from Japan, then built programming depth before and during a Canada college/co-op route.
Current role
Backend engineer at a Vancouver software company (name not stated), roughly 10 months into co-op full-time at interview time. Offer landed early in the final academic month (March 2017), then co-op full-time from April. Stack context includes Ruby/Rails from Japan mobile-game work; Angular learned while assisting a Japan startup remotely.
Japan experience
Prior experience: ~3 years as an SE at an SIer (mostly upstream—specs/meetings; limited coding, including a difficult C++ assignment). Left that role, then ~10 months full-time programming at a mobile-game company before departure—skills he says matter most now. Self-studied Ruby/Rails beforehand. TOEIC ~400 at university entry era; little English preparation beyond textbook review while commuting.
Path to Canada / North America
Originally considered working holiday; Frog redirected him to IT study-to-hire in Vancouver (Dec 2015 arrival, 3 months ESL, programming course from Apr 2016). Strict personal Japanese ban at school, meetups, English media. Built portfolio projects; brief Kumon tutoring; remote Angular work for a former boss’s Japan company.
Outcome
Hired ~15 months after arrival path (attributes). Single interview loop after a meetup coincidence with the hiring company; salary negotiation discussed. Planning post-grad work permit, with working holiday as fallback.
Based on Frog’s Japanese-language interview. English summary for scanning (partners / employers). Original interview (Japanese)
Employer name not stated in source attributes.