Japan front-end lead who delayed COVID plans, then hired in Vancouver via a college project post
Hotel ops → self-taught FE → Relic lead (~2y5m Japan eng); CICCC then local hire in ~12 months via referral from an X post.
フロントエンドエンジニア · Vancouver
Profile
Kana is a front-end engineer in Vancouver with substantial Japan front-end experience, including lead responsibilities before departure.
Current role
Front-end engineer in Vancouver (employer not named). Attributes: ~12 months to offer. Title notes landing local work after about a year. Hire originated when a Japanese professional at a Canadian company messaged after her X (Twitter) post about a college-built app.
Japan experience
Prior experience: foreign-hotel reservations center, then career change into engineering. ~3 months self-study (Progate/Udemy), hired as front-end; total ~2 years 5 months Japan engineering, progressing to lead front-end at Relic with a manager-track offer declined to pursue Canada. 2019 Canada plan paused by COVID; English score 5.5 and school payment were already done.
Path to Canada / North America
Arrived April 2023; 1 month ESL; CICCC from May (1 year study + 1 year co-op). Used school year to deepen backend/full-stack, plus volunteer and part-time work at a colleague’s startup. Serious about school projects as portfolio. Formal search from ~February 2024 with resume coaching from Frog mentors and a Canadian partner.
Outcome
Local hire after ~12 months, driven by college-project visibility on X rather than volume applications alone.
Based on Frog’s Japanese-language interview. English summary for scanning (partners / employers). Original interview (Japanese)
Canadian employer name not stated; Relic named for Japan role.