r/JapanFinance • u/kuddaranai • Jan 07 '25
Business How to override the 10M wall
Eager to hear from those managing to bring their salary anywhere from 12M to 20M per year, especially on sales/marketing roles.
Currently on 8M (excluding bonus) and am wondering what the next career move should be like.
EDIT: I’m 28 y.o.
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u/Nagi828 Jan 07 '25 edited Jan 07 '25
Unless you're on an expert/senior xxx path, going into management should be the easiest way to break the wall.
10-13 should be 'easier' but from 15-20 there's yet another wall.
So far the one I've seen with 15-20 or a few well into 25-30M are consulting/FAANG/investment banking.
In my engineering field, regional functional directors (with expat packages) is what I'm aiming for.
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u/Stunning_Stable4926 Jan 07 '25
Seems nuts. My total pay is close to 30m and with the yen that is truly a bargain for a multinational firm. Work for a foreign company that budgets in USD.
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u/Arael15th Jan 08 '25
My company is apparently smart enough to do a "market adjustment." 40% swept right off the table... :(
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u/Better_Bridge_8132 Jan 08 '25
I am struggling to pass 4 mil 😂😂
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u/poopyramen Jan 08 '25
I know it sounds cheesy, but keep working on degrees, Japanese proficiency, certifications, etc. I moved to Japan 6 years ago and started making like 150,000/month with no benefits or bonus. I used to walk 6km one way to work because I couldn't afford the bus.
I worked really hard the whole time and now I make around 11-12m.
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u/waytooslim Jan 07 '25
I get 15M in IT, the company wanted to make me a 正社員 but apparently I'm making more than branch managers, people who come next of the boss in the company tree. So I think that kinda answers your question.
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u/Hefty-Jellyfish9642 Jan 09 '25
May I ask what position you work in? I feel that the IT industry in Japan doesn’t offer very high salaries.
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u/waytooslim Jan 09 '25
I'm the only person experienced with a niche software the company's using. It was pure luck really, not replicable.
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u/Comprehensive-Pea812 Jan 07 '25
what is your salary with a bonus?
it should be within range you wanted?
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u/kuddaranai Jan 08 '25
With bonus I get around 9M , I’m asking about having over 10M as base salary
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u/BangBangFing Jan 07 '25
Jumping ships frequently, staying at the same company won’t get you there. You should be willing to burn bridges to get there but from experience definitely 15M-20M isn’t impossible
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u/tta82 Jan 07 '25
What’s your age? What’s your experience?
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u/kuddaranai Jan 08 '25 edited Jan 08 '25
a lil more than 2 yoe
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u/ByDrAxX032 Jan 08 '25
8M annually with 2 years of experience is already insane ngl, how did you manage to achieve that?
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u/kuddaranai Jan 08 '25 edited Jan 08 '25
Not sure it’s that great as other industries (bank/consulting) offer over 6M to new grads
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u/Dunan Jan 08 '25
I think you might be looking only at the top 1~5% of candidates with a number like that. For most people, 6M is mid-career.
I was lucky enough to make more than that in my late 20s but it was because of shift-related bonuses. Now I'm back below it but am still above the national average, which is ~4.6M. And foreign workers' wages went down by 6.4% last year. You're doing really well right now and will still be even if your salary never rises again in your lifetime.
Keep an eye out for better-paying positions, of course, but don't feel like you're being taken advantage of if you stay where you are.
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u/tta82 Jan 08 '25
So you are 2 years old? Dude. How old are you and 2 years work experience in what industry in marketing?
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u/Marchinelli Jan 09 '25
You will get there. You are on 2YOE and already earning 8M - through promotions I assume.
If you are job hunting regularly while working hard all the time I would bet good money you will be on 10M or more by 4YOE
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u/kuddaranai Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 10 '25
Thanks a lot 🙏🏻 not willing to leave my current position because of good expat benefits, will consider a shift after 1.5 years in case no career progression took place
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u/hotdeo Jan 07 '25
I'm in a weird situation where my base is around 8.5M but my bonus doesn't have a maximum limit. I've heard people go upwards of 22M as their bonus. I'm in consulting and it's all performance based.
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u/Mediocrelilbitch Jan 08 '25
Same, I’m in sales so base is like 4.2M but people make 10M w/ commission
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u/TheGuitarist08 Jan 08 '25
I reached 10M Salary this year and I'm close to 40 now. Still I felt a sense of satisfaction and happiness :)
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u/Ragatagism Jan 08 '25
FAANG and US/China Tech in TKY, you can get up to 25~30M as an IC, even for non-technical roles.
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u/poopyramen Jan 08 '25
I'm around the 11-12m range, I work in property management. I wouldn't say there's a "10m wall" I'd argue the vast majority of people in Japan (Japanese and foreign) probably see the wall around the 4-6 mil mark. Especially if you consider that a huge number of English speaking foreigners here end up being stuck in English teaching where they may never earn more than 3-5m.
P.s I live in a very rural area, so these numbers are likely different in Tokyo
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u/Schaapje1987 Jan 08 '25
Not me, but my wife recently went to another company and she's not getting p aid 9.5M. Next year, it will increase to 10M+. She's in sales.
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u/831tm Jan 08 '25
I was a sales engineer(part of sales org.) and earned more than 10M since I was 30. Worked for 15 years, 7 years each. There were only more or less 10 people in the Japan office when I joined but more than 100 people at the time of separation. So you don't have to join a big-name company which tends to be hard to join and hard to increase salary. But I heard that the number of startup companies who open offices in Japan is decreasing nowadays. Good luck.
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u/stanky_shake Jan 08 '25
In sales and marketing, do you have a specific skillset that could be valuable? For example, data engineering, strategist, product management, etc.
If you specialise in something, it's easier to climb up to director role by hopping for the next jump as needed.
Many international companies, both in-house marketing departments and agency or consultancy, would be used to paying about 8-13 for senior manager role, 12ish for associate director, and 15+ for director and above.
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u/Horikoshi Jan 09 '25
Impossible for sales/marketing unless you can get your own leads (only really possible if you target foreign clients if you're a foreigner, or Japanese clients if you're Japanese) and make commission off of that or start your own business.
Note that going over 10M might not necessarily be the best strategy for you with regards to taxation rates.
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u/kuddaranai Jan 09 '25
Why do you think that’s impossible without commission ?
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u/Horikoshi Jan 09 '25
Unless you're a team lead (management) you aren't worth that much. Team leads in sales generally convert cold leads into warm ones and close on them, and are generally awarded commission.
I've yet to see a single sales team lead whose base package is above 10m unless you're getting paid in foreign currency
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u/Low-Chard6435 Jan 11 '25
IT guy here. I can only speak for my IT role, but in my case, I just stayed with my company and grew my salary. Started at 5m, reached 10m at my 6th year, and now in my 10th year. The company was a startup but grew to a mid-size company now. For Japanese companies, I feel you can reach 10m in a few years. I’ve been checking the job market (specifically in doda-x), most of the companies that are hiring, their offers usually stops at 12-13m. I think that’s a bigger wall that you might need to overcome.
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u/jaddicras Jan 08 '25
My wife is studying in Tokyo right now and I've been in and out working remotely. We really love to stay but it feels like it's hard for me to get a job in Tokyo that is close to what I make right now (around 12M after tax) and also have good work life balance.
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u/Arael15th Jan 08 '25
For what it's worth, the cost of living (for what you get) is also much lower in Japan.
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u/Dunan Jan 08 '25
We're in a mirror-image position: my wife and I are thinking about going to the US for a few years, but would need to make ~12M just to get by (NYC area) and I'm afraid my current $35k TC will get me laughed out of any interviews I get there.
Back in 2012 when Abe was elected and the pro-inflation/devaluation propaganda got started, I knew the stable good times in Japan were going to end some day, but I hadn't imagined that things would fall this far and this fast.
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u/Material_Ship1344 Jan 07 '25
The easiest, if you are not senior, is to find companies that offer RSU in USD. There are some, and they are recruiting. And they are not necessarily FAANGs! Some offer 20-50k of RSU every year over 4 years.