VIE Tokyo: Grégorie, fullstack dev at OneID, the best of both worlds.

Grégorie, 22, is a software engineer specialized in software development. His client: OneID, an IT services company (CRM, hardware support) that also publishes SolarID, a hypervision tool for photovoltaic fleets. His missions range from building client portals in Vue.js to setting up DevOps, including project management of React Native apps. He's been on a VIE in Tokyo for nearly a year.

Why Japan

Japan was always in his top countries to see: landscapes, culture, manga universe. A first 2-week trip on holiday left him wanting more — impossible to see everything. During the end of his studies, he looked into long-stay options: dual degree, internships abroad, PVT, VIE. The Abbeal VIE offer was a perfect fit.

Working hours: half and half

Grégorie wanted a compromise: disturb his French company as little as possible while making the most of Tokyo. With 7 to 8 hours of time difference, that's less obvious than it sounds.

He went for a 3-block split:

1. Tokyo noon, France team asleep: he handles the leftovers from the previous day, moves his projects forward solo
2. Tokyo evening / France morning: shared window, work together, calls, meetings, push the cross-cutting topics
3. Tokyo night: while he sleeps, the France team can send requests he'll resolve before they wake up

Agile method, weekly team check-in every Monday to keep the link, regular Teams exchanges. Works perfectly.

How he convinced OneID

Three years of work-study at OneID had built a solid trust relationship. At the end of the work-study, the desire for an international experience was clear — Japan, Canada or Norway. But in parallel, exciting projects were emerging at OneID, and the team was a great group. The dilemma.

When Abbeal proposed the VIE and the idea of pitching the concept directly to OneID, Grégorie prepared a document detailing all the benefits:

• Common working hours maintained
• Even more motivation on the employee's side
• Extended working hours window (Tokyo morning + Tokyo evening cover part of the France day)
• Returns to France at the office from time to time

The idea landed. And here he is in Tokyo, coding for OneID.

What this model brings

"Concretely, being much more autonomous. Being in a new country with a new culture, a new way of doing things and especially a new administration, it forces autonomy and decision-making."

And the bonus is continuing to work with French culture while living in Japan. The best of both worlds: being able to stay longer at a matsuri, or sit in a park without the pressure of ticking everything off in 2 weeks of holiday.

The limits

Practicing Japanese less than with a Japanese client. Abbeal funds language lessons, that helps. And daily practice does the rest, provided you commit.

On the technical side: connection latency on the France dev and prod servers. To download a database, you have to plan ahead. The workaround: work much more locally, with Docker whenever possible.

His advice

On the pro side: don't hesitate to ask your current company. Prepare a document that demonstrates the benefits on both sides (extended hours, France-asleep window that unblocks stuck topics).

On the human side: expect the "honeymoon phase" to be followed by a few harder months. Don't feel guilty, surround yourself, talk about it. It's normal and it passes.

"Starting each day by discovering a new spot — I never get tired of it."

— Grégorie, fullstack dev at Abbeal, on a VIE in Tokyo at OneID.