Reflecting on My Past: A Career Defined by Setbacks

https://minna-no-monogatari.connpass.com/event/368432/

This isn't the one, but I'm looking back at my career chronologically here.
Generally, the bold parts are what I really want to say. The rest is pretty much optional.

Overall Summary

• Commercial Development & Infrastructure Experience: Full-stack transition since 2003 (App Development → Infrastructure → .NET Cloud/Blazor → IT Consulting)
• Core Technologies: C# / .NET / Azure / Blazor / Web API / Playwright (Testing) / Oracle & SQL Server
• Infrastructure Foundations: Windows Server / Active Directory / VMware / Remote Desktop environment operation
• Community: Microsoft MVP (Developer Technologies, 2022–2025 consecutive) / Speaking & Writing articles
• Current: Research and development of ERP products

Skill Matrix (Placeholder)

Category	Technology/Area	Years of Experience	Proficiency (Self-evaluation 1-5)	Notes/Achievements
Language	C#	~8+	5	Blazor, Web API, Lead migration to .NET 8
Language	Java	~5	4	Early career foundation. Business app maintenance/new development
Frontend	Blazor	3-4	5	Established component design/reusability patterns
Cloud	Azure App Service / Functions	4+	4	Service integration/cost optimization proposals
DB	Oracle / SQL Server	8+	4	Performance tuning (indexing/execution plans)
Testing	Playwright / Automated E2E	2+	4	Standardization of E2E scenarios, reliability improvement
Infra	Windows Server / AD / VMware	6	4	Operation/configuration management/user support
Community	Speaking / Articles / OSS	3+	5	Consecutive MVP awards (Developer Technologies)

1. Java Software Engineer (Company#01)

• Period: April 2003 – March 2005 (2 years)
• Location: Kanagawa Prefecture
• Position: Java Software Engineer
• Main Areas (Skills): Java development / Software design
• Overview: After new hire training, I was in charge of small to medium-sized Java/Oracle business systems in core fields (orders/sales, forms/inventory, education). I established basic productivity by repeating the basic design-implementation-unit testing cycle.
• Representative projects:
  • 2003/07–2004/04 Prefectural dealer core system (Orders/Sales) Struts + Oracle (6 members)
  • 2004/05–2004/09 Automotive one-stop system (20 members) Automation of Excel→DB conversion
  • 2004/10–2005/03 Educational administration system VB6/SQL Server (2 members)

End of 2004–: Overtime exceeded 100 hours per month consistently. I developed a depressive state due to excessive pressure from my supervisor (progress checks every 5 minutes) and physical intimidation (kicking chairs, shaking my body, etc.).
The events here would lead to flashbacks in my career from this point forward.

2. Java Software Engineer (Company#02)

• Period: July 2005 – January 2009 (3 years and 7 months)
• Location: Shizuoka Prefecture
• Position: Java Software Engineer
• Main Areas (Skills): Java development / Software design
• Overview: Responsible for feature additions/replacements (VB6→VB.NET) and quality improvement in medium-scale to long-term operation projects. Accumulated experience in gradual releases of migrations/existing modifications.
• Representative projects:
  • 2005/07–2005/12 Inventory management (5 members)
  • 2006/01–2006/05 Sales management (2 members)
  • 2006/06–2007/02 Inspection quality (3 members, Seasar2)
  • 2007/10–2009/01 Billing management VB6→VB.NET migration (10 members)
  • 2008/10–2009/07 Production management (4 members)

After returning in July 2005, depressive symptoms resurfaced, requiring intermittent rest. I developed Meniere's disease, and vertigo, tinnitus, and loss of consciousness made it difficult to work full-time. Since then, symptoms have continued intermittently.

In retrospect, the diagnosis of Meniere's disease and other conditions here is questionable.

3. Inventory Stocktaking (Company#03)

• Period: July 2009 – October 2010 (1 year and 4 months)
• Location: Shizuoka Prefecture
• Role: Stocktaking (Operations, not IT/Development)
• Skills/Areas: Inventory/Logistics operations
• Memo: Need to clarify the connection to IT career (e.g., side job/career change period).
• Perspective: Gained an understanding of business processes/on-site operations (contributed to improved accuracy in requirements definition in later years).
  In 2009, due to the impact of the Global Financial Crisis (recession following the Lehman Shock), my previous job/IT projects were reduced, and hiring remained stagnant for a long time. I prioritized securing a stable income and recovering my health, shifting temporarily to inventory stocktaking work.

4. IT Infrastructure Engineer (Company#04)

• Period: October 2010 – March 2012 (1 year and 6 months)
• Location: Shizuoka Prefecture
• Employment Type: Contract employee
• Skills: IT Infrastructure
• Position: IT Infrastructure Engineer
• Overview: Initial phase of operational standardization, including Active Directory / Patch management / PC deployment, etc.
• Note on Corporate Relations: Company#04 was in a subsidiary-like position handling internal IT operations and human resource optimization for the parent company (Parent#04 *alias), with practical work performed on-site at the parent company's infrastructure department under a quasi-delegation contract. The AD/patch/device lifecycle procedures established here were continuously improved upon in subsequent roles (jobs 5–7).

I shifted my career toward infrastructure.

5. IT Infrastructure Engineer (Company#05)

• Period: April 2012 – March 2013 (1 year)
• Location: Shizuoka Prefecture
• Employment Type: Contract employee
• Skills: IT Infrastructure
• Overview: In addition to AD/Asset management/Help desk Tier 1 support, I organized templates for patch procedures.
• Note on Organizational Background: This was part of a personnel/function reassignment phase accompanying the gradual restructuring and dissolution of joint venture/collaboration schemes that were underway between the parent and affiliated companies. I played a role in preparing standardized assets (procedure manuals/ledgers) in a format easy to migrate to the parent company side.

6. IT Infrastructure Engineer (Company#06)

• Period: April 2013 – January 2014 (10 months)
• Location: Shizuoka Prefecture
• Employment Type: Contract employee
• Skills: IT Infrastructure / Windows 7 / Active Directory
• Overview: Windows 7 deployment/account migration, reorganization of operation ticket classifications.
• Note on Organizational Background: The final stage of the joint venture/collaboration restructuring that was ongoing in my previous role (Job 5). As a final phase to absorb/integrate assets and operational processes into the parent company standard, I focused on minimizing friction (duplication/delays) in deployment schedules and account integration work.

7. IT Infrastructure Engineer (Company#07)

• Period: March 2014 – January 2017 (2 years and 11 months)
• Location: Tokyo
• Skills: Windows Server / VMware Infrastructure / Windows Remote Desktop
• Memo: Includes a gap period in February 2014.
• Overview: Virtualization infrastructure (VMware) resource optimization / Procedure manual templating / Initial construction of HR package (small team of 2).

8. Software Engineer (Company#08)

From here, I shifted my career back to software development.

• Period: February 2017 – June 2025 (8 years and 5 months)
• Location: Tokyo
• Employment Type: Full-time employee
• Skills: Blazor / ASP.NET Web API / ASP.NET / C# / Nismail / JobCenter / Oracle Database / Microsoft SQL Server / Microsoft Azure / GitHub / Playwright
• Public Media: Interviews related to Microsoft MVP awards / Build Japan speaking (AI hands-on) / MVP Engineer speaking reports, etc. (links omitted)
• Team/Role (Placeholder): Development Team (Max X members) / Tech Lead / Mentor
• Representative Modernization/Project Integrations:
  • 2017–2019 Product failure prevention management system Java→C#/ASP.NET 4.7 (WebForms) migration: Post-migration operational stabilization/maintainability improvement
  • 2018–2023 9 Internal system maintenance: Reduced MTTR for failure detection through common logging/monitoring setup
  • 2018 Automatic response function investigation: Documented feasibility evaluation → shortened decision time for subsequent implementation (weeks → days)
  • 2022–2024 Facility management system modernization: Rebuilt with Blazor WASM + ASP.NET Core + Azure / CI+E2E foundation / Security (Entra ID)
  • 2024 POS register backend (3 members): ASP.NET 7 design review + performance baseline formulation
  • 2025 Entry/Exit management system (30 members): Common function linkage/Data model review/Code review
• STAR Summary (Integrated): Modernized legacy ASP.NET monolith to .NET 8 / partitioned API / Blazor, improving p95 performance, failure rate, release cycle, and costs across multiple axes. Visualized quality metrics with telemetry + E2E automation.

Around 2018, I was diagnosed with "suspected epilepsy" and began taking appropriate medication. Vertigo, temporary loss of consciousness, and dizziness symptoms that had been intermittent since around 2005 decreased significantly within weeks to months, improving my work stability. Since then, I have incorporated medication compliance and sleep hygiene as priority tasks in my self-management plan to prevent recurrence.
From then on, under conditions of stable sleep, symptoms like vertigo and loss of consciousness disappeared, which contributed to my career advancement.

This enabled activities that led to winning the Microsoft MVP award, and I was finally able to engage in my intended work. Although it might have looked like I was working energetically, I had been pushing myself quite hard, and I continued in a state where I was far from achieving my true potential.

Up to this point, for me, these were 15 lost years.

9. IT Consultant (Company#09)

• Period: June 2025 – Present (at 4 months)
• Location: Tokyo, Japan / Hybrid
• Position: IT Consultant
• Skills: Blazor / Microsoft Azure / Engineering
• R&D of ERP products

Summary

• The company you join matters.
• If you feel power harassment, escape before you break.
• Finding a good doctor is also difficult.
• Health is the essential prerequisite for building a good career (truly, you can't do anything without it).