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先輩インタビュー Interviews with alumni

Practice your answers to potential questions over and over
so that you can answer smoothly during interviews!

From Korea Ms.K.S. Job type: IT-related

She majored in education at a university in her home country and she also studied education in Japan as an exchange student. After coming back to Korea, she studied programming in her native Korea and returned to Japan with the goal of finding work at a Japanese software company. She says she managed her job hunt all by herself, without relying on others. In addition to thoroughly polishing her entry sheets, she prepared answers to anticipated questions in preparation for interviews, and practiced answers over and over until she could deliver them smoothly.

Job hunting data

  • Target industryIT-related
  • Internship0 companies
  • Company information sessions joined6 companies
  • ES submission7 companies
  • Interview4 companies
  • Job offer1 companies

How did you study Japanese?

I started to seriously study Japanese before coming to Japan as an exchange student. I studied on my own for six months in my home country. Since my listening skills improved during this period, after coming to Japan I honed my writing skills through university classes and assignments. However, I came to Japan in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. My university classes were mostly online and I couldn't work part-time, so my speaking skills remained a little weak and I felt uncomfortable about it. So I practiced speaking a lot during my job-hunting days. Focusing on learning words used in business situations helped me overcome my lack of confidence.

How did you decide to work for a Japanese company?

Ever since growing up watching Japanese anime as a child, I have always felt an affinity with Japan. I took a leave of absence from university in Korea and studied abroad at a Japanese university through an education-related exchange program, but at this point I had not yet decided to work for a Japanese company. After that, I returned to Korea temporarily to graduate from university there. During this time, I studied programming. I found it very fun and well-suited to me, so I changed from the education sector to the software or internet-related sector. Since I had only recently started learning programming, rather than applying with Korean companies that would prioritize skills, I decided to work for a Japanese company that would place importance on the potential and personality of job seekers like me.

Tell us about the focus of your job hunting.

I set four goals for my job hunting. First, to work for a well-known IT company. I set my sights high because I was leaving my home country and trying to work for a Japanese company. Second, I wanted to work for a company that develops its own services. While there are many companies that develop systems at the request of other companies, I thought I would be more motivated to work at a company that develops its own services. Third, I placed importance on human relationships. I had an acquaintance who quit his company due to stress from human relationships, and I thought, "Even if I can do the job I want, I won't last long if human relationships are bad," so I looked for a company with a work atmosphere that would suit me. The last goal was to work for a company that actively pursues new technologies and trends. Companies that actively pursue new technologies grow quickly, and I wanted to join such a company to work enthusiastically and grow as an engineer myself.

Did you focus your efforts on anything in particular while job hunting?

What I put the most effort into was preparing for interviews. I thought up answers to common interview questions in advance and practiced them over and over again so that I would be able to answer smoothly no matter what kind of question I was asked. I probably practiced them out loud about five times a day. Of course, during the actual interview I was asked unexpected questions too, but practice kept my brain in full swing and I responded by first thinking up an answer in my native Korean, translating it directly into Japanese, and then answering. I think this method allows you to calmly organize your thoughts more efficiently than if you were to think up the answer in Japanese from the beginning.

How did you find information about job hunting in Japan and Japanese companies?

In my particular case, I returned to Korea after finishing my studies abroad and then came back to Japan to start job hunting. Therefore, instead of relying on career centers in Japan where I had studied, I looked up information on job hunting in Japan and Japanese companies on my own instead. I read many articles on the Internet by Koreans who had first-hand experience of looking for jobs in Japan, and when I was preparing my entry sheet, I first looked up how to write it on the Internet. By researching things that interested me in this way, I was able to understand the unique job hunting culture in Japan. During job interviews in Korea, you are often asked about the skills and knowledge related to the job you are applying for, but in Japan, I learned that it is important to talk about your experiences outside of work and convey a sense of who you are, not just your skills and knowledge. Also, while gathering information, I learned that it is a given that you should use honorific language during interviews and that it is not OK to use colloquial language like you would with a friend.

What was the most difficult part of looking for a job?

For international students, preparing each step of the job hunt will take time, as they will be doing so in Japanese, which is not their native language. In my case, it took a long time to create my entry sheet. This is because I wanted to thoroughly polish my written Japanese and improve it. So, I first looked up on the Internet how to write an entry sheet in Japanese. An international student who had received an unofficial job offer had published an entry sheet, so I used this as a reference to put mine together. The way I put it together was to first write it in Korean, then translate it into Japanese. If there were any expressions that I thought were unnatural or strange, I would refer to the one I had looked up on the Internet and correct them. I repeated this cycle several times to improve the quality of my entry sheet.

It took a lot of work, but that's why, when I found a Japanese company that I really wanted to work for, I was extremely happy to have them think highly of me. All the officials and employees I met during the selection process were wonderful, and my desire to work there grew stronger as the selection process progressed.

What is the best part of working for a Japanese company?

What I felt all along during the selection process was that Japanese companies have a lot of good people from a human point of view. Although the company I joined consists of superiors/seniors and subordinates/juniors, relationships are basically horizontal and the atmosphere in the workplace is very good. Thanks to this, I rarely feel stressed at work. The clean office, the freedom to dress casually, the flextime system, and the ease of taking holidays are some of the reasons why I feel that I am glad to be working for a Japanese company. I joined the company as an IT web application engineer and underwent new employee training for three months. During the training period, I learned about business etiquette and the flow of web application development, and gained work experience in various IT-related departments before being assigned to my department. After being assigned to my department, I did not immediately work alone, but first gained practical experience by helping my senior employees with their work. I think that the support offered to new employees is unique to Japanese companies.

Please give a message to international students who are trying to get a job in Japan.

Doing all your job hunting on your own like I did may be difficult for most people. Therefore, I recommend that those who are about to start job hunting make active use of available support systems, such as using the career center at the location where you are studying. Also, treat job hunting itself as an important step to becoming a working member of society, and if there is a company that interests you, try to actively attend information sessions. I narrowed down my list of companies in advance, but now I think I should have probably broadened my scope and applied to other companies as well. If you attend information sessions at many different companies and are able to advance to the selection process at many different companies, you will gain knowledge and experience in various sectors. Job hunting is a good opportunity to grow, so don't give up and work hard.

One question and one answer

Let's ask your seniors what you want to know!

QWhat are your main tasks?
A As a web application engineer, I am responsible for adding and improving functions on our company's website, as well as fixing bugs.
QWhat do you pay the most attention to in your work?
ABusiness etiquette. I am especially careful about using honorific language so as not to sound rude with other workers.
QWhat is your career plan in the future?
AI like to have new experiences, so I am considering working in a country other than Japan.