1) Your background
Country: South Korea
Years of Japanese study at UVM: 3 years. (Never Learned Japanese before UVM)
Study abroad experience: Total 6 months (3 months at ICU, 3 months at Doshisha University)
Graduated Year: May 2019
Major: Business Analytics
Minor: Japanese
2) Where do you work? How did you find the job?
Company: Asurion (Mobile Insurance & Tech company)
How: Through Boston Career Forum
3) What was the interview process like? What were the questions?
Process: Four interviews in total (First three interviews were in Skype. Final one was in Boston)
Questions were pretty much like typical interviews that everyone can expect (ex) Why do you want to work in Japan, What is your strength or weakness….etc
4) What was the placement/moving process like? Did company pay any (airfare, etc.) or you paid for everything?
Company paid for everything (airfare, housing（敷金、礼金、不動産費用）, moving expense, etc)
But, I guess it depends on the company.
5) What is it like to work for a Japanese company/school? (working environment, requirements/expectations, language, attire, what is your work week like?, what do you do?, etc.)
Pretty diverse environment. 30% non-Japanese.
Language requirements vary depending on your position.
(ex) IT team speak English, so Japanese is not required. But, Sales team, of course, Japanese is necessary
Attire: Business casual. You are not required to wear a suit or shirts.
Working Hours: 7.5 hours Monday to Friday (You can work anytime between 05:00 – 22:00).
Working from home is allowed once a week.
My position: Customer Care Pilot Center.
6) What is it like to work with the Japanese? (people, culture, language, after-work obligation, etc.)
It is sometimes hard to know what they are thinking. I wish they were more direct.
There are some unnecessary meetings. I think Japanese like meetings.
7) PLEASE share any tips for those who are going to work in Japan or have Japan-related jobs after graduating from UVM?
Regardless of your position, speaking Japanese is quite important if you want to live in Japan because you will need to use Japanese anyway even outside of the company. For example, you have to deal with finding a house, opening a bank account, registering your address in the city hall, buying a Simcard or etc. You cannot be really independent if you cannot deal with these by your self. It was quite stressful for me as well in the beginning. It’s getting better but Japanese still prefer to use cash. Hanko might be needed when you open a bank account or rent a house. It is quite hard to find a house for foreigners in Japan since many landlords do not want to lend a house to foreigners.
Update May 30, 2024: After working for Asurion for a couple of years, Jay-san returned to South Korea. He is working for his parents’ company, GIB Co., Ltd. using the knowledge and experiences he had gained at UVM and Tokyo. He travels to Japan, Germany, and France several times a year to each of these countries.