| COUNTRY |
| India |
| EDUCATION |
| Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Major in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Nanyang Technological University |
| COMPANY |
| A software and IT solutions company providing comprehensive consulting, system design, and infrastructure services to optimize business operations across the group. |
| SUMMARY |
| Brimming with curiosity, this promising computer Science student spent his childhood learning different languages from when he was born to Indian parents (Indian languages and English) in Thailand (a little Thai), then when his family moved to Indonesia(Bahasa and French), when he got into anime (Japanese) , and finally, when he entered Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (Coding languages!) as a Computer Science student. He was shocked, however, with how difficult it was to land a job in Singapore as an international computer science final year student. Thankfully, his Japanese teacher directed him to FAST OFFER International leading him to secure his computer science career in Japan and growing as a person. The experience has given him a new appreciation for the process, opening him to the possibilities in the present. |
The curious case of my career path
I’ve always been a highly curious person. Since childhood, I’ve always been enchanted with the hows and whys of the world. In certain angles, it seems as though I’m learning a bunch of unrelated, random things—useless trivia some may even call it—but I just enjoy the process of knowing and understanding things. This overall drive to learn new things, though, would unwittingly lead me down the path of fulfilling my dream to one day live and work outside of India—pursuing a computer science career in Japan.
I remember, as a kid, I watched my mum put a cold glass bowl of soup into a microwave, and it broke extremely neatly. It was so fulfilling on my part to be able to explain why that happened on a molecular level. There was something so satisfying about that.
How curiosity informed my multilingual international childhood
Learning new things, I experienced, opened possibilities. Nothing could be truer, especially for language.
First, I was born in Thailand to Indian parents. This meant I learned English, Hindi, a little bit of Thai all at the same time. Shortly after, we moved to Indonesia, and learning Bahasa and a little French enabled me to interact with more of the world. Sometime in high school, I was also introduced to anime. That got me curious about learning Japanese. It doubled my enjoyment of anime when I began to understand my shows without subtitles. In college, I had to take a foreign language class. Learning Japanese in a formal setting was helpful, and quite honestly, was a breeze given where I was starting.
As with every language I learned, new worlds opened, and I got to immerse more meaningfully with the local culture.
Curiosity over Computer Science began my career path to Japan
When I was in 9th grade, our school had compulsory Computer Science classes. That was when I first dabbled in Java. That enabled me to build a program through lessons I learned and the use of cold, hard logic. Seeing everything I learned become this working object, I felt that spark. Finishing my first program felt so fulfilling—I remember that feeling to this day. So, I pursued that curiosity until the day I was considering what to study for university.
True enough, my affinity for programming continues today. I love how it’s so straightforward and objective. Everything makes sense in the world of programming. When I debug or generate code using the patterns and logic I know, it feels like things snapping into place. It’s almost like that glass bowl breaking and being able to scientifically explain it—but this time, I was breaking and creating things with intention. Seeing the completed functioning product and understanding everything behind it—that was euphoric.
I used to be very goal-oriented
Until college, I was extremely goal-oriented. I loved the payoff of finishing a program or setting a goal and working extremely hard for it. My goal then was to study outside of India, so I studied hard and got into Nanyang Technological University.
However, I quickly discovered that with my major goal done, without some overarching motivation, I began to just go through the motions. I stopped learning new things. My curiosity dwindled. Achieving the goal had eclipsed everything else. That mindset was further challenged when I began job hunting in Singapore.
The Experience of job hunting in Singapore as an international computer science student
The assumption I perhaps wrongfully made was that if I studied in Singapore, it would open the Singaporean job market. Well, it did, but the door was barely cracked open due to several reasons.
- Fewer computer Science jobs due to AI – A few years ago, students were scrambling to get computer science degrees because of the bustling demands of the industry. However, due to the rise of AI, the job demands didn’t quite grow as expected. By the time I was job hunting, Computer Science job opportunities had somewhat dwindled. Many of my fellow Computer Science batch mates wound up finding work in extremely different fields. I didn’t want that to happen to me because I genuinely love computer science. To make up for this, I put in even more effort and started to specialize in AI.
- The best opportunities in Singapore is more attuned to Chinese speakers – A lot of the big jobs in Singapore need you to speak Mandarin, of all the languages I didn’t learn.
- Many Singaporean jobs prioritize locals – On top of that, a lot of the openings are also exclusive to Singaporean residents. This leaves such a tiny fraction available for international final year students with no experience. I wound up sending what felt like hundreds of applications, none of which even led to an interview.
I found myself repeatedly going through a process of application and rejection. So much hard work amounting to nothing made me feel numb and defeated. It was around this time that my Japanese language professor asked me how my job hunt was going. “Terrible!” I admit, honestly. That was when he told me about FAST OFFER International.
Through FAST OFFER International, a computer science career in Japan was a possibility
I guess I was too stuck in that loop of trying to get a job in Singapore that I forgot to reflect on my present skills and how that could lead me elsewhere. Learning about FAST OFFER International taught me that there was a concentration of job openings for international talents like me to work in Japan. Plus, I already had a leg up because I already knew how to speak basic Japanese and was, at that time, already targeting JLPT N2.
Changing my career and life goal post: Japan versus Singapore
On top of that, Japan has all the great things I love about Singapore: the efficiency, cleanliness, innovativeness, and even delicious food. Perhaps, Japan even had a little more—with centuries worth of culture interwoven with advanced technology, and a more expansive and diverse geography to explore. So, I pivoted and signed up with FAST OFFER International, hoping to change my luck and have a computer science career in Japan.
My foray into the Japanese job market with FAST OFFER International
Sadly, in my first round of interviews with companies, my visa to travel to Japan didn’t arrive in time. After some coaching with my career advisor, I took the online Japanese job interviews. I was so anxious. It was my first time to interview with companies. All my prior attempts in Singapore had never even reached this stage. It was all so new to me. I wound up failing the interviews.
Dejected, I paused with FAST OFFER International for a while. I thought, maybe I’d go study something else, change my whole life. I needed something to change so I could get out of the cycle, debug my career!
The personalized advice that changed my computer science career trajectory
Months later though, one of their advisors messaged me again, encouraging me to get back into the program. I decided to try again. This time, I was paired with another advisor who found the “bug” during our mock interview sessions. The advice was so simple: “You need to smile more!”
That advice was so obvious but also so shocking to me. In real life—outside of the job hunt and the rigorous interviews—I’m not that serious of a person. I do smile. I do joke. It seems however, that because I was so focused during the job interviews to get my Japanese right as I navigated answering as perfectly as I could, that I was forgetting to be more human. That advice woke me up, maybe even changed my brain chemistry.
The difference between Japanese job interviews with the rest of the world
That advice hit the nail on the head, not just because I wasn’t smiling, but also because it stood for an important side about what Japanese employers are looking for. Looking back, I now realize that my difficulties stemmed not simply because I wasn’t smiling, but because my mindset was all wrong.
Once you have a few skills and the correct background that matches the job’s demand, the deciding factor for Japanese companies then becomes altogether different. They’re not going to look for the person with the most skills or the highest GPA—though perhaps that could make for an attractive resume. What they’re most looking for is potential.
What kind of potential are Japanese Companies looking for?
- A passion for learning and career growth
- A genuine interest in the company and its values
- A desire to work with them for a long time
- A personality that fits well with the team they’ll be with every day
Japanese companies don’t look at you like a finished product. They look at you as a person, with your own goals, interests, and potential. They’re asking, are this person’s goals naturally aligned with the company’s? Will they find purpose and drive every day, working with the team? After all, it’s not just about the end goal, but also the process. Hence, smiling and being more “present” at the interviews was so much more important than what it seemed.
Smiling at interviews signifies you’re listening, present, interested, keen, and genuine. Smiling means you’re not lost in your head looking through the answers you prepared but answering from your heart. When I took that advice, and fully understood the mindset of Japanese companies at interviews, it made me appreciate the process more.
Using that advice successfully to grasp my computer science career in Japan
On top of smiling more, I also started reading Japanese light novels. This expanded my vocabulary and gave me lighthearted but meaningful interactions with the language. With that in mind, during my second online interview, I did much better.
After the second round of the interview, I didn’t think much of it. I had no expectations. No matter what the results were, I felt like I could deal with it. I could do better!
The next day, I remembered my career advisor had called me. There was construction right outside, so I couldn’t make out what they were saying—but also, I think, because I couldn’t believe what they were saying.
“You got a job offer!”
I was so shocked. My journey with this company went so fast! Perhaps that’s what happens when you’re in the right mind set, and you meet the right company—it all snaps into place pretty quickly!
The most important lesson this computer science job hunt in Singapore and Japan has taught me
Considering my job hunt in Singapore and Japan, there was one major change that happened to me. I realized that being too dependent on motivation or goals could be a slippery slope. Once you reach your goal, you can become complacent. Your curiosity, your drive, dwindles. Or, if you keep failing at getting your goals, you lose motivation and just go through the motions. You start living in that future self and lose track of the present.
I learned that the process was more important. It was more quintessential to form healthy habits, to concentrate on steady discipline, and to stay wide awake to the things happening around you instead of looking so far ahead. That way, you’re open to more possibilities, opportunities. You’re more adaptable. You’re not rigidly bound to a self-imposed goal. Perhaps I muddled things and got obsessed with the payoff when there was joy in the doing. It was in the now, in the endless satiating of curiosity every day—there was more value to that present. Whatever the future will be, when things inevitably, realistically go wrong, I’ll do my best to face the challenges head-on.
Coincidentally, this mindset mirrors ikigai and kaizen. Can you imagine companies thinking that way? What can you achieve with that mindset?
What I’m looking forward to most as a computer science engineer in Japan
I can’t wait to start my engineering career in Japan! I feel like I’ve been waiting for so long to put into practice everything I learned. On top of that, there’s so much food to eat, places to go, and culture to experience.
My advice to others like me looking to launch their computer science career in Japan
Don’t worry about your future. That’s just inefficient! Instead, if you look around you, you will find opportunities. Just trust yourself to always do your best, and things will work out the way they’re supposed to. For me, FAST OFFER International was the opportunity I would have missed if I were too rigid about my goals. Sometimes, life has better things in store if we open ourselves up to the present.
FAST OFFER CAREER GUIDE: Computer Science Career in Japan: How to give your profile an edge
In Japan, you’ll find the best time to look for a job is before you graduate. So, without work experience to set you apart, what are the features of a profile that attract Japanese companies? Here are things to improve on your profile as a computer Science student looking to launch their career in Japan
- Your Japanese Level. As a foreign talent looking for work in Japan, Japanese companies will highly appreciate it if you can speak in Japanese. Certification is supplementary! The actual speaking ability is what counts. Getting to around conversational Japanese at N3 is a minimum requirement, but having levels higher in that will definitely make the job hunt much easier.
- Your Final Year Project.
- The specific field of your project can determine the industry of the company that will shortlist you. So make sure you choose a project topic you’re genuinely interested in.
- You will be asked to talk about your project, so make sure you practice talking about it in Japanese, and to translate any important jargon.
- More than the topic and your intelligencee, Japanese companies will listen closely as to how you were a team player in these projects.
- Join Competitions. Joining and winning competitions can tell a lot about your spirit for excellence. You can join hackathons, student formula racing, or Japanese Speech Contests. These will look great on your resume.
- Internship Experience. Having robust internship experiences can give you a leg up.
