Embracing Every Challenge To Be A Process Development Engineer in Japan

Choosing My Fifth Language Was Fate Bringing Me Closer to Be a Process Development Engineer in Japan 

Being an Indian born in Malaysia, I grew up in a community where multiple ethnic groups, including Malay, Chinese, and Indian, live together. Most people who grow up in Malaysia learn at least three languages. This is already a good advantage for Malaysians who want to work in Japan. I went farther. I learned four: English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil. I learned my fourth language because I studied Chinese at a Chinese elementary school. This familiarized me with kanji from an early age, which gave me an advantage when learning Japanese compared to other Malays. Unbeknownst to me, this was already setting me up for my path to becoming a Process Development Engineer in Japan. 

Growing up in an environment where I experienced how world-expanding every new language could give me a thirst to keep learning new languages. By the time I entered Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), I was decided to learn another language. Luckily, because my university was jointly established by Japan and Malaysia and I’ve loved anime since elementary school, it was easy to figure out what that next language would be. Everything fell into place at MJIIT: I learned Japanese-style engineering education and happily took the three required semesters of Japanese language classes.   

My Advice for Learning Japanese: Don’t Be Afraid of Making Mistakes Practicing Your Conversation  

The recommended way to study Japanese is to learn through conversation rather than textbooks. I think many people are afraid of making mistakes and do not take the plunge into conversation, but I learned by making many mistakes. At first, I could only have simple conversations, but gradually I was able to have conversations in Japanese about difficult topics such as society. There are many Japanese teachers at my university, so I was able to rapidly improve my Japanese by chatting with them in my free time.  

Admittedly, as we advanced through classes, lessons got harder. Most students only take the required three classes and stop studying Japanese. However, by the time I finished my third Japanese class, I’d gotten a new motivation to learn Japanese: I wanted to find a job in Japan.  I went beyond the required units for Japanese.  

As a result, after about two years of study, I passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N2. I’m happy to report I can now speak five languages.  

Reasons for choosing Japan as a place of employment despite having multilingual skills  

I love a challenge  

I love taking on new challenges. I think making it hard on yourself is the best way to grow. It’s with this mindset that I chose Japan. English is way easy for me, so working in an English-speaking country such as the UK or the US would not be challenging at all. On the other hand, working in Japanese culture and language would be a big challenge for me.   

I love Japan  

In addition, I did an internship in Japan for three months last year. I really liked the Japanese lifestyle. From then on, I started to seriously consider working in Japan.  

3-Month Internship Experience in Japan  

From July to October 2024, I interned at the University of Tsukuba as a research assistant for three months.  

There was also a new challenge there. My major is chemical process engineering, but the research I engaged in as an intern was biology. Learning biology in Japanese was very difficult because there were many technical terms. However, I like learning new things, and thanks to the support of those around me, I was able to overcome such adversity.  

This internship was also my first experience living in Japan for a long time. I grew to like Japan more through living here. In particular, Japanese food and Japanese life resonate with me very much. I live in Kuala Lumpur, a very busy city that can sometimes be tiring. In contrast, life in Tsukuba was very peaceful. Through the internship, I no longer had worries about living in Japan.  

Received a job offer to be process development engineer within one month  

After completing my internship, I registered with FAST OFFER International in December 2025 to find employment in Japan.  

FAST OFFER International has many offers for software and electronics engineering, but few for students majoring in chemistry. Hence, I was skeptical and wondered how I could land an offer as a chemistry major. Nonetheless, I received an offer from one company in January.  

However, since this was the first time that the company I interviewed attended a FAST OFFER International interview, I didn’t know what kind of questions the company would ask me. Therefore, I only prepared answers to basic questions. Knowing I would have to improvise answers for unexpected questions made me a little anxious during the interview.  

The two interviews were all conducted online, and the final interview was with the president and vice president. At first, I was a little scared, but in actuality, both were kind, and I was able to get through it.  

I was able to get a job offer right away. It felt like destiny to match with the company perfectly. When I received the job offer, I was so happy and felt relieved. In Malaysia, everyone starts job hunting after graduating from university. I got a job offer much earlier than my classmates. My future is now secured, and I feel at ease. Now I am stress-free and can focus on graduating.  

Company visit to Osaka, Japan Where I’ll Be a process development engineer  

After receiving the job offer, I was invited to visit the company’s headquarters in Osaka allowing me to briefly experience Osaka’s very cold winter.   

The employees were all kind, and I felt that the work I was doing would allow me to utilize my skills. The president also personally supported me in many ways. In fact, the president has more experience abroad and is fluent in English. This made it very easy to communicate with her and we were able to become close.  

Having seen the company’s good environment, I have almost no worries.  

What I want to prepare before joining the Japanese company as a process development engineer  

I will join the company in January 2026. In Japan, it is common to start working in April or October, so I think this is a rather unusual timing.  

I would like to improve my technical terminology before joining the company. During the company visit where I also got to see the factory, I heard the employees use a lot of jargon. It made me feel that there was still a lot to learn.  

In addition, since I will be working for a company in Kansai, I would like to study the Osaka dialect. When we all went to dinner after the company visit, many employees spoke a lot of Osaka dialect. I can understand the Osaka dialect to some extent, but there is so much more I would like to improve.

I also want to make more friends in Japan. If I do that, I think I can enrich not only my work but also my private life. The president also told me, “Please look for things other than work, not just work.” That sentiment also showed me that the company values work-life balance.  

There’s a long list of things to learn but as always, I’m up for the challenge!  

Goals for working as a process development engineer in Japan 

I will join the company as a process development engineer. It will be my job to develop the plant’s processes effectively and efficiently, to help resolve environmental issues. As the first engineer in the company with a chemical major, I would like to use my knowledge to move the company forward.  

I think it will be difficult at first with a lot of work, but I would like to eventually be promoted to team leader. Also, the company is only about 120 people, so I would like to be instrumental in helping the company grow bigger.  

A message for students who want to work in Japan  

Please don’t be afraid of new challenges. If you’re always afraid of new things, you’ll never achieve anything. Break out of your shell and try something new.  

I believe that everything that happens is fate. If you have a chance but don’t take it, you’ll regret it someday. I don’t want to regret it later, so I’m the type of person who thinks, “Let’s try something, whether you like it or not!” Even if you try it and don’t like it, you can just think that you’ve found your aptitude.  

Especially for foreigners, if you don’t have that mindset, you won’t be able to get rid of the image of being scared when living in a new country. If so, you’ll want to go back to your home country after six months to a year. That’s not good for ASIA to JAPAN and the company you’re joining, which has supported you until now. So please throw away your negative thoughts and take a step forward. 

FAST OFFER CAREER GUIDE: What It Takes to Be a Process Development Engineer in Japan

What is a Process Development Engineer?

Process Development Engineers are found in Japan’s semiconductor, automotive, and electronics industries. They are in charge of developing and optimizing the manufacturing processes. Their work can directly impact the company’s efficiency the quality of goods. 

What Does it Take to Be a Process Development Engineer in Japan?

• Engineering Experience. Strong background in fields like electrical engineering, materials science, or chemical engineering. Companies will appreciate it if you exhibited your potential in the field  in your Final Year Project or former work experience.
• Strong Communication. Proficiency in both Japanese and English for effective communication in multinational teams. In order to best understand current systems to improve them, it’s essential to understand the full picture first through clear commutation with stakeholders from every step.
• Team Player. Ability to work collaboratively and solve complex problems. Japanese corporate culture has a big emphasis on working as a team efficiently. 
• Continuous Learner. Process Development Engineers must be updated with the latest technologies in order to keep the company’s systems at the highest level at the given time.