I’ve Always Wanted to Work in a Japanese Company, But Not Necessarily in Japan
Back in 2015, there were tons of Japanese companies active in Myanmar. In those companies, learning Japanese was required for the Japanese job interviews and you would also be working with Japanese natives. These companies were known to be great places to work, especially for engineers—even for a mechatronics career. So, many local talents aspired to work in one of these Myanmar-based Japanese companies. I was one of them. So, while taking Mechatronics at Mandalay Technological University, I started learning Japanese. After I finished my Final Year Project, I joined Association of Japan Myanmar Mutual Cooperation (AJMMC) to continue Japanese lessons. This was an easy enough decision for me. I was already into Japanese culture and shows like Gundam, already inspired me.
Sadly, when the pandemic hit, and due to big nationwide upheavals, most international businesses left the country—including the Japanese companies in Myanmar. Circumstances also meant that the opportunities in general were now less promising. I had to pivot. Luckily, one of my high school friends who was a year ahead of me and was already working Japan thanks to FAST OFFER International encouraged me to take a similar journey. He told me that after I finished my course if my Japanese was good enough, I could find a job in Japan from Myanmar through them. He assured me that FAST OFFER International was free, secure, and extremely helpful every step of the way. I thought that it would be a great opportunity. Not only would I be able to use the Japanese I’d been learning, but I would also get to pursue my Mechatronics career in a developed country.
Setting My Career Goals with FAST OFFER International as a Future Mechatronics Engineer
After I signed up with FAST OFFER International, they casually met me over Zoom to talk about my aspirations. They asked if I was willing to try other industries which I said no to. I told them I was single-minded about pursuing my Mechatronics career. FAST OFFER International took everything I told them into account and looked for opportunities specific to my goal to be a Mechatronics engineer.
The Best Opportunity for the Myanmar Engineer
The belief in Myanmar is that the best path for women is to be a doctor, and the best path for men is to be an engineer. So, like most of my countrymen, I aspired to be an engineer. With a little uncertainty, I thought that if my grades qualified, I would go with a teacher’s advice to choose Mechatronics combining Electronic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering to create robots. Thankfully, my grade was just enough!
To be honest, I feel that’s often the case with me. I tend to land somewhere in the middle, somewhere average. When it was time to look for a job in Japan, I also felt a little iffy about my language skills. My English is okay, but it’s not perfect, and my Japanese was still, in my opinion lacking. Despite this lack of confidence, I decided to try and I’m so glad I did.
My Quick Journey Towards My Mechatronics Career with FAST OFFER International
A few weeks after signing up with FAST OFFER International, a Japanese company was set up to interview me online. I was reluctant at first. But I saw on their company website that they contribute heavily to the pharmaceutical field and I was also inspired by their goal of spreading happiness with the people who work with them and the people they work for. I felt like it would allow me to engage in meaningful work.
So, FAST OFFER International assigned me a mentor to help prepare me for my first-ever Japanese job interview. This was going to be FAST OFFER International’s first time working with this company as well. Even then, the mentor I was assigned was a former engineer, so he was able to intensely coach me on what Japanese companies seek from foreign engineer. I was able to communicate with him freely and ask him a lot of things. We practiced anticipated questions, learned etiquette for Japanese job interviews, and I always got personalized, specific, actionable advice.
Because this was my first Japanese job interview, I almost expected to fail. This is typical for most applicants, that the first interview would serve more as experience for the succeeding interview opportunities. So, I went to the interview, with the pressure off. To my surprise though, two hours after the first interview round, I was told I was moving on to the next round. I was one step closer to a mechatronics career in Japan!
The next day, several people were interviewing me. There were several interviewers in the room. I tried not to overthink it and instead gave my full attention to the interviewer. After the interview, I visited their website and saw that I was actually talking to the CEO, my future branch manager, and few other high ranking employees. Two hours after the interview, I was shocked that I got a job offer! In hindsight, I feel grateful I was blissfully unaware so I wasn’t intimidated during the call.
Tips to Ace Your Japanese Job Interview
I couldn’t believe it, I secured a position in just one try. Reflecting on it, and the training I got, I feel like these are the things I did right:
- I researched the company and found our values aligned. Japanese companies look for employees with shared goals. Part of the company’s goals is spreading happiness, which is true for me, too.
- I was present and listening during the whole interview. As much as I prepared, I never memorized a script. I wasn’t trying to recall word-for-word preparation. Instead, I concentrated on understanding my interviewers well, and quickly, candidly, honestly, and authentically answering them.
- I was authentic and honest. It was easy to answer quickly in part because I was simply answering from my heart. I wasn’t putting up pretenses, and I was naturally smiling. I just had to recall things that were true about myself.
- I was relaxed. I wasn’t expecting much, knowing there would be more opportunities. This mindset freed me from anxiety.
- I asked reverse questions that showed my interest in the job and my drive to improve. In the last part of the interview, they asked me if I had questions for them. Having good questions helped leave a good last impression.
Don’t let your insecurities stop you from pursuing your goal!
No, Ash Ketchum, you don’t have to be the very best.
If I let my insecurities win, if I let myself hesitate, I would have missed out on this opportunity. To the average Myanmar engineer hoping to work in Japan: go for it! My experience has taught me that if you have a goal, what matters is that you steadily work on it. It’s okay to be slow, as long as you keep going. If you keep working on your goal—whether that’s learning Japanese or taking up a difficult major—you can achieve success.
During the interview, I asked them several questions in the end:
Will you be ok with my Japanese level?
Should I study more Japanese while I wait for my start date?
To my surprise, the company told me it was okay and that they could speak in English! Instead, they were happy with my skillset. Of course, I still want to improve my Japanese to help my situation as an expat, but the point is that it was a smaller problem than I had anticipated.
Preparing for my Life and Mechatronics Career in Japan
Another question I asked them was if there were additional skills I needed to learn before my possible start date of January 2026. If accepted, I would have a year to prepare for life in Japan. I think this answer sold me to them. Thanks to this question, I’m taking some more classes during this wait that I’m sure will come in handy next year. It’s still a long time before then but I’m looking forward to starting working in Japan!
