I have always had a fascination towards Japan. Truth be told it started from consuming Japanese popular media such as Anime and Manga and stems to reading about life in Japan, its culture, its history, etc. When I started university, I had a set of goals in mind and one of them was to find a way to work in Japan. I had heard from one of my seniors of a program that would help me in preparing myself and finding work in Japan. It was FAST OFFER International Program (formerly Study Go Work JAPAN Program). In my last year of university, I thought that I had to devote myself to my dream and try my hardest and through this program I saw an opportunity that would help me reach that dream.

At first the Japanese lessons were fun and easy to follow. But as time progresses it became less easy to follow and needed the extra effort to understand the grammar and workings of the Japanese language. I had thought that this was due to the big difference in character from my home language. Due to the teachers that were present and their abilities to provide the lessons and answer specific questions about the Japanese language I was still eager to learn the language. Aside from the language they also taught us about Japanese culture especially the working culture in Japan. It was no secret that Japan was a strict country when talking about its work culture. At the time I didn’t think much of it since I had already toughened up my resolve since I knew what I was signing up for. It was quite hard to balance Japanese classes, my final project, classes, and get enough rest by the end of the day.

After the Japanese lessons there were multiple preparations to be made for the documents that would be seen by the companies looking for new recruits. Unsurprisingly, it was supposed to be in Japanese so I did it as best I could with my limited Japanese skills. I had traded opinions on each other’s submission with a friend who was also participating in the program. This was a great opportunity to see the real usage of the grammars, words, and rules of the Japanese language that were previously learnt. This was also a good chance to remind myself of the progress that I had made from learning Japanese. Along the way I realized that the progress that I made in learning Japanese came gradually and was not always so obvious. With this reminder I can motivate myself to get better at learning Japanese and preparing myself for work in Japan. Afterwards the staffs from ASIA to JAPAN interviewed me about why I wanted to work in Japan and other preparatory questions that would most likely be asked in an interview. There I was given pointers on which parts of my answers were lacking and how to make them better. It was an important experience and opened my views even broader on how different the culture is in different countries. The staff at ASIA to JAPAN were very helpful in determining which part I should revise, what I should do better, and such.

Although it came after quite some time, truth be told I was surprised when I saw an email that said there was a company that wanted to interview me. I was both ecstatic and bewildered. I was worried and nervous about being interviewed in a language that I am not yet comfortable in. But I thought that this chance might not come again so I did my best in preparing myself for the interview. The staff at Asia to Japan and the mentor that they had assigned to me were plenty helpful. I felt that without the help of the staffs and mentors I wouldn’t have made it here. My mentor had helped me a ton in revising my answers, looking through my final project PowerPoint presentation, how I should answer, what words to use and others. I was especially thankful for the fact that he was very patient in mentoring me since I was not used to using Japanese. The staff from ASIA to JAPAN also gave me pointers on my answers, presentation, and how I should behave and act in the interview. One of the pointers that I remember at the top of my head was to use simple words and keep smiling throughout the interview. I believe that using simple words that I am used to can help me use it and say it correctly in the interview.

After the first interview I realized how important it was to prepare answers beforehand and memorize the answers for certain questions. I also tried my best to predict follow-up questions from the interviewer about my answers. Sadly, due to covid-19 restricting our movements I didn’t get to go to Japan for the interviews and had done it through Zoom. I think that the ASIA to JAPAN team made a very good and effective system for the interview so that it would go smoothly. The second interview also went smoothly although I might have had some chances to give better answers. In the second interview I felt that predicting follow-up questions benefited me greatly so I can answer them clearly and without hesitation. Though I could not predict all of the follow-up questions I still managed to survive through it thanks to the help of the ASIA to JAPAN team and also my mentor. It was a thrilling experience and quite nerve-wrecking to be honest, but I know that nothing good comes easy, so I had to give it my all and take in all the advice that I got from friends, family, and the people from ASIA to JAPAN. I’m glad to say that I had passed the interview. Even though I felt that I did good in the interview I still had my doubts in being accepted. I hope that I can live up to the company’s expectations and make the ASIA to JAPAN team proud!