What to Know and How to Apply for Mercari, Japan's homegrown e-commerce giant
Nowadays, there are many online flea markets where you could sell items or buy stuff at a low price launched in Japan. I'm sure that many people love shopping and how it sounds as if it became part of your future career. If you interest or looking in e-commerce industries in Japan, Mercari is one such online marketplace company that you may want to consider. But what is Mercari doing? Let’s get to know them together!
Written by: Beam Kanajoat | Date Published: 4th February 2020
About Mercari, Japan's largest community-powered marketplace
Mercari is a popular Japanese e-commerce company, founded in February 2013 and currently operating in Japan and the United States. Their journey started in Japan during their launch of the Mercari marketplace iOS and Android app in July 2013.
The main product is an online app that provides a hassle-free and secure way to buy and sell new and used items such as electronics, jewelry, clothes, shoes and house ware all done through smartphones. Nowadays, Mercari Japan has over 1,800 employees and has employees from more than 40 countries and regions. Mercari Japan’s headquarter is located in Minato-ku, Tokyo.
The company’s vision is:
“Create value in a global marketplace where anyone can buy and sell”
Mercari believes that before expanding to a global scale, they need to create a diverse working environment first.
They have three core values in achieving their mission, namely “Go Bold”, “All for one” and “Be a Pro”. Mercari encourages employees to be involved in decision making, learn new things, know how to solve problems and take challenges.
To support their employees' growth and promote diversity, the company focuses on:
- Providing equal chances for employees of all backgrounds
- Fostering a culture of learning to all members to reach their full potential
- Build trust in employees so everyone can feel like they belong.
Mercari has 3 main subsidiaries operating in online market applications.
Mercari, Inc.
The main subsidiary of Mercari, which has developed their main e-commerce application, which allows users to buy and sell items quickly from their smartphones.
Merpay, Inc.
Merpay Inc. is a fully-owned subsidiary of Mercari, and they developed an eponymous phone application. The Merpay app is a mobile payment service that allows users to make cashless payments not just through the main Mercari app, but also through various stores in Japan.
Michael Inc.
Michael Inc. is Mercari's subsidiary that is in charge of developing Cartune, an online app made for car enthusiasts. In the app, users can communicate with each other by exchanging information about car parts and sharing images of their custom-built cars.
Investor Relations Information
Mercari Japan has been growing fast since the application was launched. Mercari claims its online application has been downloaded 71 million times in Japan and it's the first startup unicorn company to go public.
“I want to help society thrive by circulating our limited resources.”
Those words from Shintaro Yamada, founder of Mercari means that the company aims to promote a new lifestyle based on circulating existing value between people and communities. For this goal, Mercari is focused on medium-long term goal profits and they will be investing the main three areas: people, technology, and overseas growth.
Photo source: Mercari
Headquartered in Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Tokyo and with offices in Sendai and Fukuoka, they also have branches in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the future, they are also aiming to build a global platform similarly to U.S. tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, and Google.
Since Mercari aiming to expand in the global market and boost operations abroad, they are open to all nationalities of fresh graduates. In 2018, according to the Mercari Mercan Website, Mercari Japan hired about 50 new graduates and including 44 with foreign nationalities.
Job opportunities and application information for Mercari
Mercari recruits fresh graduates all-year round for their Tokyo offices. They have 6 different positions for full-time software engineers, and 1 full-time position as a Product Manager, all of which will be discussed with details below.
Luckily, aside from the Product Manager position, the software engineer positions do not require a degree in Computer Science. Mercari's application page for fresh graduates can be found here.
Full-time Positions at Mercari for Fresh Graduates
Android Software Engineer
You will be working with an internal team to improve the UX and specifications of their platforms on Android. This means that you will also need expertise to comment on specifications from a technical perspective and select design methods with scalability in mind. If you think you are up to the task, you can apply for the position here.
Backend Software Engineer
As a backend software engineer, you will be expected to design, develop, and operate systems such as servers and databases, and aside from hard skills, you also need soft skills in order to improve the customer experience through design, create user stories to solve issues found through analysis, and communicate smoothly with engineers from various fields. A degree is not required, however, you will need to fulfill the list of minimum requirements here.
Frontend Software Engineer
This position also does not require a computer science degree, however, minimum requirements mention things such as experience with UI implementation using HTML and CSS, and experience developing with frameworks like React, AngularJS, and Vue.js. You can apply for this position through their page here.
iOS Software Engineer
The responsibilities of an iOS Software Engineer at Mercari includes the design, development, and improvement of both new and existing features for Mercari and Merpay apps, and source code improvements and development environment enhancements via automation. Engineers are also encouraged to participate in the iOS development community. The application page for this position can be found here.
Machine Learning Software Engineer
The machine learning software engineer position has a long list of requirements and knowledge, such as experience in Go, C/C++, or Java, and fundamental knowledge of RDBMS and SQL, amongst other things. You can find the full list of requirements and also make your application as well through Mercari's page here.
Site Reliability Software Engineer
The responsibilities of a site reliability software engineer (SRE) include: building the servers/networks for Mercari’s marketplace app and Merpay, system automation and incident handling, and development to improve performance, reliability, and scalability. You will need to make your application through their page here.
Product Manager
Lastly, applicants for the product manager position must have a BA/BS degree in Computer Science, however, a degree in a similar engineering field of study or equivalent experiences is also accepted. Some responsibilities include, but are not limited to product planning, designing, managing development and operation for Mercari. You can apply and check the full list of requirements for this position here.
If you do not meet the requirements for the open positions for fresh graduates in their company, make sure to keep an eye on their career website! Other positions might be start to recruitment in the future.
Internship Opportunities with Mercari Japan
In addition to full-time engineer employment positions, Mercari opens a total of 7 internship positions for all students and new graduates in engineering. However, Mercari does not allow applications for multiple internship positions at the same time, so you will need to choose just one. They are as follows:
Android Software Engineer Internship
The selected intern will help the Mercari and Merpay teams with things such as UI/UX improvement. The internship is open to students of any background, however, experience using Java and/or Kotlin for developing Android apps is required. More details on this internship can be found here.
Backend Software Engineer Internship
Mercari accepts students from any background for the backend software engineer internship, however, minimum requirements on the software side of things include experience developing/operating products, experience designing, developing, and operating software applications using Go or PHP, and designing DBs (RDB, NoSQL, etc.) and creating efficient queries. More details can be found here.
Frontend Software Engineer Internship
Similarly, Mercari accepts students from any background for the frontend software engineer internship, however, minimum requirements include experience on things such as UI implementation using HTML and CSS, and developing with frameworks like React, AngularJS, and Vue.js. The full requirements and internship information can be found here.
iOS Software Engineer Internship
iOS Software Engineer interns are expected to have experience developing native applications for iOS using Swift/Objective-C, and knowledge of standard iOS library/frameworks such as UIKit. Full details on this internship can be found here.
Machine Learning Software Engineer Internship
The intern will work with Mercari's Machine Learning team, and will be involved with tasks such as conducting machine learning modeling utilizing data from the large-scale Mercari products, since machine learning is a big part of how some of Mercari and Merpay's systems work. This internship position has some of the most number minimum requirements compared to the others, and the details can be viewed here.
Microservices Platform Software Engineer Internship
This internship requires experience using the container management platform, Kubernetes, in addition to basic programming skills and a passion for operational automation, service reliability and developer productivity. Application page for this internship can be found here.
Site Reliability Software Engineer Internship
The site reliability engineer (SRE) internship also has a long list of minimum requirements, some of which includes basic knowledge of network protocols such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, HTTP2, TLS, DNS, SMTP, basic knowledge of security and encryption and experience using RDBMS such as MySQL. The application page and other requirements can be found here.
Other requirements: The Mercari internship programs usually take 3-6 months, and there is no specific deadline for recruitment. As for language abilities, they all require business level English and Japanese.
If you are interested to work in multicultural working space in Japan and gain many technical skills in technology application then Mercari Japan is a good e-commerce company choice for job-hunting.
Table of contents
Not a JPort user yet? Start today for free.
On JPort Journal,
Ask Senpais about 就活 on the forum
Watch & Read Contents made by Senpais & JPort
Participate on JPort’s events
On JPort Match,
Connect with HR of companies in Japan on JPort Match