Hello! I am Navneet Singh from India and Japan. My motive for coming to Japan originated from my interests as a young child. Though I’m originally from India, I lived overseas in different places from a young age. 

Sweden was my first exposure to living abroad and I really liked it. It was different in a good way, and that’s when I realized I enjoyed being in a new environment. After military school in India, I wanted to see the world outside the army. I applied to several places like France, China, and Japan. 15 years ago, nobody knew about Japan—in India at least—and I wanted to be different and take a unique path compared to others. I ultimately chose Japan because I’d already been to Europe and other Asian countries and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University was also offering me a scholarship. I have been working in Japan for the last 11 years and am currently the brand manager at Brown-Forman.

I got my bachelor’s degree in Asia Pacific Management, also known as International Management. Although I don't think I studied much as a university student, I’ll never forget the interactions I had with students from over 100 different countries. If I were to give advice to current university students, I would say that university is not just about studying, but also about being active in extracurricular activities. 

I was part of three or four circles, including GASS where I encouraged Japanese students to go overseas.

• Activities that he put their most effort in・his most memorable experience:

  • Joining a lot of events 

    I was an ambassador for the admissions office where I was able to travel all over Japan to recruit students to APU. We went to Kyoto, and Hakone in big, diverse groups and gave presentations in Japanese schools about our experiences in APU. It was a three-day event where I got to not only travel for free but start earning.

  • Soft skills

    I gained a lot of soft skills during my university years through different experiences and interactions with my surroundings and meeting as many people as I can. I also had part-time jobs that taught me important things before joining a company, like how to work and what it’s like to work with managers and colleagues. 

• Things that he/she regrets not doing during their university/college life: 

  • I wouldn’t change anything about my university life. Looking back now, I realized I gained more experience than I expected. If I were to go back, I would do the same thing—make as many friends and meet as many people.

If I were to give advice to myself or any international student, I would say it is important to have passion and experience. Although I couldn’t speak the Japanese language 10 years ago, there was still something I was still able to give: ideas. I don’t think having perfect Japanese is necessary for job hunting, but more so impressing them with the ideas that only you can give. 

In interviews, don’t be afraid to show them your personality—give a meaningful joke for example, which shows that you are confident and can still be funny and relaxed under stressful situations. Both soft and hard skills are important to have, but at least from my experience, soft skills are really what people see. 

As for resumes, long resumes don’t necessarily mean you have done a lot. It’s more important to have a short resume, generally with one page that you can summarize your work in one sentence. Show your clear thoughts, from the what, and why, to the results. These small details and elements are important in your resume. 

Since you worked at a Japanese and a foreign-owned company, could you share about the work culture in them? Any differences, similarities, or stuff you liked and didn’t like?

My first company was a Japanese company. I was the first foreigner they hired and I couldn’t speak a word of Japanese. It was in the music industry, something I was passionate about. I moved on to another Japanese company where I took over the overseas market. Then I went to American and British companies.

One good thing about Japanese companies is that they will teach you from zero. They teach you everything, no matter what background you have. That’s something I always tell people who want to work in Japan—starting in a Japanese company is very humbling. It’s stressful but it will shape you really well.

Working in big companies

I used to think you need to look for famous companies, but I’ve realized that it’s not about which company you work for but who you work with. Just because the company is big, it doesn’t necessarily mean I want to work there. What’s more important to consider is who your boss will be and what kind of team members you will be working with. 

Did you know you wanted to go into an FMCG company from the beginning? How do you think your career has progressed through the different companies you’ve joined?

Not at all! Half of it was luck and the other was a decision. I knew I liked to see my product in the consumer's hand. For example, If I change the label of a water, and I see someone make a comment about it, it feels really good. Our company got an award, and it's rewarding to know the impact of my work. 

I wanted to do marketing because it was very strategic and something you can do all over the world, based on human insights. 

It’s a global job that tackles consumer insights, brand management, and project management, all that I love to do. It wasn’t something I learned from textbooks, but from the soft skills I gained during my university years and practicing in the industry.

• Communication  - Even if you have little to no Japanese skills or have difficult articulating your thoughts in a different language, you can always provide something with a different point of view, or find other ways to express your opinion 

• Passion  - Try to convince someone with the passion you have over the money or experience.