Hello! My name is Alan B. Mathew, I was born and brought up in India and came to Japan during my high school years, around 13-14 years of age. I completed my 2nd and 3rd year of high school in Japan. I went back to India to begin my further studies and after a year in Delhi University, I realized that I wanted to experience more of an international environment with a wider spectrum to learn and communicate with people from all around the world; something that I lacked in my former college life, therefore I decided to transfer to APU (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University) in my 2nd year of college to major in Strategic Management under Business Management. I graduated from APU in the Fall of 2017 and currently work at Google, Japan as an Associate Account Strategist.

During my 3 years in college, I invested a lot of my time in participating and preparing for Business Case competitions, during these three years in APU, I won the GBCC (Global Business Case Competition, Japan’s first international undergraduate business case competition) and got to represent APU in an International Business Case Competition in Denmark. These preparation sessions imparted me with practical knowledge when it comes to case-solving and also a chance to apply what I learned from my university classes. These experiences also came in handy during my job-hunting days, when I could reflect back to my GBCC days and highlight those events and skills learned on my CV.

Strategize Your Interviews

Job-hunting season can be very stress-inducing and overwhelming at times, having been rejected from several companies, it took me several attempts to analyze and strategize what the companies were looking for, and how I could deliver what they wanted according to those needs. First of all, don’t be overconfident. I was overconfident about my communication skills and ended up getting rejected countless times. It was then I realized where I had missed a beat.

The technique that I applied after realizing my mistakes and which were effective in my case was the “hooking method”, and yes, I gave it that name. Basically, what I did during the interviews was that while going through the basic set of commonly asked interview questions, while answering these questions I provided a certain amount of information about myself which acted as a hook to catch the attention of the interviewer so he/she can latch on to that information and ask more questions outside the general question spectrum. Therefore, the interviewee can gain a certain amount of leverage and also a rough idea about the questions that will be asked next based on the answers he/she provided earlier. In my case, this method has worked 80% of the time, but it definitely depends on the person.

Start Early, Prepare Early! 

Also, I advise students to start job hunting as soon as possible because you never know how many failed attempts it might take before you land a job in today’s market. I would suggest students keep in contact with their senpais regarding job openings because the social networks that you create will be much more helpful over applying by yourself. Moreover, take classes that will help you get ready for the job-hunting season, for example, classes that allow you to take mock interviews as well as provide assistance in resume writing. The extra effort that you put in will be very valuable when you start job-hunting because you will then be equipped with the basic knowledge which will help increase the chances of acing your interviews. 

Communication Skills

When I say “communication skills” I don’t only mean fluency in a language, but being able to express your views clearly and for the receiver to understand it without any miscommunication.

Being fluent in Japanese and English is definitely a big bonus, but having communication skills through which you can express yourself as well as convince others is more important and beneficial in my opinion.

Problem-solving and logical thinking

Secondly, what companies look for in potential candidates are problem-solving and logical thinking skills, so, for example, during an interview if you are confronted with a question, first you give it some thought and then you present your answer. A very unique thing I noticed during my job hunting days here is that, back in India you first state your reasoning to your answer and then conclude with the answer to the question whereas it was the total opposite in Japan, where you should first provide your answer and conclusion before explaining your reasons behind it.

Soft Skills

Lastly, I would say one’s soft skills matter while working in Japan, soft skills are about how well you can understand and read the person in front of you and know what they expect from you, this also means that you should prepare yourself to think one or two steps ahead of others. There is a Japanese expression for it too, its called “kuuki wo yomu”,( 場の空気を読む / くうきをよむ ) it means  to “read”  the atmosphere around you, so even if you have something you don’t agree on, you need to read the overall mood of the surroundings and act accordingly.