Hi! My name is Sidney Adhika Halim from Indonesia. I graduated from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in 2019 as a B.A and currently, I am working in a Japanese company called 'Yanmar Holdings Co., Ltd.' as a part of the Promotion and Sales Department of their Marine Pleasure division. Ever since I was a child, I've always liked to read Japanese comic books like Doraemon and Captain Tsubasa that my mom bought for me. Those comic books have sowed my interest in Japanese culture ever since I was a kid. Fast forward to my last year of high school, that interest became the driving force to pursue my studies in Japan. Luckily, at that time my father also supported me to realize my dream, and soon after, I was accepted to be a student at APU majoring in Marketing. Moreover, I also got to know and work with both the international community and Japanese people as well where it improved my communication skills in both English and Japanese.

The most memorable or proudest thing during college 

My college days were full of amazing memories. Besides school, I participated in a lot of events, circles, and a part-time job as well. But the most memorable activity I did during college is when I participated in Indonesian Week and became the lead representative of the event. Indonesian Week is the biggest Indonesian Cultural Exhibition Event in Japan that is hosted for 1 week which comprises activities ranging from traditional dance, food, music and drama exhibition. Every year we have on average 200 participants from 50+ countries, learning first-hand Indonesian culture to be showcased during that 1 week.   I did have a lot of fun but I also learned so many things throughout the process.  First of all, I got to know the big Indonesian community in APU because the event requires all the community; from the first year to the fourth-year students, to work together as a unity. I definitely improved my organizational skill as I was responsible to manage participants, core-members as well as sponsors of the event.

What do you wish you had done during college and why?

To be honest, I don't have anything else I wish I had done during college. I believe that whatever I did during that time, I have done my best. I did make some mistakes back then, but I managed to learn from it and it shaped me to become who I am today. To take an example, I was working part-time in a Korean restaurant throughout my four years of college. In the beginning, I always get scolded by the shop manager because I couldn't understand Japanese, and the restaurant also demands a fast-working environment. There were times where I questioned myself; why am I staying in that part-time job. Some of my friends also encouraged me to quit. But all in all, I handled it by pushing myself to learn Japanese even harder. I even brought a notebook to write every new Japanese word so that I became better every day. It drove myself to work with zero-mistake as a result, me gaining their trust. Third-year of working for them, the shop manager trusted me to take a bigger part in work. In the end, I always remembered those times as a self-achievement for me.

Discover your personality

Get to know deeply about yourself first in order to discover what kind of person you are; what's your passion? Interest? Purpose in life that you want to achieve? Most of the companies in Japan look for the similarity from you which aligns with the company's vision and mission. This process is also vital when you are applying for an opportunity in Japan because most of the time you are required to write a 自己PR (Jiko PR) or a story that describes who you are as a person. This section in the Japanese CV is probably the most referred section of the CV because as I mentioned, Japanese companies prioritize your personality and characteristics more than your skills in general. For instance, let’s say you're an outspoken person. Although most of the Japanese people tend to be more reserved, some companies that are hiring might find or need someone who has an outspoken personality like you that fits for what the company's needs.

Master the Japanese language

If you aim to work in a Japanese company, you need to master your Japanese language ability. That's the basic advice that's truly important for international students who seek for jobs in Japan. I would recommend international students to take the JLPT test to measure your Japanese language ability. I personally took the N2 test back then when I'm in the third year in college. Although you might not use the N2/N1 Japanese in the working environment, it is necessarily important for the company to know your ability in the first place. But in the end, how you use Japanese to communicate daily is the most important. 

Find your purpose

Some people might say to you it’s pointless to work as a meager employee in a company. I believe that there is no such thing as just a “meager” stakeholder within any company because there is always a reason why an enterprise hires you and why you are placed in that certain position. What's important is that you know why you want to apply for the company, why you want to do it, and what your company can do for society. Those things will lead you to something that is meaningful to yourself in order to grow more and more as a professional. It is also essential to find work that matches your moral compass so that it leads you to the purpose that you set in the beginning. That is why finding work should start with discovering your interest and passion.

Japanese language ability

I believe that everyone who is working in Japan in a business-related field would agree on this statement. First and foremost, the most important skill that is needed to work in Japan is your Japanese language ability. As an international student, you might get tolerated at first if you make a mistake with your Japanese, but when you enter a professional working environment, all of the work, communication within the co-workers, will all use Japanese and we are the one who needs to adapt with the environment. Especially when dealing with clients. Working in Japan means you will definitely deal with Japanese clients. Almost 90% of the time they will definitely be speaking Japanese and they expect you to be able to converse at a certain business level. Some positions such as engineering or IT-related jobs would not require as much Japanese skill however, If you converse in Japanese to a near-native level, it will definitely open more opportunities for you in the future. 

Perseverance is Key

In Japanese, we called it 忍耐力 (にんたいりょく). I believe perseverance is an important skill that we need to acquire in order to ace everything that we work on. My advice is that If you failed once, do not give up right away. Always push yourself to give the best that you can be until the point you've reached the goal that you want. This is something that you have to learn by doing early from your college days because when you start your career, there will be less to almost no “safety net” when you fail. My advice is to be involved in organizations and actually become a managing member instead of just participating in order to understand the importance of being responsible and challenge yourself to test your perseverance. That way you would have the chance to explore yourself and get used to the concept of ideation and execution within organizations. Furthermore, it will help you harness your communication skills and ultimately, shape you to become a better leader.