Hello! My name is Lina Yang and I am from China. I first completed my bachelor's degree in Journalism and Communications at Yanjong University, then studied at Zhejiang University for my Master’s in Human Resource Management (HRM), and will be graduating in 2023 with my MBA from Ritsumeikan University. I have two years of work experience as a TV producer after graduating with my bachelor's degree. Afterward, I worked at Four Seasons Hotel for three years, while getting my Master’s in HRM during the weekends. I decided to come to Japan naturally because my father used to work closely with Japanese companies which allowed me to visit often.

RPG Creation・School Festival

I actually began learning Japanese for the first time in 2019 when I was still at the level at あいうえお. For three months on a travel visa, I went to a Japanese school in Kyoto before entering Ritsumeikan University for my MBA. My program was all in Japanese and the first year was difficult because there were many academic books and papers and I had to write reports in Japanese. During my undergraduate time, I spent two years doing documentary work, from following and filming a famous Chinese calligrapher to editing, all by myself. That document was broadcasted on the local TV and thanks to that I was able to get my first job offer from that TV station. 

In my first year, I started accounting and financing to help me manage my money better, which has always been my weakness. Then in my second year, I began reading about Japanese pottery collections since one of my interests is museums. During my weekends, I would take time to visit exhibitions to look at the artists’ works and such. Some of this was also connected to finding pieces for previous Chinese clients from Four Seasons who were doing restaurants, tea rooms, or personal spaces. I enjoyed doing this during my spare time because I was able to make new relationships with people interested in Japanese pottery as business partners and also friends. 

I have my own standards for work and am a self-managed person, so I have no regrets about my university experience! I think I did everything that I wanted to and don’t have any regrets. While attending Japanese school I worked at Takashimaya selling children’s clothes and thanks to that part-time job I was able to improve my Japanese language skills.

Career

Searching for a Job

I first met Akari Yamaguchi, the Director of Motoya United, and we were able to have a long conversation in English. After that, I was given an interview with an HR for ten minutes and also talked with the CEO of Motoya United, Shintaro Ono. One day later, I received a job offer. I am the type of person who sets a goal and will move forward to complete that goal I have in mind. I believe that the efforts I put forward will be shown in my work which is one of the reasons I chose Motoya United. If I happened to enter a big company, I felt that even if I put in my best effort to do better than my colleagues, that wouldn’t be acknowledged.

I applied to many companies during my job-hunting and even attended a lot of events, but many companies rejected me since I’m not technically considered a “new graduate” because I have work experience. I used services that are shukatsu juku (cram school for shukatsu) to get job-hunting support for my ES, SPI test, group interview, and other aspects of shukatsu. My work style is that if I want to try something, I am going to do my best in whatever field it is. 

When I first started shukatsu I didn’t know where to start so I just looked at big companies, but one of my standards was that the company has an open culture and can utilize my language capabilities. At Motoya United, I will be specialized in Malaysia where I can use both Chinese and English.

My advice for international students doing shukatsu: Firstly, set your strategy for job-hunting, decide your timeline, and find the right person to seek help from. Secondly, work on collecting as much information as possible because there is a saying that shukatsu is information-based. Thirdly, make sure you also manage your life and energy so you don’t burn out and can run longer. Lastly, don’t feel that you are not good enough if you receive rejection letters, it could be that you are just not the right match for the company.

Reason Behind Choosing Motoya

Motoya United and I share the same vision to develop the hospitality business in the world. Through my previous work experience in the hospitality industry, I believe Motoya United appealed to me since I could use those skills to make a difference in the company. By joining a very ambitious SME like Motoya United, I believe that I can excel more than working at a large enterprise.

Future Ambitions

I want to participate in every stage of the process from the first stage to the final result. Currently, I am doing market research tasks for high-class restaurants in Malaysia for Motoya United. After ten years, I wanna be a professional working individual who can handle a project from start to finish. Rather than being an imaginer, I want to be able to put those ideas to practical use and realize them.