Nationality: United States of America
Graduation date: December, 2017
Place of employment: Communications industry,Software engineer
What’s important in an interview
I think it is important to read the atmosphere in an interview. The interviewer is thinking “Do I want to work alongside this person?”, so if you don’t adjust to the atmosphere, they will think “Not really.” For example, if you go wearing a suit, if the business has a casual feeling, I think it’s important to adjust to the atmosphere, and do things such as loosen your necktie a little for a more relaxed impression.
I’m also often asked “Why do you want to live in Japan.” The answer to that is very important. Saying you like manga and anime is not a good enough reason. I think companies want to choose people who really want to live in Japan. In my case, at first I thought I would study at a Japanese Language School for one or two years, and then come home from Japan, but I gradually shifted to wanting to live in Japan. I told them about my change of heart, and how I got used to living in Japan. I think it’s necessary to talk about yourself.
Advice to underclassmen
I think connecting with Japanese companies, and making Japanese friends is important for living in Japan. I think having a network is very important, so I used things such as applications and websites to do my own networking, increasing my number of friends and acquaintances. I think those things can someday lead to having a job.
