Internship life in Japan 2020

Internship life in Japan

 It’s 10 am now. I’m in the office. Some of the colleagues around me are responding to customer’s calls, some are discussing the project plan in groups, and some are quickly typing the keyboard to reply to the customer’s emails. Everything is busy and orderly.
Last October, I was fortunate enough to get an internship in the International Division of Pasona and benefited a lot. Through the experience of internship, I was deeply impressed by the appearance of Japanese enterprises in film and TV series, but not all of them as imagined. Here I want to share some of my internship life with you.

Commuter at eight in the morning

The morning rush to catch the subway woke up a new day. In order to avoid being trampled by high heels and being squeezed out of the subway midway, you must always stay awake and change your standing and bag holding positions at any time. In the morning rush hours, the subway in Japan is very quiet. Most office workers wear black, gray, and Tibetan blue suits and carry briefcases. The most common thing I hear is the sound of the machine when swiping a traffic card. Although the subway is crowded, you can still see the people around you carefully check the mail, familiarize with the information of the visiting enterprise, plan a day’s work schedule, and make full preparations for a day’s efficient work.

Morning rush hour in Tokyo

Comfortable internship life

Before that, I learned the working atmosphere of Japanese enterprise through the plots described in Japanese dramas and novels. After joining in Pasona, I found that the atmosphere of the enterprise was not as depressive as expected. In contrast, the enterprise’s office environment is very open. There are large white tables in the office, which are affectionately called “islands.” People in the same department will be seated around a table, which will facilitate communication between department members. In Japan, team communication is a principle in the workplace. Just like the “spinach guidelines” often used by Japanese, if you encounter a problem, you must first report it, and then contact your colleagues to discuss solutions together so as to achieve better results.

Careful and rigorous work attitude

At the beginning of my internship in this enterprise, elder colleague helped me to simulate the response to customer calls. In addition to pay more attention on respect and modesty words, she told me that in order to avoid making the client uncomfortable by the sound of hang up directly, I should hold it gently with fingers first, then put the phone down , just after the client’s hung up his phone, I was deeply touched by this small action. I also sighed that the Japanese was so scrupulous at work they can do things so considerate where the clients cannot see.

Another time I had the honor to visit an enterprise with a senior colleague in our department, which made me deeply understand how scrupulous they were and know the importance. I also want to share with you some details that you need to pay attention to when you visit an enterprise.

(1) Be sure to take off your jacket before entering the enterprise.

(2) After entering the reception room, put the coat on the back of the chair and the handbag on the floor.

(3) When leaving the reception room, be sure to wait for the superior or senior to leave before leaving.

(4) After visiting the enterprise, send a thank you email on the day.

Collaboration, courteous, meticulous are the deepest impressions left by Japanese enterprises. I am grateful for this internship experience. I also recommend that fresh graduate can choose Japanese enterprises to exercise and cultivate their good working etiquette and teamwork spirit.