The Internship Trial: My experience

Hi there, I'm Rei! I'm Japanese-Canadian, and grew up in Thailand. I'm going to be a senior this coming Fall semester at an university in Tokyo. I've only lived in Japan for 3 years, and my first language is English. I came across an opening for an internship at JPort by SPeak corp., a start-up that aims to make job-hunting more accessible for international and global students. I was interested and applied right away. To my delight, I was able to secure an interview with the CEO Hiromi-san. I was then able to move into the next step of the process where I was able to get a two-day trial.

Hiromi-san described this two-day as a process where both parties (myself and JPort by SPeak corp.) could work together, to see whether we would be a fit or not. It might seem rather obvious, but I appreciated right away that it was an opportunity where not only JPort by SPeak corp. would assess my abilities as an intern but I would be able to decide whether this internship would be for me or not. My two-day trial internship period took place on the 10th August, Monday to 14th August, Friday, 2020.

To give an overview of what I was expected to do during this period, the tasks will be laid out below:

Tasks

1. Professional

• Collect more sign-up members (target 30, 80% must be 2022 graduates or younger)
• Write 1 article on Senpai Tips or Career Article
• Writing this Wantedly article about the two-days trial
• Make 1 banner on Canva and post it on SNS
• List 3 DISCOVER companies that students should know about and write why/how many people they hired as 新卒 last year

2. Proactive

• Ideation/ Execution of a webinar that JPort hasn’t done
• Find a missing piece on JPort’s services/contents

At the end of the last day, I was expected to do a presentation to report back on what I was able to complete during the internship period. Yes, the list of tasks may seem overwhelming

Starting from the first day of the trial period, I was given an orientation with a new intern. Together we were introduced by Hiromi-san about JPort and other information relating to SPeak corp's business. I learnt what was expected of me as an intern, and was able to learn more about the adaptive culture of the company.

Since SPeak corp. is a start-up company, I found it was small which gave a sense of a close-knit community. I think that’s the beauty of a start-up where you have the opportunity to be on first-name basis with the founder directly, and have the capability of meeting all the other members and interns individually. Also, when I joined their Monday morning Zoom meeting, the members shared what they did over the weekend before delving into a more business-oriented conversation which was encouraging.

August 10th, 2020

On Monday, when I first saw the list of tasks that I was required to complete I was slightly shocked at the amount. However, upon second glance I realized it was not as difficult as I thought. Hiromi-san also assured me that a regular intern normally does not have this workload, rather this was just a list of tasks to see what I was capable of doing. As someone that thrives on a sense of structure and a clear instructions, although there were many tasks I had a good sense of what I was expected to do within my time-frame. So I felt that my day was much more productive this way.

Getting started right away, I started to work on finishing up the ‘proactive tasks’ section. I listed my ideas on different webinar ideas that I felt JPort could host that would increase the awareness of the brand, and be helpful for international students. I also created a small list of what I thought was missing from the JPort website. This was relatively straight-forward, and I felt that I could get through it within a good amount of time. Additionally, since I had some past experience playing around with Canva for my university circle to promote on social media, making a banner was not too difficult. Especially since JPort had templates that I could use. Lastly, I was able to get half-way through the task of getting more sign-ups. I think that this was the most difficult task, as getting sign-ups required more strategic thinking that I felt required more than two-days. What I could do as a start, was promoting on my social media, my connections, and contacting students with ties to organizational ties.

During lunch for my first day, we all went out as a team to eat soba at a nearby restaurant. It was a great opportunity to talk with the other members of the organization and I felt very welcomed. Everyone was kind and interested in getting to know me, which I appreciated and was able to feel comfortable in this new environment.

(Here's a picture of all of us working hard)

August 14th, 2020

On my last day of the internship, I focused on finishing up the remaining tasks on my list. I was also able to meet the other interns, who were all great and motivated and passionate in what they do. I felt that created a positive working environment where everyone was focused. As I mentioned previously, I need a sense of organization and clarity within any work environment. I felt that JPort had this, and balanced this well with a sense of laid-backness that allowed everyone to work at their own pace.

In terms of work, I started right away with writing an article based on career advice. I took inspiration from the struggles that I saw in my personal circle, and decided to write about how to deal with job rejections especially during the time of the pandemic and economic downturn. I enjoyed writing this piece, and didn’t find this too difficult. Next, I contacted more friends in order to gather more sign-ups for the website. I was delighted to see that my professor from my university promoted JPort on the international students page, when I reached out to him. However, once again I feel that this is the most difficult task on the list. I feel that it requires more than two days, since if JPort wants to build deeper connections with the users there needs to be more strategy involved than merely promoting on social media. The students should be given a reason why they would want to follow and sign-up for JPort. The rest of the tasks were to make a presentation, and finish this Wantedly article which I feel that I managed to do.

During lunch, I was able to go with two female interns and get to know them over good food. Hiromi-san encouraged us to take our time, so we could spend time getting to know each other. I feel that there are many opportunities for team-bonding within the company, as there would also be a pizza party at the end of the day.

Overall, I felt that the two day trial period was a great experience. I was able to experience working at JPort, and to see the working culture and environment. I feel like the tasks were challenging at times in terms of the workload, but I managed to complete most of them regardless. I enjoyed getting to know Hiromi-san and all the other members working at SPeak corp., I feel that they all made an effort to welcome me onto the team although this was just a trial. I will be able to leave with a good impression of JPort by SPeak corp..

Update: Becoming an Official Intern

I was accepted as an intern and started from the beginning of September. I decided to accept my position as an official intern, as I felt like I aligned with their mission that "Global People make Global Companies and Societies." Growing up abroad, I was unaccustomed to the expectations of the Japanese society as an international student. I also struggled with job-hunting since I didn't know where to start. I'm looking forward to learning more about job-hunting not only for myself, but to also be able to help others like me who are struggling but very capable of succeeding in Japan if given the proper tools. Additionally, being able to be surrounded by motivated individuals working at SPeak corp. and feeling accepted for being myself wholly makes me want to put in my all.

P.S. Here's a photo of myself with the other lovely interns on my first official day. We're remote working other days, but I'm so glad I got to meet these girls over a delicious bowl of Pho!