Participant Interview
Romina, Michael,
and Scott
- Federal Technological University of Paraná
- Control & Automation Engineering
- N3-Level Japanese
- Full-Time Hire – Software Engineering
What connected you with Japan in the first place?
Actually, the first time I came here was three and a half years ago. I came as an exchange student. The reason was because I had an interest in Japan prior, and my major is automation engineering so I thought, oh Japan’s a good place to study engineering, especially automation. The Brazilian government connected me to an exchange student program, so I could come to Japan for one year. Then I had to go back to Brazil, of course. Yeah, that was my first connection to Japan.
I really wanted to stay in Japan to start living here for real.
What kind of work do you do in your job here?
I’m working as a programmer, so right now I’m finding bugs, and fixing bugs, and finding the source of those bugs in the code and reveal them to my coworkers.
Do you use a lot of Japanese on the job?
Yeah. Most of the time I’m programming, so I’m not talking with anyone. But when I talk with someone to ask a question or make a suggestion or discuss anything, I use Japanese.
Why did you decide to accept your internship at this company?
I really wanted to stay in Japan to start living here for real, not just as an exchange student, and this opportunity showed up and I thought it would be a good opportunity. It was actually my first job, so I’m not sure if it’s the career path I want for the rest of my life, but I thought it was a good idea to take this opportunity. I didn’t know if another one like this would come along, so I decided to accept it and see where it’s gonna go!
When I had a question, I could ask them any time.
How have your company and SJIP helped support you?
At this point, they are both really helpful, my company and SJIP. They gave me housing, and I don’t have to worry about anything with my house. If I have any problems, I can let them know. Now that I’m employed, I have to pay for the housing, but still it’s really comfortable for me. And everything, like documents, and getting the visa and applying for the resident card, opening a bank account and all that stuff, SJIP helped me with that. When I had a question, I could ask them any time. It’s been really good.
What kind of knowledge have you developed here?
As far as knowledge, I think about programming, right? I didn’t have that much experience in programming actually. I learned a lot here. Before starting to work here full time, I spent around three months as an intern/trainee. And even now as a full-time employee I continue to learn.
Can you share something that you're proud of since coming here?
(laughs) I don’t know if I’m proud of anything about me! As I said, this is my first job ever. In Brazil I was still just a student, so the fact that I could get a job in Japan and come here by myself and start working here and be accepted, yeah. I’m proud of that.
What steps are you thinking to take for your future career path?
I haven’t really given it that much thought yet. As I said, I accepted the job, but didn’t know much about being a programmer at first, so I just decided to give it a try and see where it’s going. Right now, I don’t have any real plans for the future, I just want to see how it’s gonna be. I came here last November, so it’s been like four months. I don’t know what it’s going to be like living and working here from know, so I think I’m still in my test phase. (laughs) So yeah, for now, no plans, but I’ll see where this goes.
