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Finance, University, IT: What led you to choose your path?

Please tell us about your current job.

Naito: I joined Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance as an area manager (※) and am currently in charge of planning for profit growth through insurance underwriting for the entire group's overseas business. After consulting with management, I put the plans that my team came up with into action, striving to achieve better results.

(※) From April 2026, we will abolish area-based career track positions and consolidate into career track positions. New graduates will also only be recruited for career track positions.

Fukuoka: I am an employee at Waseda University. I work in the Global Education Center, which mainly handles open courses. I am in charge of course registration and grade processing.

Nishikawa: I work for IBM Japan, and I'm involved in building a big data analysis platform in the Consulting Business Division. I'm an IT specialist, or what we call an engineer.

What was the focus of your job search? Also, why did you choose your company?

Naito

Naito: My father worked in the financial industry, and I was a student in School of Commerce, so I was originally interested in the financial industry. What made me choose our company was swimming, which I had been focusing on until junior high school. Our company sponsors the national swimming championships, so I felt a connection with that.

I also aimed to work for a top company in each field, especially in the financial industry. The top companies in the industry have stable strategies and management, and as leading companies, they are more likely to take on new challenges that will lead the industry. I also like being number one. When I was in junior high school, I was number one in the nation in swimming, so I just hate to lose (laughs).

Fukuoka

Fukuoka: I graduated from graduate school and joined Waseda University. To tell the truth, I had a hard time finding a clear goal in my job search​. Many people around me were aiming to become researchers or get jobs at private companies, but I didn't really feel comfortable with those options. I also considered working at a think tank or in the legal department of a company, but I couldn't envision my future.

I'm the type of person who wants to support others rather than doing my own thing. So,  I consulted with my supervisor, and he told me that I could become a university employee. I think my current job is perfect because I can use my experience as a teaching assistant (TA) at graduate school to support students.

Nishikawa: I narrowed my job search down to the IT industry. The internship I participated in during my third year of university was a big factor in me choosing IBM Japan. Everyone I met during the internship was highly motivated to learn about new technologies, and I was really impressed with the company's atmosphere, which valued harmony and working together with colleagues to do a good job.

Some people may find it surprising that a non-science major from the School of Commerce would choose to become an engineer, but my interest in the IT industry started when I worked as a member of the Waseda Festival management staff​. The 2020 Waseda Festival was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it became necessary to build a broadcast system. I had a lot of fun learning from scratch and building the system, which led me to aim for the IT industry.

Photo on the left: A complex  broadcast system was built that included live streaming of Waseda Festival 2021 and motion capture technology. The total number of views for the  broadcast was approximately 350,000, with a peak of approximately 7,000 simultaneous viewers.
Right: Members of the Waseda Festival 2021 executive staff. Nishikawa is fifth from the right.

How does your academic background apply to your current job?

When it comes to job hunting, you'll often be asked about what you focused on during your extracurricular activities.

Nishikawa: For me, it was my experience as a Waseda Festival staff member. When I was a second-year student, it was held completely online, and when I was a third-year student, it was held in a hybrid format with a limited number of participants. It was difficult to hold it completely online, but it was even more difficult to hold it in a hybrid format. I had to build the system myself, and ask others for help with parts that were difficult to build by myself. Both were difficult in different ways.

Naito: Your experiences during your student days influenced your choice of company! I changed my answers to the extracurricular activities question depending on the company. For example, when asked "What have you worked hardest on in your life?" I talked about swimming, and highlighted my strengths of perseverance and the ability to work hard towards goals. On the other hand, when asked about my university days, I highlighted my experience as a part-time cram school teacher who helped students get into their first choice school.

Fukuoka: I specialize in criminal law, and in graduate school I was involved in a project with my professors and students to create a case analysis tool using AI and IT. I worked with science students, but since we were both in different fields of expertise, I struggled with how to communicate in an easy-to-understand way. From that experience, I learned how I was able to break things down and communicate with people in different fields of expertise.

How do those experiences from your student days apply to your current job?

Naito: I feel that the ability to see things through is what I find most useful. When I have to meet a deadline or face a task that I have to do by myself no matter what, my past experiences come in handy.

Fukuoka: I think that the mindset of "achieving the best results within the rules" that I developed while studying law is still useful in my work as a university staff member. For example, I sometimes receive consultations from students during my work, and I try to find the best solution for the students while following the university rules.

Studying at the Graduate School of Law. She studied criminal law and wrote her master's thesis on sexual crimes.

Nishikawa-san: It was great to have the experience of working in a team during my student days.  I was also glad that I was able to develop the attitude of continuing to learn during my student days. That attitude has been very helpful in my work in the fast-changing IT industry.

Beginning your career and growing as a member of society

Responsibility, motivation, and fulfillment. Differences between working adults and students

What do you think about your social life and work?

Naito: Compared to the part-time jobs I had as a student, the weight of responsibility is completely different. I work for the society as a member of a company, receive insurance premiums from customers, and that becomes my salary. When I think that my own work is part of creating that cycle, I feel a great sense of responsibility.

On the other hand, being able to spend the money I earned on things I like gives me a sense of fulfillment, and being recognized for my efforts increases my motivation. This is one of the good things about being a working adult.

Fukuoka: I really agree with what Naito said about "responsibility." In other respects, Waseda University is very large and has a large number of students. However, they care about each and every student, carefully answer inquiries, and introduce appropriate consultation offices to students who have questions. By becoming a staff member, I was able to see the good points of Waseda University that I had not seen before, which was a good surprise.

Nishikawa

Nishikawa: I created systems when I was a student, and I'm still involved in system development now that I'm a working adult. However, even though we're developing the same system, our goals are completely different. When I was a student, it was enough to create something that I thought was good, but now it's important to create a system that is truly valuable to customers, and that's the difficult part.

And contributing to the business growth of our clients leads to contributions to society. I find this aspect very rewarding. Many of the systems we work on are large-scale, and they can have an impact on society.

What about your working style?

Naito: It's easy to take time off at our company, and we are required to take two five-day holidays a year, and if you combine weekends and holidays, you can have nine or ten days off in a row. I traveled abroad seven times last year. We also have a staggered work schedule, which allows for flexible working styles. I think it's a workplace with a great work-life balance.

Fukuoka: That's great! It's very easy to take time off at Waseda University, and I feel like it's a tolerant workplace for people to use their time for themselves. It's also easy to take childcare leave, and in my department, it's common for people with children to work shorter hours, leave work early to pick up their children, or work from home. I feel like this is a workplace where you can work for a long time because that's the norm.

Nishikawa: Because I'm an engineer, I work on a project-by-project basis. When one project ends, there's a short break before the next one begins. During that break, it's easy to take a chunk of vacation, and I went on a trip abroad this April.

In addition, not only women but also men take childcare leave. We also have a system called Blue Points, which is a system for sending gratitude to each other. Employees can send each other points, accumulate those points, and exchange them for prizes like catalog gifts.

Interview and text: Yuuki Yamadai
Photo by Kota Nunokawa

[Next Focus Preview] "ICC (Intercultural Communication Center) Special" to be released on Monday, June 9th