Work and Perk at HDE (by Michelle)
Relocating to Japan has always been a faintly twinkling star in the little universe my brain can hold since my first visit to Japan when I was a kid. It was probably very bright but it was also so far away from the planet where I found my ground. If you also observe a similar star as I do in the middle of your dream, or daydream, I am pleading you to step up and pursue it, no matter who you are and where you are from.
I am no anime fan or Jpop fan. Neither do I speak the language. I have absolutely no connection to Japan. Yet, I find myself in love with it. And, by the way, my name is Michelle. Here is a little bit of my background. You can skip it but I think it will help you understand my perspective. I was born in Hong Kong but I was quite blessed to have the opportunity to live in many other countries and cities: Vancouver, Toronto and the Silicon Valley. Entering fourth year to most undergraduates is probably a moment of realization of “Oh crap… I can do whatever I want in a year!”
A very obvious path has actually been laid down for me. I am a computer engineering student graduated from one of the best schools in Canada — I should find a job in the Greater Toronto Area, which is a flourish and promising market, work for a year, apply for permanent residency, so on and so forth. However, I also realized that would be the best time for me to pursue something that has been so important to me. And so I did.
During these seven weeks, I had so many experiences inside and outside of HDE. You kind of need to be more open-minded to comprehend why things are the way they are, only by which will you be able to appreciate the internship. Let’s explore the HDE global internship program from the inside out!
HDE office space is quite an open concept. Most people, at least all engineers, have their own desk but they can work wherever they want in the office as long as they are reachable by Slack. There are different setups of desk and chairs so it is very likely that you will find something that is the most comfortable for you. There are countless events in the company! I picked out the few which I think reflect HDE’s philosophy and strength.
Monthly Technical Sessions (MTS)
There are eight presentations per session with a 10 minute break halfway. Each presenter needs to prepare a 10-minute tech talk of a topic that they want to talk about, so it can be anything. And each talk will be followed by a 3 minute Q&A. My topic was New Technologies in Pixar’s recent animated feature film, Coco. It was kind of irrelevant to what HDE does, but I just thought it was an interesting topic that most people would not think about. After two hours of knowledge exchange, the company helps us relax with a beer bash and dinner.
Communication Lunch
There is a biweekly communication lunch where a catering company will deliver lunch to the office and everybody just gathers and enjoys their lunch together. It is the best chance for employees to meet each other, especially the ones outside of their departments. Having said so, it is still quite hard for one to get out of one’s comfort zone. And even when you do, you might find yourself in an awkward situation. The best thing is, it happens twice a week, so try again next time! At least that is what I did. Trust me, it is fun!
Coffee Club
Who doesn’t like coffee? There is no official schedule like “these people will make coffee at this time everyday” but it is almost my daily ritual to have some coffee together. There, you can have a little break and catch up with you colleagues. You don’t have to talk of course. For me, it usually just meant that I moved to a different place to work, but it still had that psychological soothing effect for me. I started to make coffee for others after one week in? My favorite.
GIP lunches
I put this at last because it is a perk for interns only. Each intern gets ten (free!) lunches with other employees in the company. I had lunches with some interesting people from engineering, sales, HR, etc. It was always fascinating to me how people ended up in this company. Some had some really crazy backgrounds. All of them are super friendly!
What is in common among all these events is the company’s effort to enhance our communication skills, both on the professional level and the social level — which I assume is not very common in most Japanese tech companies. To further push itself toward the global market, HDE offers English lessons to Japanese employees and Japanese lessons to foreigners. Through these events, I had a much better understanding of the company’s culture and the people, which is starkly different from a traditional Japanese tech firm.
Work Hard, Play Hard
Tokyo is such a vibrant city, there are so many fun things to do. You probably don’t need my advice, but you can still find some pictures with descriptions of some of the fun activities I did at the end in case you are interested in spoilers. By the way, I practice Ashtanga yoga and it is just so perfect that Mysore Tokyo is just five minutes away from the office! Perfect! I would practice there before work. Make sure to check it out too if you are an Ashtangi.
I had only seen Japan from the traveller’s eyes before this internship. I am very happy that I had the opportunity and took it. I want to thank HDE and all the amazing people who helped me and/or worked with me.
