A Japanese Company Like No Other.
There are numerous posts on the HENNGE website and HENNGE blog describing life at HENNGE and the Global Internship Program, and frankly, when I first read through some of them, I thought it sounded too good to be true. A company with a vending machine that offers free, unlimited Dr. Pepper in this economy!? I found that hard to believe, so I went through the application process because I had to see for myself if these stories were actually true.
How it started
My first interaction with the company was through the unique challenges we had to complete for the initial selection process. Not to give too much away, but we basically had to solve a unique algorithm-type challenge and send our solution by making a post request secured with a time-based one-time password (TOTP). The internship hadn't started yet, but I was already being encouraged to think differently and research a lot. Fast-forward a few weeks and the onboarding process involved the installation of a TOTP-based tool used for two-factor authentication within the company. It was pleasant to see how much the company prioritizes security and how much they are using their own products within the company.
The onboarding process itself was super smooth and we were welcomed by the wonderful folks from the Engineering Talent Acquisition team who kindly guided us through every step. We had a bunch of meetings on our first day, one of which was meeting our mentors who explained the contents of the assignments we had to do and sent us on our way.
The Technical Assignments
The assignments themselves were both challenging and stimulating, and they gave us plenty of opportunities to learn new technical skills and the best practices for development at HENNGE. The mentors were always ready and willing to help us if we ever got stuck, which was a refreshing experience.
The first assignment was developing a full-stack social media app inspired by Twitter using Golang for the backend. The app had to be developed with security and HENNGE’s best practices in mind. It was a lot of work considering the time constraints, but we all worked hard and produced pretty good products in the end.
The second part had us dive into software as code as we had to use Terraform for the deployment of our app on AWS using the kinds of resources that HENNGE developers use for their products. It was great to learn about the services they use and the tradeoffs they considered to come up with their current stack.
Monthly Technical Sessions (MTS)
Our first week was special in that we got to participate in HENNGE’s Monthly Technical Sessions, a TED Talks-esque session where we were free to give talks on whatever topics we liked. The topics ranged from deep-fakes to programming language analysis and it was a great opportunity to learn about all the different technologies everyone was passionate about and currently interested in.
Meeting everyone
The internship itself is about getting to know the company as it is technical, so throughout our four weeks at HENNGE we had opportunities to meet various people from various departments and teams across the company. Through these sessions, we managed to get a pretty good idea of how the company works and what work they are involved in. The internship was fully remote for the most part, but getting all these opportunities to interact with everyone made it that much more special.
One of the highlights of our interactions was these donut sessions that are conducted every week. You are basically grouped together with 2 to 3 other random people and have the option to have a random 30-minute chat at a time convenient for all of you. These provided a great insight into the HENNGE culture and people since everyone was always kind and easy to talk to. There are also board game nights held every week which also offer opportunities to relax and connect with others through fun games at the end of the day.
The nice thing about the donut sessions is the fact that the selection is totally random and you’re just as likely to talk to the CEO as you are to talk with people from other non-engineering departments. This makes it possible to form and maintain connections with people across the whole company, even while working away from the office.
Flat and open structure
Speaking of the CEO, one of the amazing things about HENNGE as a Japanese company is the open-mindedness and flat structure where everyone is treated equally regardless of their position. I was fortunate enough to visit the office during the last week of the internship and I was surprised to discover that there is no fixed seating arrangement in the office. On my second day there, I had the CEO, Ogura-san, sitting literally a couple of tables away from me. In most companies, this would be a stressful position to be in, but he was really approachable and easy to talk to.
During our lunch break, he approached us for a quick chat, told us about a product he was working on implementing, and even asked us for input on an issue he was facing. I have had internship experience in other Japanese companies before, but this was new. It was the first time that interactions with an executive or a senior member felt so natural and effortless, and I could tell how much the company values each and every individual.
Conclusion
The internship was a unique and memorable experience that gave me a really good impression of the company. One of the points of concern about working in Japan as a foreigner is a fear of not fitting in due to cultural differences or language barriers. HENNGE’s diverse and inclusive culture and the use of English as the main language of communication completely eliminate these worries. HENNGE instead embraces individuality, and it feels like a company where I could actually have a sense of belonging even as a foreigner.
Oh and in the end, I did find the famous Dr. Pepper vending machine on the 11th floor of the HENNGE office, and it was indeed free, eliminating any and all doubts I had about the company.
Although free drinks might not seem that significant, they are one of the many initiatives the company is making to separate itself from the pack and produce a conducive environment that prioritizes a good work-life balance. I’m definitely glad I joined the GIP and would strongly encourage anyone who is remotely interested to apply and join this one-of-a-kind internship.
Simon Juba from Zimbabwe is currently a software engineer at HENNGE. He interned with the HENNGE Global Internship Program from January 17 to February 11, 2022, while he was a student at Kyushu University.
