A Virtual Internship Like No Other
Living in Japan has been in my sights for quite a while now, however blurry that vision may be. Right before the pandemic globally spread in 2020, I got to travel to Japan for the third time in January, where I actually heavily considered the possibility of working there for the first time. There, I pondered, maybe I can try out working here, especially as many other Filipinos are also living there right now. However, I was aware of the stereotype of the traditional Japanese company as I’ve heard stories being told online about their negative and fatiguing experience, so that made me more reluctant to pursue this goal.
One day, a year and a half into the pandemic while I was looking for jobs abroad, I happened to come across a job opening in HENNGE on Stack Overflow. I’d never heard of HENNGE before that point, so I was honestly a bit wary given that it’s still a Japanese company. Nonetheless, after looking more into them I was pleasantly surprised by the vision and values that they uphold, after globalizing just recently. Hence, I wanted to give it a try, especially since my once-distant goal of living in Japan is still at the back of my mind.
Fast forward to now, having finished my four-week remote GIP at HENNGE, there are absolutely no regrets after learning so much throughout the internship and meeting so many amazing people. Admittedly, it might be not quite the same as the previous GIP batches given that it’s remote, but I was still glad that I got to catch at least a glimpse of life in Japan even if from almost 3000 km away — I even briefly got (virtually) toured around the office in Shibuya!
Rewinding to the early part of the internship, when we first met up as a GIP group before the official start of the internship, I met the mentors and my co-interns for the first time. I honestly still felt a bit hesitant at that time, but I was nevertheless excited and eager to start. During this first meeting, they laid out some of the activities we’d do throughout the four weeks, which made me even more excited. I won’t give away much, but the activities include technical assignments, Monthly Technical Sessions (MTS), board game nights, meetups with other teams, and even donut sessions.
Technical Assignments
The technical assignments were pretty challenging but overall very doable and even fun. It really utilized my full-stack knowledge as I had to create an app end-to-end, from frontend to backend to even deployment. We had daily stand-ups, progress meetings, and daily updates of what we did for the day on our Slack channel, but otherwise, the work was pretty flexible and self-structured in that it was up to us to pace ourselves with the assignments. This independence is one of the things I cherished about this internship and what I felt allowed me to produce to the best of my ability.
Although I had some familiarity with the technologies we were using, there still were bumps in the road during the development phase because of the newness of the other technologies we dealt with. That was where our mentors came in, as they were incredibly helpful, approachable, and understanding of our questions and concerns. Without them, I would’ve long been stuck at some points in my development.
Non-Technical Activities
Honestly, what really made this internship memorable and stand out were the activities outside of the technical assignments. It started with me hearing my co-interns (and myself) present during the Monthly Technical Sessions (MTS). The MTS was eventful and unique in that it helped me learn some of the passions that my co-interns and other engineers in HENNGE undertake even outside of their work. After MTS, the donut sessions were particularly noteworthy just because I got to meet the other members of HENNGE outside the engineering team, where I could talk to them about anything under the sun. I actually initially thought they would be awkward like many meetups are, but the people were really chatty so I had a lot of fun!
We also got to learn about the structure and day-to-day routines of the other HENNGE teams through the meetups arranged by the Engineering Talent Acquisition (ETA), which were pretty eye-opening. I also joined one of the board game nights held every Wednesday, playing Goose Goose Duck and Dixit with the other members who participated on that day. I even had a virtual lunch with two of the other Filipinos in the company!
After just one month of my internship, I had a pretty solid image of what working at HENNGE and in Japan would look like, and even as just an intern, I felt super welcomed as part of the company. Everyone was incredibly friendly and warm; if I were asked what would be my favorite part of the internship, I’d definitely have one answer: the people in HENNGE! To these people, thank you for being a part of one of the most memorable work experiences I’ve had, and hopefully, I’ll get to meet you in person one day (in Japan hopefully!).
I really encourage everyone who’s interested to try out the internship and apply. I highly recommend this experience, even if it’s just virtual, as I could clearly say that HENNGE really is a company like no other.
Daniel from the Philippines interned with the HENNGE Global Internship Program from January 17 to February 11, 2022.
