Want to Enjoy Working in Japan? HENNGE Global Internship Program Might Be The Answer.
Hi, I’m Billy, an Information Engineering student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). I am a fan of Japanese culture so I traveled to Japan several times and did a year of exchange study in Tokyo before. After the completion of my exchange, I missed everything about this country- the lifestyle, the seasons and the culture here. I told myself that the exchange program was not the end of my journey, that I would be back- that I would be RIGHT back.
I continued my studies in Hong Kong for around two years. And then the opportunity came; 6 weeks of Global Internship Program (GIP) at HENNGE.
Preparation
Keywords: Round-trip airfares coverage, Full on-boarding support
The GIP team booked my flight and explained everything I need to know for my incoming preparation to Japan. In addition, an on-boarding system guided me, step by step from an introduction video to the confirmation of flight schedule and accommodation. The whole preparation process was smooth and efficient.
I didn’t really need to prepare a lot physically. Instead, I focused on preparing mentally… Why? Because of the stereotypes of how harsh the work environment in Japan.
Working Environment
Keywords: Relaxing, No dress code, English as the official language
HENNGE is nowhere similar to a stereotypical Japanese working environment. Instead, they create a comfortable working environment for their employee. HENNGE allows employees to work from anywhere they want and dress however they feel comfortable. Some teams work with flexible schedule or remote work regularly. You can work or simply relax by sitting on the chairs in this picture.
Despite being a Japanese company, the company uses English as an official language. During the internship, we had our meetings, presentations, and documentation all done in English. Although I speak some Japanese, I still felt more comfortable listening and speaking in English every day in the company.
Tasks as an intern
Keywords: Training, Web-app, Deployment, Real-world task
The program is divided into 2 parts: Training and hands-on real tasks.
In the first 3 weeks, we were given training on trying the company’s tech stack, building a toy web application and deploying it. Roughly speaking, I used Python, Redis, Docker, AWS, Terraform. No worries! I didn’t know any of these technologies before (Yes, almost not even Python). On the first day, I was freaking out. I couldn’t believe I was going to learn all of them and build the application within 3 weeks. However, thanks to my mentors and other members within the company, I quickly adopted the technique of learning and applying these technologies. (Some of the members were also ex-GIP interns, so they were super helpful throughout the training)
After 3 weeks of training, we were assigned to different teams for different real-world tasks. I got a chance to work on a new project prototype with Nuxt.js, Firebase, and Heroku. Although the tech stack I used in this task was different from the training, the basic concepts were mostly transferable. Thanks to the training, I was able to switch to the new tools quickly and start developing the prototype during the remaining 3 weeks.
Task as a member of the company
Keywords: Company culture, Coffee Club, Board-game
Wait… how is this different from the previous section? Yes, this is different.
Throughout the internship, I realized that working on the technical projects given by our mentors was only one part of our mission. As one of the members of the company, our other important task was to contribute to the company culture. But how? By participating and enjoying the activities at the company as much as you can! There are many things going on every day/week/month, within/without office hours. Here are some of them:
We have a coffee club where coffee lovers will brew coffee and share it with everyone who comes around to grab a cup. Whenever I felt tired of focusing on my work in the afternoon, I would go to the club and talk with everyone there for a short break.
We also have ‘Communication lunch’, free lunches provided by the company. Ops, it is not entirely “free”!The catch is you have to talk with people during this lunch, especially people from other divisions. Through these lunches, the company tries to create better relations between divisions.
We have board-game nights! I was not a fan of board-games before the internship but it quickly became one of the weekly activities that I never missed. There are many board game lovers in the company so every week, it was fun gathering with a lot of people and playing board games!
Food in Japan
Keywords: “Get-To-Know-You” Lunch, Explore food in weekend
Besides the free lunches and dinners provided during some the activities, the company also provides 10 “Get-To-Know-You” lunch for the GIP interns during the first 3 weeks of the internship program.
Each time, two of the company employees will invite us to have lunch together so they can get to know more about us, while we learn more about the company. We are given a budget for the lunches so we can try out different restaurants nearby.
Besides the company lunch, I also tried out different Japanese cuisine during the weekends. As a meat lover, I love the Japanese style of grilled meat (Yakiniku). Look how juicy they are!
Conclusion
The internship program is an unforgettable experience in my life. HENNGE breaks my prejudice towards the Japanese working environment. I feel that they are trying to improve themselves by making the company even more globalized and by making the office a comfortable place to work at.
Thank you for reading until the end. However, I have to tell you that: by the time you read this blog, probably somethings at HENNGE might have changed already. But I am sure that they are only going to be even better than what I have mentioned here.
Billy Ho studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He interned at HENNGE Global Internship Program from May 13th to June 21st, 2019.
