Starting my career in Japan: The story of Fenghua Xu from Telecom Square
Telecom Square is a global communication services company based in Tokyo. The company emphasizes the importance of diversity, and the workforce has a great mix of staff from various nationality, age, and gender. Fenghua Xu, assistant manager of multilingual support team discusses her experiences building her career in Japan at Telecom Square.
From a small village in China to a university in Tokyo
I grew up in a small but friendly village in Yanbian, the autonomous Korean prefecture in Jilin province, China. I was immersed in both Korean and Chinese culture, speaking Chinese at school but Korean at home over my home cooked Korean food. My mother worked for a Korean company in China, helping facilitate the communication between the Korean head office and China. She was really passionate about her work, and that passion rubbed off on me. Our lives were always a mix of these two cultures so watching my mother actively working to connect the two was really inspiring. Seeing the love my mother had for her work, I eventually knew I wanted to work on an international level.
Today, I use Japanese everyday for work. However, I didn’t start studying Japanese until I entered high school. To be honest, although I gradually mastered Japanese and passed JLPT N2 in high school, I wasn’t confident at speaking it. When I started attending university in Japan, all the classes were taught in Japanese and I was the only international student in my year.Living alone in a foreign country was already more difficult than I had imagined, but not being able to speak the language made it even more difficult. I knew that all of this could have been avoided, if only I was able to speak Japanese freely. This core issue became a huge motivation for me. At one point I almost gave up, but by working on my language ability day by day I was eventually able to make friends and enjoy life in Japan. Overcoming this barrier broadened my possibilities in Japan, eventually leading me to start a career here.
The start of my journey with Telecom Square
I had a lot of job searching options, either going back to China, staying in Japan or going to another country. However, I was unsure that I would be able to make best use of my skills and knowledge gained in Japan, abroad. I knew it was totally up to me to make use of the skills I had cultivated since university. I thought, that since I came all the way to Japan to study, I should at least spend a year or two here to gain some work experience. What I sought most in companies when searching for job opportunities, was an environment in which I could grow. I didn’t see the direction I wanted to go in and so thought that it was necessary to hone specific skills, in order to broaden my possibilities. That is why I decided to join Telecom Square.
However, I knew Telecom Square before I started seeking full-time employment. While I was still a university student, the company was seeking a multilingual part-time assistant. I decided to apply for the position because it sounded like the perfect opportunity, being able to hone my Japanese whilst using my mother tongue. I still remember the interview very clearly. There were two candidates, me and another Korean-Chinese female student. I felt she did much better in her interview. However, I was selected as the successful candidate. To be honest, I was surprised that the company decided to choose me because my Japanese was still limited. This showed me that Telecom Square was motivated to help me grow, despite it being just a part-time position. Really, what company would hire someone who is not an immediate asset? The fact they they decided to hire me, made me think that the company wanted to raise me to become a powerful asset. I thought that here, I would be able to grow tremendously.
I really enjoyed the work I did as a part-time staff member in the multilingual service group, and so, I decided to go full-time. My role was to provide support in different languages to customers using our products. Of course it wasn’t easy at first. At times we had to deal with complaints, and in order to provide technical support, technical knowledge on telecommunications was required. I found this difficult because the product we were providing to our customer was not something tangible, internet services for example. Nonetheless, I found it thrilling to be able to do more things day by day. Working here became more and more fun as time went on. When a board member asked me if I want to work full time, I immediately responded, “Yes!”, and when he asked me the reason, I said “Because it’s so fun here!”.
Taking initiative and becoming a leader
It was always my dream to be part of a global business. I was able to accomplish this by facilitating the communications between overseas partners and our company. Previously we were facing communication issues. When customers experienced issues with our Wi-Fi routers, we would contact our partner companies to resolve the issue and await their reply. The slow communication left customers dissatisfied and this frustration became a growing burden for operators, leading to an increased turnover of staff. In response, I decided to utilize my language abilities by flying out to meet our overseas partners to establish better relationships. After multiple business trips and discussions, I was able to bring back a system that could solve the issues we were having without the need for contact with partners, saving customers the wait. I was able to contribute to improving our service and was honored to receive the “Leader of the year” award for Contact Center Award 2018. This was not an easy accomplishment. Communicating across various departments, as well as with the partners in China, is no mean feat. China and Japan have a different work culture, it was difficult to adjust. Also, although I am a native Chinese speaker, I was not familiar with technical terms the engineers were using. I had to overcome these obstacles but in the end, I was happy to not only connect with overseas partners, but also contribute to the satisfaction of travellers by improving our product.
Why I love my job so much
Telecom Square has always encouraged it’s staff to grow, that’s something I love about it. Often in Japan it’s difficult to ask colleagues or your boss for help but I never felt that way at Telecom Square. From day one they push their staff to learn and succeed. On my first day I was asked to write a business email on my own, it was a lot of responsibility. When my boss saw me struggling, instead of showing disapproval, they kindly took the time to teach me. In Telecom Square you are made to feel valued, regardless of position. Our unique environment allows New Graduates to thrive and build a career.
A great aspect of working at Telecom Square is that the company actively encourages staff to seek out new challenges. Besides my main duties as an assistant manager, I do a lot of side projects. For example, I am currently working on developing a new channel to improve customer experience. Everybody at Telecom Square is engaged in some kind of project, both big or small, voluntarily besides their main duties. I love this system because I feel that only doing one’s main duties each day might limit personal growth and fun. The company stimulates the curiosity of its staff, promoting innovation together with personal growth.
The atmosphere at work is at times very serious and other times very relaxed. Sometimes, we debate amongst each other when opinions are divided. The atmosphere can seem quite intense when compared to a normal Japanese workplace, as all staff play an active role in the discussions. But, this isn’t a bad thing, the staff are really close outside work as well. We hold various events within the company, such as hanami, barbecue, camping and going for meals. Our relationships go beyond nationality. We also have close relationships with the staff at overseas branches. Whenever they travel to Japan for leisure, or for work, we go out together and enjoy going for meals or sightseeing.
My determination to help young colleagues grow
I was promoted to assistant manager a few months ago. This is a managerial position, so I’m required to take a more holistic approach, to coordinate departments and help others achieve their goals instead of focusing solely on my own. I have been working for this team since I started my career at Telecom Square in 2014 as a fresh graduate, I practically grew up here. I want to utilize my years of experience to reduce the problems that I faced when I was younger. I want to provide the same opportunities that I am glad to have had, to the younger members of my team. Of course, as a manager I have other duties but I want to put an emphasis on staff development, not only professional growth but personal growth too. I’m no longer in the stage of my career where I am focused on developing only my own skills, I’m now able to share my expertise with my colleagues for their benefit.
A message to all students: Look to future, not the past
Looking back at my university days, I feel that I wasn’t looking to the future. I listed up my strengths and weaknesses, and only used the assets that I possessed to make important decisions. I only paid attention to what I had already acquired. Now, looking back, I should have paid more attention to the future, rather than the past. This applies to both my career and personal life. It is important to create a vision of the future, and then plan your steps towards it. Being able to visualize the future you want to achieve is great motivator. I think some of you reading this are able to act in such way already, but if you are struggling, I strongly recommend you adopt this way of thinking. That way, you can live your life without regrets.
Interested in learning about jobs offered at Telecom Square? Sign up for the company briefing session (March 27) here.
