Why did you decide to participate in the internship programme?

What type of work did you experience on the programme?

I joined a team of developers at a mid-sized company at their main office in Tokyo. Since I felt more comfortable working on the front-end side of things (the look and feel of a website, rather than its functionality), I worked with the designers to turn their Photoshop mockups into code for the website. In the end, I was able to create a couple of pages for their Airbnb-style website, which is now live.

What did you get out of the programme?

Joining the program gave me the chance to talk with other developers on a daily basis; even something as simple as going out to lunch together presented the opportunity to ask about work life, company culture, etc., which helped me further consider working in Japan as a developer. Regardless of where I go next, the internship undoubtedly cemented my decision to continue to pursue a career in web or software development after JET.

After participating in the programme, how do you feel about working in Japan in the future?

The internship gave me confidence that I could succeed in a development role in Japan, even with Japanese as the primary language of communication. However, something that was mentioned while talking with the other developers was that overtime is definitely a thing in Japan. Provided that I could find a company that values work-life balance for its employees, I would be happy to stay in Japan and continue in this line of work.