SENIOR VOICE

I am currently employed in AIG Shared Services (AIGSS). AIGSS is a subsidiary of AIG, a multinational insurance corporation. I accepted this job offer since it is in line with my Computer Engineering degree. I am part of the IT Testing Team, and currently engaged in Japan projects. My job requires me to coordinate with our Japanese clients in reviewing requirement documents in Japanese. I create test cases based on our discussions with the customers and documents we received, and submit it to them for review and approval.

Although AIGSS is based in the Philippines, I would sometimes go to Japan for a brief period as part of my job to ensure smooth and fast communication with our clients. In the future, I would like to stay in Japan on a long-term basis. For that, I will need to have more experience in my field and improve both my technical and language skills. Then I will aim for either a long-term project in Japan in our company or apply for work to a Japanese company.

Studying in a foreign country can be overwhelming for some due to culture shock. You also can’t use your mother language for communication. What I can advise is to do research beforehand. See if you know a family or friend that has been to Japan and ask for their experience. Learn some basic Japanese and if you can, try to go to Japan once so you can experience living there for a short time, and see what you need to prepare for a long-term stay. When you start your study in TCJ, focus on studying first until you are used to living in Japan and you can manage basic conversation confidently. After that, try to find a part-time job where you can interact with a lot of people and help you practice in speaking Japanese.