Taro
Graduate of Art and Engineering
Joined in 2017
Application Engineer
EC Incubation Development Department
EC Technology Supervisory Department
What are your current responsibilities?
I work in the development group of Rakuma, a secondhand marketplace app developed by Rakuten. The main task of the CRE (Customer Reliability Engineer) team, which I belong to, is to develop the functions necessary for customer support (CS) operations. Based on proposals submitted by the CS team, I decide which functions to develop for each quarter, discussing the contents with team members in detail before moving forward with development. While trying to be as speedy and bug-free as possible, we also write solid test code for Rakuma. Then, once development is finished, we check the operations. Sometimes, additional requests come up at this time, so we try to be as flexible as possible in handling them. The general flow of work is to repeatedly check and revise, then finally launch the project when we feel confident about it.
My work is not limited to CS-related activities. I sometimes collaborate with the app development team to improve the push notification system. I also worked with the Rakuten Institute of Technology (RIT) and the infrastructure team to develop and launch a system to crack down on fraud on Rakuma.
Why did you join Rakuten?
Many people on the team are logical thinkers, and that reduces the amount of stress in the workplace, which allows me to concentrate on my work. My team began as a startup in 2012 and were later acquired by Rakuten, so I like the fact that I can work in a large company while still feeling the freshness, momentum and laidback atmosphere of a startup.
The free meals at the cafeteria and the ability to the environment where I can easily take paid vacations are also great points.
What is your message to students?
If you have no experience in development but are interested in working as an engineer, I encourage you to come to Rakuten. There are people in my current team and in the company who became engineers with no prior experience. I did not have much programming experience before I joined the company. Nevertheless, the environment here where you grow steadily and quickly. Of course, immediately after joining the company, you may be surprised by the speed at which it operates. Many things surprised me when I joined the company. However, every time you overcome such obstacles, you will naturally feel that you are growing.
I would like everyone to experience the same sort of dynamic experiences I did.
What does your typical workday look like?
Our morning starts with a stand-up meeting, where each department is divided into teams. With my current team, meetings don’t happen more than necessary, so I am able to focus on development for most of my work time. After work, I go home as early as possible, but sometimes I participate in study sessions held by my team members members. I personally think it is also a great advantage to be able to have meals in the company cafeteria throughout the day. Not only for lunch, but also for dinner on days when I am late to go home. The company has three cafeterias, which I make full use of.
SCHEDULE
- 09:00
- After arriving at work every morning, the Rakuma Development Group holds a stand-up meeting for each team to share the previous and current day’s tasks with the team.
- 10:00
- Based on the specifications decided with customer support (CS) a few days prior, we proceed with the development of new functions for CS operations.
- 11:00
- Lunch. The cafeteria offers free meals, which is a great help. The menu is different between the 9th floor and the 22nd floor, so I choose which one to visit based on which menu items I’d like to eat that day.
- 12:30
- Once a week, we have a meeting with the CS development producers to discuss progress and the upcoming development schedule.
- 14:00
- Focus on development. While working on development functions from earlier in the day, we send finished development tasks to the operation checker to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
- 17:30
- My team members and I hold a study group once a week devoted to improving our technical knowledge. If I don’t have anything important planned, I may leave the office by this time.
- 19:00
- Leave the office. Sometimes I eat dinner at the company cafeteria and go home. Of course, dinner is free and delicious.
*This article is based on information provided at the time of the interview.
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- Applications Engineer
- Infrastructure Engineer
- Data Scientist / Researcher
- Security Engineer
- Information Security / Privacy Governance Specialist
- Technology Management
- Product Management
- Development Support（Q&A, etc.)