Kuma
Bachelor of Intelligent Informatics
Joined in 2021
Software Engineer
Ad Product Section
Ad Product Development Department
What are your current responsibilities?
I work in the Direct Message Service Group, which supports the development and maintenance of Rakuten Merchant Server’s services. Our group comprises three teams across Japan, Singapore and India, with members of seven different nationalities. Although we have different backgrounds and are located in different countries, we work closely together by communicating on Zoom and Teams. Our team’s role is to develop new functions to help Rakuten merchants use new technologies to better promote and sell their items on Rakuten Ichiba.
As for my specific responsibilities, I am currently part of a team developing new functions for the R-SNS service to amplify the promotional impact that merchants can achieve through LINE official accounts. I also manage the servers and databases of R-Mail to maintain its functions.
What do you find rewarding about your work?
I support ad products in a for Rakuten Ichiba. Our production operation can directly influence merchants’ income, so we must manage it very carefully, even when making a small change to our code or settings. My goal is to assist merchants in boosting their gross merchandise sales. Witnessing this achievement in our monthly performance report brings me joy, not just for the merchants but also for myself, as it reflects the impact of my efforts in benefiting others.
How is the working environment at Rakuten?
One of the most appealing aspects of working at Rakuten is the chance to work with many people from different backgrounds. I work in a group with members of various nationalities based across three countries, and we each have different ways of working. Some colleagues may have initially faced challenges due to varying work styles and communication norms among people raised in different cultures. Still, we have become closer over time, getting to know each other professionally and personally through our work together. It is a precious opportunity to work in this kind of diverse environment. My department has particularly open communication and managers are also very approachable. They are less like “bosses” and more like experienced peers and fellow colleagues. I can approach them honestly and frankly through one-on-one meetings, and bring up any concerns or uncertainty about my career and receive helpful advice.
What does your typical workday look like?
I usually arrive at the office by 9:00 am, but occasionally, I come in earlier to enjoy breakfast at Rakuten’s cafeteria. I start my work by checking my schedule for the day on Outlook. We do not usually have many meetings in the morning, so I can concentrate on my development tasks and do some coding work. In the afternoon, I participate in the daily sync-up for my current project, sharing updates on my progress and discussing any challenges I'm facing. Following that, I typically meet with my tech lead to address blockers or review my code for potential improvements. While we may have differing opinions at times, he consistently listens attentively to my perspective.
SCHEDULE
- 09:00
- Arrive at work, check my Outlook to confirm the schedule for the day and check my Jira tickets to confirm my development tasks.
- 10:00
- Have a one-on-one meeting with my manager in Singapore or Japan. They always advise me from different perspectives to help me improve my work.
- 12:00
- Lunch time! The company cafeteria changes menus daily, and my favorite is the Hainanese Chicken Rice that they serve sometimes. After lunch, I always go for a walk with my colleagues around the office.
- 14:00
- Daily sync-up with my teammates. We report our progress and blockers for our development tasks and discuss solutions together.
- 15:00
- Check my code flow with my tech lead in Singapore. He always gives me useful advice to improve the performance and security of my code.
- 17:00
- Check the daily progress of the automatic batches execution. If there is any delay in important batch executions, we need to report this to our business unit in time and they will announce it to the Rakuten merchants, if necessary.
- 17:30
- Finish work. I enjoy attending idol concerts in the evenings, provided there is one happening. If not, I like to unwind by playing an action RPG on the PS5 or doing some knitting at home after working out.
*This article is based on information provided at the time of the interview.
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- Infrastructure Engineer
- Data Scientist / Researcher
- Security Engineer
- Information Security / Privacy Governance Specialist
- Technology Management
- Product Management
- Development Support（Q&A, etc.)