Sam
Bachelor of Laws
Joined in 2022
Marketing
Platform Strategy Management Department
Customer Strategy Department
What are your current responsibilities?
I currently work in the Platform Strategy Management Department, which serves as a cross-functional marketing organization. Our scope ranges from building consumer awareness about services through customer acquisition and retention. In my first year, I gained a lot of experience by working in three different business units, which is quite a rare opportunity. In the first business unit, I learned about project planning while being mentored as a project member by senior colleagues. In the second business unit, I worked as a corporate sales representative for Rakuten Point Gift Cards, and learned how to devise marketing strategies to address specific issues. It was truly gratifying when the strategies that I had proposed were approved. In the third business unit, where I currently work, I’m entrusted with project progress management. As a project manager, I focus on overseeing progress with the implementation of policies and measures, while coordinating with people in a variety of related fields such as UX specialists and engineers.
What aspects of your job make you feel like you’re being useful to customers and wider society?
My department oversees extensive marketing activities across all of Rakuten’s businesses. Our mission is to maximize the lifetime value (LTV) of clients through effective utilization of Rakuten Group assets such as Rakuten Points and Okaimono Panda. I find satisfaction in considering things from the customer’s perspective and contributing to projects that have positive impacts on society. When one of my proposals for an initiative to boost consumer awareness of Rakuten Point Gift Cards was approved and I saw positive responses on social media and elsewhere, it made me feel glad that I had worked so hard on it. I’m also grateful to the team in my department for being open to drawing on the enthusiasm of younger employees.
Why did you join Rakuten?
I have a grand dream of bolstering Japan’s presence on the global stage. To achieve this, while job hunting, I thought I ought to get a job at a Japanese company with international business operations to acquire the knowledge required for conducting global business and learn about a diverse range of perspectives. Being at Rakuten, with around 1.7 billion users worldwide and an extremely diverse workforce with staff from over 100 countries, helps develop my critical thinking capabilities and fires my imagination. Additionally, the need for me to multitask in various roles on the way to completing projects has allowed me to learn a wide range of skills. I feel like I have achieved personal growth far beyond my expectations.
How do you feel you have grown since joining Rakuten?
Due to my reserved personality, I faced challenges such as communication gaps with fellow team members and I even caused setbacks due to communication errors when I was selected as a member for projects. This increased the workload for the teams and led to moments where I felt discouraged, but working with people from various fields has taught me the importance of considering things from the perspectives of others. What one person can achieve by themselves in a project is actually very limited. Following my realization that projects can be enhanced through seamless communication with people inside and outside one’s team, I now make sure that I understand the needs of others and maintain effective communication in every situation. Although there are still areas where I need to improve, I have got to the point where I can now get many people involved in projects to successfully get things done.
SCHEDULE
- 09:00
- Arrive at the office. Check emails and my schedule for the day. Check up on progress with projects I’m responsible for and contact relevant people.
- 10:00
- Regular meeting. Discuss project issues within teams.
- 12:00
- Catch up with fellow 2022 new grads over lunch in the cafeteria.
- 13:00
- Project meetings. Ascertain progress with project members. Given that multiple projects are always in progress in parallel, I pay close attention to avoid oversights.
- 15:00
- Create proposal materials. Prepare materials to advance product development.
- 17:00
- Analytical tasks. Enhance the accuracy of proposal documents using data required for making proposals to clients.
- 19:00
- Finish work. My routine is to return home and then head to the gym for strength training.
*This article is based on information provided at the time of the interview.
RECRUITING INFORMATION
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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.)