Kim Hoon-jung graduated from Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in 2008 and is currently working at the foreign division of Lawson, a Japanese company that runs the second-largest convenience store franchise chain in the country. Before she went to Japan to study an MBA, she worked for a U.S. based IT company and the U.S. embassy in Seoul.
While I was working in Seoul, I realized I could stay as an ordinary office worker because I didn’t have any specialty in my career. I wanted to try something different from my job at that time, so I started to learn Japanese.
One day, I realized why I had to study more. Although there were several female bosses in my office, I didn’t want them to be a role model for me. Two different thoughts hit me at that moment; “I don’t want to be like them, and I want to be the one who is respected as a role model.”
So I made up my mind to go to Japan and study more.
Although it is a school in Japan, the entire program is conducted in English, so I could use English in the school and Japanese in everyday life.
Studying an MBA in English was the most difficult part because my mother tongue is Korean. I had to read almost 40 pages of business cases every day and organize my thoughts to take part in the class proactively. In the beginning, I missed several opportunities to present my opinion because I worried too much about grammatical mistakes. As a shy Korean who had never shared own opinions in front of many people, it took me almost three months to get used to the teaching style of Hitotsubashi.
I believe requirements for successful applicants would be more and less similar all around the world. Skills for problem solving, management ability and passion for the company and the position would be some of the most important requirements.
Japanese companies prefer applicants with work experience in a related industry, so that they can put the applicants into a practical business immediately. Work experience is as important as an MBA degree for students in switching their career.
In addition, a good command of English and fluency in local language are also important in communicating well with colleagues.
What you learn from MBA program is theoretical knowledge. If you want to make most out of the knowledge, you have to apply it to practical experiences. Use your knowledge to become the “sagacious leader” in your own career path.
Interview by Bahk Eun-ji