Min Dong-yun, 38, has finished his first year at Waseda Business School of Waseda University. Prior to joining Waseda, he worked at KDB Daewoo Securities, one of Korea’s major brokerage house, for 12 years. He majored in Agricultural Economics in Seoul National University, graduating in 1999.
I’ve been away from my wife and daughter during my stay in Japan, so I am back home, spending my vacation with my family. I am also meeting with friends I haven’t seen for a while.
I’ve been working at KDB Daewoo Securities since 1999. I was at the sales team in a branch and at the strategy team of the headquarters. The company sponsored my studies at Waseda Business School.
The biggest purpose of doing an MBA was developing myself one step further. I also wanted an opportunity to reflect on the 12 years I spent at Daewoo Securities. I believe that networking is the most important aspect of doing an MBA, and thought Waseda would be the most appropriate for that purpose.
In Japanese society, many political and business leaders are from Waseda University. While studying there, I felt the relationship among the alumni is very strong. I also noticed that the professors and students are as close as parents and children.
What have been the main challenges?
I haven’t had particular challenges. In classes, we have to make a lot of group reports and presentations. I was impressed by classmates who solve problems by trying to understand and consider each other.
Within Waseda’s MBA program, there are an English-language course and a Japanese-language course. Students in the English-language course wouldn’t face any difficulties even if they do not speak Japanese.
For daily communication, you, of course, need to be proficient in Japanese. Most students in the English-language course learn Japanese at the university or privately.
Different from that in Seoul, life in Japan is very quiet, and the Japanese respect other people’s lives. Those who prefer leading a quiet life would be satisfied. The practical side of life isn’t that different from that in Seoul, but things there cost 1.5 times or twice as expensive as in Seoul.
Since my company sponsors my education, I want to become an expert in Japan, which is rare within the company. I’ve been interested in Japan, and studied Japanese language at university. I also find it attractive to learn about Japan which is more advanced than Korea.
It is likely that I get to work at Daewoo Securities’ branch in Japan.
I often see my classmates who make a good use of the internship program. Most students who had an internship seem to get a job. The school often holds a job fair jointly with corporations.
There are a lot of graduates with MBA degrees. I think the most important thing is to boost your unique value. A degree from the United States or the United Kingdom would be helpful, but it would also be good to consider standing out from the crowd by studying in Japan or China. I also believe that studying an MBA after acquiring enough work experience would be more helpful than doing it straight out of college.
Interview by Kim Da-ye