Mina, From Japanese to International Designer

*This article is translated from Japanese original one

This time I interviewed Mina, who works as a web designer in Vancouver! Mina has worked as a designer for many years in Japan, but she choose to challenge herself with building a career in Canada with her acquired skills. She has been in Vancouver for two and a half years and worked for a year at a Canadian company so far. Since she took the design course at high school, she has consistently pursued the path of a designer, always challenging herself. Her goal is to become an "International designer. She tries to maintain a healthy work-life balance. I also asked her about her future prospects, considering her partner and life events of a woman such as having children. This real story was very interesting to hear and I could empathize as a woman.

Career

- I've heard you came here after many years of design experience in Japan. Could you tell us about your career from the beginning?

I have loved art since I was 3 or 4 years old. At that time I didn't know the word "design", but I knew I wanted to be a designer from that time. So I took the design course at high school.

I became a Graphic Designer after graduation. However, I suffered maladjustment after a year of the first job due to the tough work environment. Working more than 12 hours a day, old style vertical society, and power harassment by a supervisor. I quit work because I could not keep it up. Then, I traveled around the world to escape from everything for about half a year after recuperation. I was around 20 years old at the time.But I still loved design. I restarted my design career again in Japan. I have worked at several design offices, and switched my role from Graphic Designer to Web Designer in the meantime.

After several years, there was a turning point where I could do everything to do with web design by myself, such as branding, design, coding, SEO, and so on. Then I decided to improve my career. I tried to get hired by the best company in my town. Their answer was YES. I should have felt happy by it, but I was bored because it was too easy. At the time, I could imagine my future career in Japan would be boring. Therefore I decided be an international designer to keep challenging myself, because I don't like to feel limited. After I made the decision, I started working at a startup company, which was very flexible and made it possible for me to save money quickly.

Finally, I came to Vancouver in July 2015. After going to ESL class for about half a year, I started taking a Graphic & Web Development course at a college from January 2016. My Co-op program began in January 2017. I have worked for a marketing company since that time. I design websites, logos, UI and so on.

- Why did you choose Vancouver?

So I could learn the North American business style, which is quite the opposite from what I was used to in Japan. I didn't choose the US because of the serious Visa situation there. In Vancouver, I get support from Frog and its community of Japanese creators.

Board game party with Designers from Frog (Mina: right bottom)

- Where did the feeling of being an international designer come from?

I don't like working in Japan, lol. In fact, I became sick in the first year of my career. I desired to acquire the skills to be a great senior designer, so I worked about 360 days in a year like a mad woman. Especially since I decided to save money to go to Canada. Once I decide something, I completely go for it.

English

- Did you speak English when you came to Vancouver?

No, not at all, lol. When someone would talk to me, I would freak out.

I haven't used English in Japan. I didn't study it in Japan due to hard work either. I started studying at the lowest level of ESL class in Vancouver.

- How about now, after two and a half years?

I don't trust my English skill at all, lol.

But recently, I'm not afraid of making mistakes. I say what I need to tell at the moment. I don't see big problems with listening now unless someone has a very strong accent. My company has many offices around the world, therefore we have online meetings on the progress of projects. I was not able to speak a year ago, but I have lately been able to speak and share my thoughts with a lot of people online.

However, it was very hard when I first started working at the Canadian company. Western people tend to give their opinion immediately, so I am also required to be involved in the fast conversation since I am a designer, but I couldn't. So I came up with the strategy to distinguish myself by being a good designer. If they believe in my design skills and ideas, they listen to me well. Designers need to share ideas, so that communication skill is essential to our work.

- Do you do anything for English other than ESL?

Not really. But I decided to make friends with people that don’t speak Japanese to force me to speak a lot of English. I didn't participate in Meetups so much because I'm an introvert, so I was hanging out with friends from the college. One of my classmates became my common law partner. We have been together for two years now.

College

- Many people from the same college think, "It sucks!"...

It was absolutely painful, lol.

Although the course I chose was Graphic & Web Development, there were no Graphic related courses. Almost nothing about Web either. Even though I wanted to learn both Front-End and Back-End to improve my skills, classes were almost exclusively about Back-End. I felt betrayed!!!

Despite what everyone says, school is just one of many tools. I self studied the subjects I really wanted to learn about in my spare time. It's also true that learning Back-End was a good opportunity to awaken my logical mind.

- Have you been working while you were in college?

I consistently got jobs from my previous Japanese company. I also got offered single projects from the US and Canada. Offers were mostly via Dribbble. Mostly, Web design for the Japanese company, app and UI design for North American companies.

- Sounds like better opportunities than the college, lol.

It certainly was!

- Have you learned anything by working for North American companies?

I've learned the work flow and how to negotiate. It was great to get familiar with North American style design, which is different from Japan.

- You may not have known the North American work or design style at the beginning, why would you receive offers?

I've made personal projects which I wanted to work on and uploaded them on dribbble, even though I didn't have experience.

- Time management would be hard as a student.

Well, I had no free time at all while I was a student. I felt guilty if I had free time.... For instance, watching movies is good for studying English but I still felt bad by it. So I played a movie in the background while I was working. There are so many movies I've kind of watched but not really, lol.

It's not the best way, but I think this such strict time could be worth it for your career.

Determine a Direction

- Did you plan to become a designer in Vancouver?

Definitely.

Although I thought it might be tough to obtain a job with just a designer skill set. Therefore, I decided to improve my Front-End and a tiny bit of Back-End skill sets to be safe. But now I’m confident as just a pure "designer" due to my experience and skill set. I've also realized my dream has come true! My dream was receiving project-based offers from North American IT companies, like "Hi Mina, we love your design. I would work with you on this particular project.". This already happened many times while I was a student.

Job Hunting

- How was your job hunt? It seems quite smooth regarding your experience.

I think the designer job market is very competitive in Vancouver. Besides, I was a Co-op student, no experience at Canadian companies. It was tough for me, I applied to about 50 companies including Front-End roles. The college was not supportive at all. I've asked Senna his advices to improve my portfolio website. It is easy for companies to see if they like your design skills by looking at your portfolio. So if your portfolio is not good enough, it’s hard to be invited for interviews. Also I might not have been invited to a lot of interviews because of the "Student" / "Intern" status on my Resume. Some of the companies contacted me.

I eventually got hired as a designer at a marketing company in Vancouver.

- What were you asked at the job interview?

Honestly, it was hard to understand what the interviewer was saying due to my English skill at the time, lol. But we talked about the salary and other important things. They also gave me a design assignment for which I had 3 days.

- So you got hired by the result of your assignment?

Yes. When the interviewers received my assignment, they got so excited. "Hire her NOW!", lol. Actually, on the first week of work, I got my ideal job offer, full-time Front-End Designer, via dribbble. The role was a good mix between Designer and Front-End. Unfortunately I couldn't accept it at the time. I do love implementing my own design with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as well. It would be nice if I could do that. However, I haven't seen such job titles in Vancouver.

Work in Vancouver

- What do you do as a designer at the marketing company?

My company sells products from other manufacturers online with our own marketing strategy. So I mainly work on Ecommerce web design. Logos and packaging design for products too. I also check the quality of code, direct developers with CSS, and make style guides for them. In addition, we have our own system to organize thousands of products, so I make the UI for that. When we didn't have enough videographers I helped to edit videos with AfterEffects and Premiere.

We use translators to translate our website from English to Japanese to sell our products in Japan. I also translate in some emergency situations, and evaluate the ability of translators. We mainly work with a team which consists of a Director, a Project manager, a Copywriter, a Videographer and a Designer on one project. Since we work on In-House projects, we consistently need to improve our workflow. So we spend a lot of time discussing it amongst the designers and the director in the office.

- How is the work environment in Vancouver compared to Japan?

The Japanese business style is quite indirect, which is totally opposite to the North American one. For instance, in Japan we are eager to avoid displeasing a boss and clients in meetings, which is just a waste of time in my opinion. We don't say what we really want to say. We don't say "NO" to clients either because of our cultural background. Work hours are ridiculously long in Japan especially, in the IT industry. Everything is direct at my company in Vancouver. We discuss anything work related with colleagues. In addition, they always compliment me on my work , which motivates me all the time! I can focus well by working only 8 hours a day. If it was in Japan, "I can't go home because my boss is still working! ", "I have to go to a meeting even though it's quite late at night because my client wants to.". These are very standard in Japanese culture.

- II think it's a very healthy culture here in Vancouver.

I didn't really have a private life while I was in Japan. I finally enjoy it now because it's much easier to balance work and private life in Vancouver. At the beginning of my work, I didn't have the headspace to deal with this though. I was always afraid due to my English. I was also anxious while I was having my spare time and not being productive. I had to work on something all the time to not feel like was getting behind. I could finally relax and got used to it after half a year.

- It's been a year since you started your job in Vancouver?

Yes. I have changed my Visa from a study permit to a Working Holiday Visa. I've also decided to apply for Permanent Residency. Because I can only stay one year on my working holiday visa.

- Is the application progressing well?

Yes. However, there are several types of applications I can try. A high English score is required by the fastest way. So I'll take the English language test, CELPIP, which is made by Canadians. There are two types of English tests that can be used for the application, IELTS and CELPIP. CELPIP is more convenient for me.

Also, I have just finished negotiations about raising my salary to increase the possibility for getting my PR. I also asked to change my job title from Graphic Designer to Web Designer, because it fits better with the work I do, and it also gives me more points for my PR application.

- How do you study for CELPIP?

I do online sample tests. Because CELPIP is a digital test, I need to talk to a microphone. So it's good to get used to it.

Future

- What do you want to do in your future?

First of all, obtain Permanent Residency in Canada, which gives me more choices in my life. My objective is to be an "International Designer", therefore I don't mind where on Earth live. Having choices is equal to being FREE. I might move to either Europe or somewhere else.. I've been able to learn more about the North American business style now. After I'm more familiar with it, I could work freelance or work at any company.

- Do you talk about your future plans with your partner?

We do, but not particularly. We'll see after a few more years of experience in Vancouver. Deciding on a career around my age is very tough as a woman because we seriously need to think about having children if we want to eventually. That may be a huge turning point in our lives. If we want children, the place where we live is absolutely important and needs to be considered well. It's a sort of awkward to talk about my partner in the interview, despite the fact that it is essential in life. He is related deeply to my life. He has studied Game Programming with no previous professional experience at the same college, and works as a Game Programmer now. With his job it is also possible to go abroad.

- Which country do you want to live next?

Well, even though the possibility is extremely low, I would definitely go to San Francisco if I got an offer.

It's also possible we’ll move to the Netherlands because my partner is Dutch. I do like current European design and there are so many great designers that inspire me. The office of Sketch is also in the Netherlands! I am able to work in English there, and there are so many benefits to raise children in Europe rather than in Japan. You know? If you are Japanese, it's pretty easy to get a Visa in the Netherlands because of the historical background between the Netherlands and Japan. Especially if you want to start your own business or be freelance.

Advice

If you are thinking about going abroad it means you are already interested in it and deserve to!

Just listen to yourself and follow it. You won't lose anything by challenging yourself. It could still be a benefit when you try to find a job in Japan after you return. It's definitely better to do what you want rather than regret not challenging yourself!

In Conclusion

"It's definitely better to do what you want rather than regret by not challenging yourself!" It certainly is.

English might be the hard part even if you are a skilled person. On the other hand, you could overcome it with your skill set like Mina did. What is the reason why you are struggling with what you want to do?

Is it really impossible to overcome?

Going abroad is not the only option, think and take action to make your dream come true like Mina did. That’s the way to attain your ideal life.

Written by Rami