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In the Japanese Initiative for the future of Syrian Refugees (JISR) program, many participants wish to remain in Japan on completion of their post-graduate course. Thus, the JISR provides opportunities for them to be exposed to Japan's corporate culture as well as to obtain work experience through an internship at Japanese companies

"Highly motivated and showing aptitude to develop as IT engineers," this is a general impression of JISR participants that Mr. Nakai, the Managing Director (MD) of eftax Co., Ltd, had, after accepting six JISR participants as interns. We have interviewed Mr. Nakai and a JISR intern at eftax Co., Ltd for this newsletter.

Mr. Tomoaki Nakai,
Managing Director, eftax Co., Ltd.

Serving for clients mainly in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, eftax Co., Ltd. provides a one-stop IT service, ranging from data analysis to the planning, development and in-house creation of AI/IoT systems, web, mobile applications, etc. The company globally recruits excellent engineers, regardless of age, nationality and gender, while conducting businesses which foster and assist advanced digital human resources in Japan and abroad.

https://eftax.co.jp/en/ (external link)

Interview with Mr. Nakai, MD of eftax Co., Ltd.

Please tell us how eftax began to accept 42 interns^[1] from 18 countries so far?

Mr. Nakai: When we faced a shortage of IT personnel, making it very difficult to recruit talented engineers, we got a chance to provide internships for international students by AIESEC Japan^[2]. In 2018, we accepted Turkish and Chinese students as our first interns. As we aimed at expanding our business overseas, I thought that such internships would provide a good opportunity to develop our overseas business network through these students who would eventually return to their own countries.

What kinds of tasks have been given to the six JISR participants as interns at eftax?

Mr. Nakai: We accepted two interns on-line at the end of 2021 and four more off-line in February 2022. In the case of the first two interns, their job descriptions were very clear as they were assigned to deal with actual offers made by one of our clients. The second group of four interns was divided into two teams and each was tasked with developing "something" from "nothing". Being allowed to work at their own pace, they worked very hard together by discussing with their colleagues. Although there are individual differences, all of them have showed aptitude to develop as IT engineers.

Each intern has a unique character, but they are all cheerful. They have a strong sense of being "fellow Syrians" and are willing to help each other. They also show solid motivation to proactively learn and master new things as they are going to be living in a new country, Japan.

I have learned how to proceed with work at a Japanese company and also how to communicate and cooperate with Japanese colleagues. (JISR participant with an on-line internship)

I have broadened my own field of view concerning the actual application of AI technologies and the necessary skills to obtain a job with a Japanese company. (JISR participant with an on-line internship)

Four JISR participants with an off-line internship

What types of personality and competence are required as international staff member?

Mr. Nakai: As we conduct our entire business remotely, we need people competent in proceeding the work on one's own initiative, with advanced self-management skill. It would be a great advantage if such person also had ability to constantly research new information and learn from it, as the IT industry is constantly undergoing dramatic changes.

Do you have any specific considerations regarding international staff member?

Mr. Nakai: As IT workers tend to forget about self-care with too much devotion to work, we ensure that our staff eat and rest properly. We also respect religious aspects such as Islamic alcohol ban as well as prayers. Although we were at first concerned that the meeting schedule could conflict with Islamic prayer time, there have not been any issue because the interns managed to adjust their own schedules.

Having said that Japanese language proficiency is not must-have quality, what is the other important criteria for eftax to recruit international personnel, even though the N2 level of Japanese language proficiency is generally required in most of Japanese companies?

Mr. Nakai: For new employee of eftax, we highly expect them to have self-management ability as well as capacity to focus on system development without giving up and move forward when they hit a wall. In fact, many of our employees started their own programming when they were senior high school students and already have a career of five to six years in their early twenties.

Meanwhile, we also actively recruit competent senior personnel with rich experience. They can develop bridges to our clients, while international workers equipped with the latest technical expertise are involved in system development. Another business of eftax is fostering young human resources in Japan, targeting Japanese university students and others. We hope such multifaceted approaches will produce excellent results through their synergistic effects.

Interview with an Internship Participant

Mr. Ehassan Wahbi
Information Systems Science Program, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Soka University

I left my country for Lebanon because of the war in Syria. Although I wanted to work as an engineer or enrol in a master's degree course in Lebanon, I had to work as a construction worker under severe conditions to make a living. However, I never gave up my dream and worked hard from early morning until night, while studying computer programming and English for two hours after my evening meal. I am now very happy to see my dream realized as I have the opportunity to study in the field of my choice through the JISR Program.

For my internship at eftax, I developed an accurate sensing system which is aimed at performing the remote monitoring of post-treatment patients. Through our own research work, the learning of new technologies and discussions with other technical staff at eftax, we actually developed a working prototype system in one and a half months. Based on this experience, I obtained important business perspectives that widened my own view as a researcher, such as working with a set timeframe to meet a delivery deadline and evaluating achievements at each stage of a project. In the future, I would like to seek the opportunity to find a job at a company in the AI programming or communications field or to enrol in a Ph.D. course.

Editorial Note

The six JISR participants appear to have been inspired through their experience of actual work at a company characterized by state-of-the-art technologies and a progressive way of thinking. They are currently working hard at their studies to enhance their technical competence. We sincerely hope that they will flourish in Japan's business world, making the best use of their technical knowledge and skills which they have cultivated at their graduate schools in Japan.

The internships they have experienced seem to have provided a useful opportunity not only for the JISR participants but also for eftax Co., Ltd. The JISR Program is continually seeking companies which accept internships. Please check the reference materials through the links below and contact us if you are interested in providing an internship.

JISR participants as interns have joined a company employing Japanese and Indonesian nationals, creating a sense of cosmopolitan workplace.

Contact us

Japan Development Service Co., Ltd. (JDS) / Japan Association for Refugees (JAR)
Email: jisr-kouryuukai@jds21.com *Please include "Internship" in the title of your e-mail.