N.Y.｜Employee Interview｜Vena Energy Japan Recruiting Site

Because the industry was relatively new, it felt worthwhile to jump in

I have been working as an interpreter for over ten years. In the field of interpretation, it is common for interpreters to work in a variety of industries to grow in their career and expand their range of skills. I also had spent about three years and gained experience at the previous company and was looking to make the next step forward when I found an opportunity at Vena.

I became interested first because the company was operating in the renewable energy industry, which was expected to grow. Amid extreme weather conditions and climate change becoming social issues, the importance of solar and wind power generation will increase further, and I thought the business had a very promising future. I also felt that it was a great opportunity to be able to build experience as an interpreter in a truly new industry.

Another factor that supported my decision to join the company was its very sincere selection process, which made me feel that the company was trustworthy. For example, at the beginning of the interview, Chairman Kameoka gave a thorough explanation of various aspects such as the company's philosophy, the characteristics of its business, and its corporate culture. Then after that, several more interviewers talked to me in a very sincere attitude and tried their best to have a thorough dialogue and explain everything. In addition, each step of the process, such as interview schedule coordination and submission of a job offer, was really fast, which made me feel that the company would provide me with a working environment where things move forward in a speedy manner.

Process

Taking on a mission of establishing an environment suitable for interpreters

Looking back on the interviews, I still remember one specific conversation. At the time, the company did not have an interpreter team, and an interviewer said "we would like you to use your experience to work with us, starting from the establishment of a workflow."

I had never worked in an environment without a predecessor so it sounded like a big challenge to me. However, it is also true that I felt excited to be able to take on completely new challenges in this forward-looking company. After I joined the company, I helped design and formulate a workflow and internal rules for booking an interpreter one by one. Although many people were not used to using an interpreter, everyone was very cooperative and willing to listen to my opinion, and supported creation of a better environment.

Currently, our team of in-house interpreters has grown to that of four, and we participate in a wide range of in-house meetings of various sizes from one-on-one to town halls, as well as supporting meetings and interviews with external parties including negotiations with business partners. I had worked in several global workplaces, but in terms of richness in diversity, I would say this company might be the number one. For many of our employees English is their second language, and each of them has different styles of speech. This also allows us to gain valuable experience as an interpreter.

In addition, we often interpret meetings with local governments and government officials as well as highly specialized meetings involving construction companies and consultants, thus sometimes struggle with unfamiliar technical terms. However, because there are many such challenging assignments, we can feel that our skills are improving, and we feel a great sense of fulfillment when we see participants reaching an agreement at an important meeting or receive words of appreciation from the attendees.

Mission

My endeavors and growth continue even in the fifth year at this company

The renewable energy industry continues to evolve at a dramatic pace, and against this backdrop, our company is also expanding its business domains into areas such as offshore wind and batteries, in addition to solar and onshore wind power generation. As a result, although I am in the fifth year since joining the company, I still often encounter technical terms I have never heard of and feel that I am learning something every day. Experts from different fields are working together at Vena, and whenever we ask question, they kindly answer it thoroughly, which enables us to steadily brush up our skills. In addition, newly acquired knowledge is shared among the interpreters, and we have also created a terminology database accessible by anyone in the company to support employee education as well.

Furthermore, people working at Vena Energy group share a great passion for the development and spread of renewable energy. Being exposed to such passion, I myself have become more strongly motivated to contribute to the prevention of global warming in whatever way possible. Therefore, I hope to grow into an interpreter capable of dealing with any topic related to renewable energy and support Vena's business growth by playing a role as a facilitator of communication.

There are many employees at Vena who have joined the company without previous experience in the industry, including me. Therefore, if you are interested in renewable energy and a type of person who feels motivated by a speedy and dynamic environment that continues to evolve and change, then you will have ample opportunities to be successful. As our organization expands, the importance of human resources to support communication is also increasing. Join us and let's work together in this environment with a huge growth potential.

Challenge