We interviewed,  alumnus Yoshimasa from the MBA Class of 2014, who was a Company Sponsored student, to share his experience during and after hist time at Hitotsubashi ICS.

 

Yoshimasa Nakamura

Yoshimasa joined the one-year MBA program back in 2014. Prior to starting his MBA at Hitotsubashi ICS, he worked at Sony for 8 years in the e-commerce field, where he was responsible for direct sales, merchandising and website management. After graduating Hitotsubashi ICS, he has been working at Sony as a Marketing Manager in charge of the digital transformation area of marketing.

Topics: Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS, Student/Alumni Voice, MBA Japan

We interviewed alumna, Mitsuyo from the Class of 2014, to ask how she prepared for the MBA admission while raising three kids, how she then balanced her family and studies, and about her experience after graduating from Hitotsubashi ICS.

 

Mitsuyo Nakamura

Mitsuyo was a member of the MBA Class of 2014 (2-year program).

Before entering Hitotsubashi ICS, she worked as a copywriter and creative director. After working in Tokyo and Osaka, she moved to Kagawa to get married. After graduating Hitotsubashi ICS, she established solutions inc. in Kagawa to provide corporate communication strategy and ad production services.

Topics: Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS, Student/Alumni Voice, MBA Japan

Interested to know what careers do alumni take after the MBA program at Hitotsubashi ICS? Then take a peek at the Alumni Talk Session held online on Saturday, June 27! We welcomed three alumni panelists:

Topics: Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS, Student/Alumni Voice

Deciding to get an MBA requires careful weighing of multiple, often competing, factors: time, money, career stage, personal and family needs, not to mention post-MBA goals. The Hitotsubashi ICS MBA eases the stress of this balancing act by offering a fully customizable second year that gives students enrolled in its Two-year Program the flexibility to tailor an experience perfectly fitted to personal and professional goals. Two-year Program students can select from a wide range of interactive, immersive activities designed to stretch, challenge and inspire.

Topics: Network, Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS

The job search results of the August 2019 graduates from Hitotsubashi ICS are just in. We sat down with Kazue Sasaki, the career services director, who shared with us the preliminary results of those graduating last summer, who have already started the next stage of their career in Japan. 

Topics: Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS

In this Byline ICS edition, second-year MBA student, Jian Mou (Jeff), shares his internship experience at one of Japan's leading companies in the construction industry. Read his reflection here:

I had the privilege of completing an internship at Technos Co. Ltd., a Kumagai Gumi Group company specializing in the development, design, and maintenance of equipment and parts for construction work. I interned in the Department of Overseas Business Development, which works together with the company's overseas offices in Singapore, Taipei, and Ho Chi Minh to monitor the implementation of regional business development activities.
The time I spent was immensely eye-opening in terms of being exposed to real overseas business expansion issues that a globalizing Japanese company faces every day. Challenges such as how to ensure its corporate culture remains intact while being flexible to cater to the local business context.

Topics: Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS

In January, Hitotsubashi ICS launched a new course titled “Japanese Business and Economy 2: Practicum” (JBE 2), as a response to the MBA students’ requests for learning and speaking practical business Japanese to help them thrive in a Japanese professional environment. 

Topics: Life at Hitotsubashi ICS, Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS

 

“A little over a decade ago, I decided to do something “new” after work. Something that at the time seem ordinary or irrelevant, but that changed the track of my life path forever". 

Topics: Life at Hitotsubashi ICS, Career paths, Student/Alumni Voice

To welcome our Class of 2019 (entrance year), alumni returned to ICS to join #foundationweek for a panel discussion, in which they shared with the incoming class their most memorable learnings from their time at #HitotsubashiICS and how they have leveraged their MBA throughout their careers. Perhaps the most valuable insight was their advice for this journey the #HitotsubashiICS2019 students have embarked on.

In this #bylineICS piece, we want to share the reflections that Miku Suzuki prepared for last week's alumni-panel discussion, as her busy agenda prevent her from joining us this time. 

Topics: Life at Hitotsubashi ICS, Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS, Student/Alumni Voice

As director of Hitotsubashi ICS Career Services, I take a lot of questions from prospective MBA candidates. Two of the most frequent are “Can I do any internships during my MBA in Japan?” and “Does Hitotsubashi ICS help me to find internships?”  My answer to both is “Absolutely”. Actually, Hitotsubashi ICS Career Services works hard to help students find good internship opportunities. We believe that internships are the best way to gain on-the-ground knowledge/experience and to strengthen a CV before the post-MBA job search.

Topics: Career paths

- Risk and Return, there is a positive correlation between risk and return, so the bigger the potential of return, the higher the risk you must undertake. You have all gone through a very tough program, so you are now prepared to take big risk, so go ahead and take on your next challenge, as the biggest risk is not taking any risk. These were Professor Tomonori Ito’s send-off message to the Hitotsubashi ICS graduates.  

Topics: Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS

The Year Is 2039 - Travel in time, forward 20 years. It is 2039, and you’ve worked towards a vision for your life and career. Describe this journey, telling how you engaged the integrated whole of yourself in adding something new to the world… (Jody Ono, Class of 2018 Knowledge Report Assignment, Wise Leadership Capstone)

Topics: Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS

Deciding where to do an MBA involves a large number of variables, like any other life-changing decision. If you are on the fence, trying to weigh the financial investment required and the opportunity cost versus the benefits of each program, consider these six reasons to join Hitotsubashi ICS, Japan’s #1 MBA program (2019 QS Rankings).

Topics: Life at Hitotsubashi ICS, Network, Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS

Japan, one the most homogeneous countries in the world, had historically been unwilling to accept foreign workers. Until very recently, Japanese companies were even rather reluctant to hire foreign professionals.

Topics: Life at Hitotsubashi ICS, Career paths

Last month, we sat down with Vivek Kovilakathu, one of our alumni, to talk about his experience working in Japan as a foreigner. We learned about some of the challenges but also the benefits of working as an international professional in a Japanese company. Here are the highlights of our conversation:

Topics: Life at Hitotsubashi ICS, Network, Career paths, Why Hitotsubashi ICS, Student/Alumni Voice