Lighthouse Career Encourage USA

Business Experience at Consultant Company

Participant InformationName: Mihiro Suzuki

School: Tsukuba University

Grade: Sophomore (at the time)

Program: GCP (Global Career Program)

| Reasons why I decided to participate in this program

I wanted to travel overseas while I was in college since I had never done so before. I was also looking for something more meaningful than just travelling, so I started looking for various programs. Then I found this program on my college website. My goal was to grow as a person in any area and to interact with English speakers.  

| My expectation before coming

What I was looking forward to the most was to homestay. I wanted to experience how it was like to “live in the U.S.” On the other hand, I was worried about my English skill. I studied English to pass my college examination, but had never really practiced speaking. So I was worried if I could communicate with my host family well.

| Daily routine

I was assigned to be at a consulting company that offers service to Japanese companies that want to expand their business in the U.S.

Daily Task: Communicated with clients, made presentations, worked on excel data, and   research. 

【Daily Schedule】

9am - 5pm (Lunch was 12:30pm-1:30pm)

| Memorable and challenging experiences

What I remember the most was the work ethic of the staff. No matter what kind of business field they were working on, they always had positive attitudes towards learning about them. What was challenging the most was to research something. We had to research very technical and difficult fields in English, which I thought was very hard to do. 

| What I worked the most at

What I worked the most at was to always organize my tasks so that I would know what was more important. Even though it was such a short period of time, I had a chance to get involved in various tasks. I tried to organize them and worked on what was most important at the time. I also tried to communicate with the staff to clarify each task and made sure that I could complete them on time. 

| Homestay

Memorable and challenging experiences

My host family was very kind and were willing to welcome me warmly. So I was able to relax and get along with them pretty quickly. They asked me what I wanted for breakfast and cared about my well being. It was challenging a bit to get adjusted to the lifestyle when they usually stayed up pretty late every night. But overall, it was a very good experience. 

Dinner

| What I worked the most at

I tried to communicate with my host family as much as possible. When someone was home at dinner time, I tried to talk about what my day had been like. Although my English was not as fluent, my host family tried to understand what I had meant so we were able to get along well in the end. 

Breakfast

| Reflections on the program

What I learned and how I will use them in the future

Through this program, I was able to gain my confidence working overseas. My first few days were very challenging - trying to get along with my host family, spending all day at the office, and having a difficult time communicating in English even when going shopping. However, I felt that I was able to overcome all of these in the end. I was able to push myself till the end of the program. Because of this experience, I now feel that I could accomplish something if I try hard and put my effort into it. When I encounter another opportunity that is challenging in the future, I could try with less hesitation and use the opportunity for my own growth. 

Potato chips at Wal Mart

| Would you recommend this program to your friends?

Yes!!!

This program is filled with opportunities where you could grow for sure. It is ok even if you don’t feel confident with your English skills as long as you are willing to communicate with people you encounter. I was able to meet so many people through this program. Those people had different backgrounds and experiences. They offered me so many lessons to learn and I now feel that I have more options for future career opportunities to choose from. Everything you experience in this program will be beneficial to your life. Please consider applying for this program!