Who is Haruka?

• VIE (Volunteer for International Experience) as project engineer in Japan at Ciel & Terre Tokyo Office
• Interests: Art and science
• Motivation: wants to participate to build a more sustainable society

1 – What made you want to join Ciel & Terre?

I first identified the current biggest challenge, the ecological transition, when I was a student. After graduating with an Energy and Environment Major from my engineering school, I wanted to participate more actively in this transition with my job, that is why Ciel & Terre inspired me.

2 – Why did you choose Japan for your VIE?

I was born and raised in France, but I grew up in a multicultural environment thanks to my Japanese parents and my education. Since I was little, I had a real interest in my second country, and as far as I can remember I always wanted to live and work there. It was maybe a necessary step to better understand my identity.

3 – What was your job during your VIE?

I was a project engineer working in designing floating solar power plants and their anchoring system for Japanese clients. I also integrated a modelling tool that simulates the power plant anchoring system behaviour under stress.

4 – What were the different steps when you signed your VIE contract?

I applied to the VIE offer I saw on Civiweb. Then got through 3 interviews: HR Japan, Technical team Japan, CEO Japan. The V.I.E contract is a 3-party contract between the V.I (me), the company (C&T) and the government (Business France), so after my interviews, C&T sent my application to Business France who prepared the contract and documents for VISA application.

5 – How would you describe this experience? What do you retain?

C&T Japan is a very dynamic company where you can ask quite openly what you would rather do in your tasks. I find this way of thinking truly encouraging. For me it was the simulation tool I worked on. It was originally not on my contract, but because of my previous working experience and my interest in this kind of engineering, C&T Japan let me work on the project. I was also impressed how they managed to create a multicultural environment within a country that is quite closed to foreigners with very few ethnicities; the atmosphere was so welcoming! 

6 – What were the most memorable moments?

I have many memorable humans and professional moments within this company, both in C&T International and C&T Japan offices, such as birthday parties, afterworks or even table tennis championship! There was a good balance between work and enjoying life in C&T. I remember particularly having fun at a girls’ lunch and found heart-warming to have so many female colleagues, it’s so rare in engineering! And for the serious part, the most memorable moment was when I had to replace my boss for a meeting with the METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) to explain our anchoring design method. It was certainly the most stressful and challenging moment in this stress-free experience at C&T Japan.

7 – How did the company help you throughout this experience?

Before my departure to Japan, I had to wait an unusually long time before getting my working VISA (5 months instead of 3 weeks in theory). During that time C&T let me work at their headquarter in Lille. It was a tough period of waiting without knowing why my VISA was taking so long and when I would finally be able to start my V.I.E. C&T showed real patience with this situation and helped me a lot feeling secure within this company.