[How female engineers work] You can become a female engineer even if you have no experience!
This is Kai Fujisawa from public relations.
Are there any female engineers around you? I think there are fewer female engineers compared to male engineers. At our company, there is only one female out of 15 engineers
When I searched for "female engineers" to find out why there were so few, I found the following suggestions
"There are few female engineers," "Worries about female engineers," "Marriage of female engineers"
When I looked into this, I found that there were reasons such as "it's not suitable for women because there are night shifts" and "the work is so busy that you'll miss your chance to get married," as well as an image of it being a male-dominated society
So, is it true that women are not suited to being engineers? No, that's not the case
You can do anything! You can be anything! Women can become engineers too!!
To prove this, we asked this woman, the only female her journey from having no experience to becoming a professional
Sakina Nakagawa, Beyond Co., Ltd., System Solutions Department, 3rd year at the company
Since he is not allowed to show his face, he is wearing a Kamen Rider Build mask. (Nakagawa-san is a big fan of Kamen Rider.)
I decided to join in and put on a HUGtto Precure mask. (I really love Precure.)
table of contents
- The reason was that the people at the company were nice
- Synchronization is important
- Until inexperienced people get used to it
- So that tomorrow's me can have an easier time
- I can concentrate better on the night shift
- "Thank you" from customers
- The strengths of men and women
- What I want is empathy
- dream
- summary
The reason was that the people at the company were nice
Fujisawa
As you are Beyond's only female engineer, we'd like to hear from you today
Nakagawa-san
Thank you very much. By the way, this mask is getting in the way
Fujisawa
I was thinking the same thing. Shall we take it?
Nakagawa-san
Let's take it
Fujisawa
Ah, it's totally easy
Nakagawa-san
It's easy to breathe
Fujisawa
By the way, what made you become an infrastructure engineer?
Nakagawa-san
Well, on March 1st, 2015, during a typhoon, I went to a job hunting event held at Intex Osaka, and the last company I was given a presentation about was this one
Fujisawa
I see. What other companies did you go to hear presentations from?
Nakagawa-san
Well, I went to a lot of different places. I didn't limit myself to a specific industry
Fujisawa
Is this an industry you like?
Nakagawa-san
There was absolutely nothing. It was quite surprising
Fujisawa
I think I'll go for now
Nakagawa-san
At the time, I didn't even know that there was a job called infrastructure engineering. So it wasn't like, "I want to be an infrastructure engineer!", but rather, I thought the people at the company were really nice and the atmosphere seemed great, so I had a strong desire to have a position at Beyond
Fujisawa
Wow! Did you have such a good impression just from the information session?
Nakagawa-san
I didn't have any qualifications and I didn't go to a prestigious university, so no matter where I went I'd be starting from the same line, so I wanted to join a company where I'd want to devote myself to the people and the company. I'm sure I'll last longer if I immerse myself in the company, and that suits me best. So Beyond was the best option
Fujisawa
I see. What did you answer when asked about your motivation for applying during the interview?
Nakagawa-san
"Because this company's atmosphere seemed the best during the information session." Looking back, I think that was a pretty arrogant statement (laughs)
Fujisawa
That must have been a good thing!
Nakagawa-san
So, by chance, he was hired as an infrastructure engineer. So it's like the means and the ends are reversed
Fujisawa
When you joined the company, you had no IT knowledge at all, right?
Nakagawa-san
It wasn't that bad, which surprised me. But the other two students in my class were studying information technology at school, so I was like, "Wow!"
Fujisawa
Were you a liberal arts student, Nakagawa-san?
Nakagawa-san
I'm a liberal arts student, so I didn't even know the first thing about servers
Fujisawa
I see. How did you explain that to your parents when you were job hunting?
Nakagawa-san
"Well, for now, that's it."
Fujisawa
I have no idea (lol)
Nakagawa-san
It was like I could just say it was IT related
Fujisawa
Well, it's difficult to explain, isn't it? Before you joined the company, what kind of people did you think you would be?
Nakagawa-san
I used to think that engineers don't talk much to people
Fujisawa
That's true. I thought engineers were people who made cars
Nakagawa-san
Right. When I first entered the company, I just tried to be polite
Fujisawa
When I joined the company, I was simply amazed to see people chatting with the person sitting next to them in the office
Synchronization is important
Fujisawa
How was the training after joining the company?
Nakagawa-san
In short, I felt like I didn't understand it... But the other two students in my class had some knowledge, so they were able to pick it up fairly quickly.
Fujisawa
Nakagawa was the only one among his classmates who had no experience in IT
Nakagawa-san
I just felt inferior (lol)
Fujisawa
It's hard to say, "I don't really understand."
Nakagawa-san
But at least I was blessed to have had the opportunity to work with the same classmates as me. If I had been alone, it would have been much more difficult
Fujisawa
Wow. Synchronization is important
Nakagawa-san
During my interview with the president in my first year, he said to me, "At this stage, Nakagawa-san is the least capable of the three of us, but I think he will grow from here and that he is someone who will make constant efforts to grow, so if he keeps doing that, I think he will one day surpass the other two."
Fujisawa
Wow! I'm sure you must have thought that even before you joined the company
Nakagawa-san
During the interview, I said that I didn't have that kind of knowledge or experience, so although I was expected to produce results at work, I was helped by the fact that they took a long-term view of who I was as a person
Fujisawa
Admittedly, I've never been rushed either
Nakagawa-san
Even though I was growing slower than the others and was wondering, "What is a server?", I think it was a big help that the president himself was waiting for me
Until inexperienced people get used to it
Fujisawa
How long did it take you to get used to the job after you started out not knowing anything?
Nakagawa-san
Well, it'll definitely take a year
Fujisawa
That's right
Nakagawa-san
I received training for the first three months, and then three months of on-the-job training, but there were still a lot of things I didn't understand. Even when I was told to make a server, I was like, "I don't know..." Plus, even when I received inquiries from customers, the server environments and things they were doing were all different depending on the customer, so I didn't often get the same inquiries
Fujisawa
Even if you remember something you were taught once, you have to do it differently again
Nakagawa-san
That's right. So it was helpful that the person in charge of my OJT had kept a record of what they had done. So I decided to keep a record of what I had done as well, so that whoever did it later would be able to do it the same way.
Fujisawa
Wow. It's important to be able to understand the procedure by looking at the manual even if no one has done OJT
Nakagawa-san
Sometimes when people say things like, "I was able to do it by looking at the instructions that Nakagawa-san made!", I can't help but smile. I know they should admire me more (laughs)
Fujisawa
Hehe (lol)
Nakagawa-san
I feel like I've done something (laughs) and I'm glad I made it. I think it was around the time I started making things like that, a year after I joined the company, that I started to get used to the job. There are still some things I don't understand, though
Fujisawa
Is your attitude towards work different in your first, second and third years?
Nakagawa-san
That's right. In an interview before I started my second year, my boss told me to "keep a record of what you've done," and that if I kept a record of what I did, to whom, and what the results were, one item per day, I would have accomplished 365 items in one year
Fujisawa
method
Nakagawa-san
If you fail at something once and know the reason why, you will definitely not fail the next time you try, and if you keep a record of such things, you can look at them occasionally and think, "Oh, I did this before," and see a clear accumulation of work
Fujisawa
I see! You can see it clearly
Nakagawa-san
Even if nothing special happens, it's easy to see how much I've done at that time. I've made an effort to evaluate myself before being evaluated by others. If there's something I don't understand, I try to ask, and I've come to realize that being passive is no good
Fujisawa
Did you become more aware of this as you continued working?
Nakagawa-san
With tears in my eyes
Fujisawa
He said he was trained
Nakagawa-san
yes
Fujisawa
Do you feel like you're now making full use of your well-trained skills?
Nakagawa-san
I wonder. After two years, I've started to see things from different perspectives, such as realizing what the books I read in my first year meant
Fujisawa
Wow! So it reminds you of a book you read before
Nakagawa-san
That reminds me. If you have gained experience, you can now understand things that you didn't understand before, so I think that technical jobs like engineering are a daily learning experience
Fujisawa
Skills can be acquired later, so in the end it's personality that's important
Nakagawa-san
Isn't that right? No matter how much knowledge or skill you have, if people don't want to work with you, it's all for nothing. The skills that are required are things you can only acquire once you're hired
So that tomorrow's me can have an easier time
Nakagawa-san
When I say "study," I'm not sure what I should be doing, but for example, I'm building a server in a test environment, learning how servers work, the different types of servers, and other fundamental things to solidify my foundation. I'm also studying for the Linux LPIC certification
Fujisawa
Do you do that when you get home after work?
Nakagawa-san
That's right. Although studying sounds serious, I think it's fun to learn about things I've never seen or heard before
Fujisawa
That's an idea I'd never had... When you had to learn from scratch, were you eager to study?
Nakagawa-san
Oh no..
Fujisawa
so?
Nakagawa-san
While working on my thesis, I was reading books on the basics of Linux, but I couldn't understand it. I came across a word I didn't understand, and when I looked it up, I found another word I didn't understand, and it was like a matryoshka doll
Fujisawa
No matter how much I research, I can't seem to make any progress..
Nakagawa-san
But the moment you turn 0 into 1, the next step is not 2, but 3 or 4, so I didn't understand it, but I somehow got it, and that was fun
Fujisawa
Wow! What is this word? Do you still find yourself thinking that?
Nakagawa-san
Yes. Like, "What are you talking about!?" You need to understand it when you're running a client's server, and you have to make up for any shortcomings yourself, so I'm studying to make things easier for myself tomorrow. I think somewhere deep down I find that interesting
I can concentrate better on the night shift
Fujisawa
When did you start working the night shift?
Nakagawa-san
It was around October of my first year. I started with other people around June, and was on my own from October
Fujisawa
That was pretty quick. Were you scared at first?
Nakagawa-san
It was really scary. But my parents were nurses, so it didn't feel strange for me to work the night shift. It wasn't like there were any ghosts or anything
Fujisawa
That's true (lol)
Nakagawa-san
I had heard about night shifts during the company briefing session, so I wasn't opposed to it. Besides, I had to do what I had to do. I didn't get sleepy, so I could concentrate better at night
Fujisawa
I see. What else do you do on the night shift besides responding to alerts?
Nakagawa-san
When I take over, I have to deal with any remaining inquiries, or any other work that I've been assigned. Recently, it's been creating manuals
"Thank you" from customers
Nakagawa-san
Even if I'm going through some tough times, when a customer responds to my daily inquiries with a business-like "thank you," all those feelings go away
Fujisawa
That's a good thing
Nakagawa-san
I think it's great to have customers say thank you directly to you, as it gives you a sense of accomplishment and makes you feel like it was worth doing
Fujisawa
Do you have more of these interactions over the phone or chat?
Nakagawa-san
I use chat. I still call when it's urgent, but I'm not as nervous about making phone calls as I was at the beginning
Fujisawa
Were you scared of the phone at first?
Nakagawa-san
It's really scary. It's a shame, but it took me more than three months to remember the names of the people in my company. I was like, "Who the hell is this?" There were times when I couldn't even remember who had just gone on break
Fujisawa
At first, you're probably wondering, "What team was this person on?" By your second year, were you able to use your experience in your work?
Nakagawa-san
That's right. After a year, the expectations and responsibilities of being able to do this much have increased
Fujisawa
Is that more rewarding?
Nakagawa-san
Yes, I do feel a sense of responsibility
The strengths of men and women
Fujisawa
Are there any differences between men and women when it comes to work?
Nakagawa-san
I think there are some differences between men and women that cannot be bridged
Fujisawa
Speed or something?
Nakagawa-san
Ability and durability
Fujisawa
Ahh. When you say durability, do you mean the amount of time you can continue working with it?
Nakagawa-san
Men also have more physical strength
Fujisawa
That's true, but even when I look at it from the outside, it doesn't seem like Nakagawa is the only woman on the team
Nakagawa-san
What does that mean!?
Fujisawa
I've never really thought that she was in any trouble because she's the only woman there. I just thought she was working normally. At least, that's how it looked
Nakagawa-san
Well, the appearance
Fujisawa
I don't know what's going on inside though
Nakagawa-san
That's gone compared to last year
Fujisawa
I joined the company in November of last year, and at the time I was impressed by how much work Nakagawa-san was entrusted with, which was hard to believe considering he was only in his second year
Nakagawa-san
I feel so lucky to have someone who sees me that way
Fujisawa
Are there any strengths that are unique to women?
Nakagawa-san
I guess it's the attention to detail. I don't really like routine work, but by doing the little things I can be entrusted with more work
Fujisawa
There are some things that only women can notice. If a woman wants to become an infrastructure engineer, are there any personality traits that you think are good for her?
Nakagawa-san
A book I read yesterday said "a person who is meticulous." Operating something that is supposed to work means knowing that it is natural and understanding how it leads to the results. It also said that carelessness is not tolerated, but I don't think that's true
Fujisawa
Does that mean it's not suitable for people who are careless?
Nakagawa-san
Even though I say "well-organized," I think it depends on the situation. When responding to alerts, the way you respond varies depending on the situation, and even if you follow the manual, things may not actually go as planned, so I think you need to look at things and act differently. The skills required for each response are different and require a flexible way of thinking, so I don't think there is one type of person who is generally suited to the job
Fujisawa
I see. So you're someone who can think on their own terms
What I want is empathy
Fujisawa
Did you have any problems being the only woman on your team?
Nakagawa-san
I feel relieved when I can have casual conversations with women from other departments and have them empathize with me even about small things, so sometimes I can't do that within my team. I don't need an answer, I just want empathy.
Fujisawa
That's true. People solve their problems on their own
Nakagawa-san
Yes, I don't want to hear the truth
Fujisawa
I understand
Nakagawa-san
It's very relatable
Fujisawa
So would you be happy to have a woman on your team?
Nakagawa-san
I guess either way is fine. I'd be happy if you like Kamen Rider though
Fujisawa
A Kamen Rider girl, huh? (laughs) To begin with, there aren't many women who want to become infrastructure engineers
Nakagawa-san
Is it difficult to get into the industry? Even someone like me who only has to ask "What is an infrastructure engineer?" can become one
Fujisawa
I can't even type blind
Nakagawa-san
Me too. Even if I can't do it, I can still do my job
dream
Fujisawa
Finally, please tell us about your dreams
Nakagawa-san
First of all, my goal is to become someone who can be useful to the team. I want to get close to that position. My dream is to become a troubleshooter. I think being grateful to customers is what motivates me, so being a troubleshooter is what suits me best. I will spare no effort to get closer to that goal. The only way to gain confidence is to do it yourself.
Fujisawa
That's true. There are things that you can get help from others and things that only you can do
Nakagawa-san
I want my boss to recognize me, but I also want him to get angry at me
Fujisawa
Is it difficult to understand your customers' needs?
Nakagawa-san
Yes. I have to dig deep and ask questions like, "So this is how it is, and you want to do this?" There are a lot of things I have to think about on my own. That's why I always need sugar
Fujisawa
They eat chocolate during their breaks
Nakagawa-san
It's more like consuming rather than eating
Fujisawa
It feels like you're drinking nectar from a flower
Nakagawa-san
However, I don't have any special awareness that I'm working as an infrastructure engineer, and I feel like I'm no different from any other company employee. To be honest, I don't even think of myself as an infrastructure engineer
Fujisawa
What is an infrastructure engineer?
Nakagawa-san
Hmm. It feels like they're building the foundation so that the service can be used. It's something that's taken for granted, so it's not flashy. I prefer that, though
Fujisawa
That means it's a behind-the-scenes job
Nakagawa-san
Yes, I think it's suitable for people who want to work steadily. what's good about the company job. It's best to have a strong motivation for joining the company.
Fujisawa
Certainly, if you choose a company like that, you want to be able to do the work you're not good at. Thank you for speaking on behalf of Beyond's female infrastructure engineers!
summary
Currently, there are few female engineers, but if you have the desire to work for a company, it doesn't matter if you have no experience or if there are few women
You may feel anxious about working night shifts or that it will delay your marriage, but the strong desire to work here will be the driving force that will keep you going
Even if you fail, you can just try again, so keep in mind that "you can do anything, you can be anything," and use the things that only you can do and your strengths to reflect that in your work
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