Written by Hasan (Class of 2021 / Libya)
I am one of the students that chose to stay in Japan over winter break. As part of the Winter Work Program, the staff at UWC ISAK Japan work hard to find work opportunities for students like me and so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to participate.
There were many options available, including hospitality, welfare, a winter kids camp, and even ski resorts, but the one that caught my eye was the 2-week internship program with Nihon M&A Center, Inc. It was one of the best choices I ever made and led to the most interesting two weeks of my life.
Why I choose Nihon M&A Center
M&A stands for mergers & acquisitions, which sounded incredibly interesting to me. I’ve always been interested in business and I wanted to learn more about how the real work world works. And I also had a feeling that this was a rare and special opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.
A typical day
I was joined by two of my “senpais” (seniors) – Brunella (Peru / Class of 2020) and Eduardo (Mexico / Class of 2020). The typical day for us usually started with a presentation and discussion in the morning from one of the employees about a certain aspect of Nihon M&A Center, such as how they operate and what they do. We’d then join lunch and offer English conversation lessons for one hour to employees wishing to practice English. After lunch, we worked on drafting company information summaries and designing presentations. Or we would work on small projects where we’d get a list of possible buyers and sellers and our job was to research them and consider which businesses would be the best M&A match.
The biggest challenges
My first project was a real challenge because so much was new to me, especially looking at things from a macro-economic perspective. There were also a lot of graphs and charts to look at so it took some getting used to. But it also helped me realize how important these tools are in the real world. And besides, the point of the internship was to take on new experiences and be challenged, so it was perfect.
What I learned
I’m very grateful to Nihon M&A Center for the opportunity to spend two weeks with them in Tokyo. I learned a lot from my co-workers about the Company and the M&A industry. Before the internship, I really didn’t know much about M&A, but through the internship and seeing how things work first-hand, I could appreciate how much work goes into M&As and how difficult it is to manage a business.
Learn more about our Winter Work Program here.
UWC ISAK Japan thanks Nihon M&A Center, Inc. for their ongoing support of our school and students.
