Life @ Fujitsu Ten Solutions Philippines

FEU - East Asia College interns with Ma'am Mitch and Sir Adrian

Internship - An opportunity that gives you a glimpse of what it feels like in the professional world.

            That is what I believe even before I am still preparing on what internship will offer to me. It is like a 3D cinema where you can watch and feel what the actors/actresses actually do in the film. You may not have a full-time experience on it but it gives you a familiarity of what is in it. And now, in my second internship, let me share to you what I had watched – or should I say experienced – in Fujitsu Ten Solutions Philippines, also known as FTSP.

Turning Japanese ♪♫

As most of us know, Japanese people are well-known for their humility and their patriotism to their country. Not to mention, their discipline for themselves is almost 10 out of 10: Dedication, Punctuality, and Loyalty. Those are virtues that make us a better individual throughout our lives.

Fujitsu Ten Headquarters in Japan

            At FTSP, which is a Japanese company, what I mentioned a while ago exercises the virtues and the culture of it. It really blends to Filipino culture and one of it is hospitality. Their non-threatening and welcoming environment makes you feel that you are at home. Like going early in the office with some people giving you a smile and greeting that can brighten up your day. In fact, their strong influence really changed me on whom and what I am. I am be overreacting in this cliché here but life, as we all know, is short. Work is not just working to earn money for you to survive. Instead, work is where you put your love on it and strive for excellence. With that, I can say that being a just know-all-of-it person with an unpleasant attitude will not make you happy in your life. Live life. Do not take it too seriously. 

Hey! Get out in your comfort zone!

            Throughout my internship, I already set up my mind that this moment will make me a successful IT specialist someday if, and only if, I got out in my comfort zone. Yes, the thing that always bugs me: Programming.

            I kind of loss of its interest after I went into 2^nd year college where I was focused more in networking. To make the long story short, I was not able to hone myself in programming. That is why I challenged up in companies that are into software/web development. Since I have already a foundation in programming because of my last internship, I enhanced it more by studying consistently and explore more new things about it – that when I was introduced to C#. At first, I was kind of unease when my supervisor told me to study it because they need it to make a software application tool for the project. Good thing my co-intern, who is Kyle Marin, guides me at first to have a background in C# because he already is proficient in it.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed studying it because not only it has numerous ways of functions to use to, but also most of its codes are based in English which makes it more readable. One of my colleague said to me that having a foundation in C/C++ will give me a gateway to most modern programming languages. Meaning, it will not give me a hard time in dealing with other languages.  I remember my co-worker Sir Bonn mentioned a quote that inspired me in our meeting, which I think came from the movie “3 Idiots”, he said that:

“Do not chase on success. Chase excellence and success will come looking for you.”

Party! Party!

From left to right: Marinella, LA, Me, Kyle, Daryll

One of the things I have enjoyed while staying here is the party celebration in the company. It is like someone saying, “Hey, you still have to enjoy your life. Have fun!” – Or something like that. A small gathering of eating foods in a department, or even a grand celebration of the company is one way for escaping our mind to our work for the time being.

One of those events is the semester end party at One Corporate Centre. It is indeed enjoying – the foods, games, everything! Honestly, I was not expecting that it will be that grand because it is my first time to join in a company party. We interns were also treated nicely by some of employees as if we already stayed at the company for too long.

Japanese Managers singing "Pinoy Ako" by Orange and Lemons

I cannot forget the time when the two Japanese managers came to the stage and sing “Pinoy Ako.” A big roar came from the crowd – I was part of that crowd – shouting because of enjoyment. I really liked their showmanship even though they are managers; they do not care doing anything silly as long as all of us will enjoy it.

Another event is the company-wide Fujitsu Ten Christmas party at Tektite, Ortigas. The theme of the party is “At the Movie” in which most of the departments spend their time acting and buying the appropriate clothes before the event despite of their busy schedules. Some of the notable movies chosen are Shrek, Twilight, Toy Story, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Twilight is what my section chose for the event in which I was one of the werewolves. It surely is fun even though we did not win in the contest but it is sure is unforgettable.

CRAMAS Department portraying the Twilight casts

With all the experiences throughout my stay in FTSP, I therefore conclude that Fujitsu Ten Solutions Philippines is one of the internship sites that will give you proper training and guidance while you are staying at them. They will give you real work experience and how it feels like in an actual project – including time management and dedication. Not all of what you learned in school will be in the company because they have different requirements. It is still your responsibility to adjust to change because that is inevitable.

Their Japanese-Filipino culture will give you a comfortable workplace that can make you more productive. Moreover, their strict protocols like preventing tardiness makes you more disciplined. Dedication, loyalty and respect are the virtues FTSP can influence you which are an asset to most of the companies. With FTSP, ensure that your stay will them will be a worthwhile and meaningful.

Life @ NarraSystems Corporation

     The professional world is like a jungle. In order to survive, you must be prepared in the trials ahead. Survival of the fittest, I must say. That is why internship is one great opportunity for every individual. Here are some of my notable experiences during my stay in NarraSystems Corporation.

Programming Dilemma

     I really remember my first week of staying in NarraSystems Corporation since I know from myself that I am not a coder. I was given a task wherein I have to create a student record that can view, insert, update and delete a specific data using C++. At first, my mind went blank and began to pity myself at that time because I did not know what to do while my co-interns are starting to simulate their codes to build the program. Actually, I did not want that to happen again that is why I reviewed some of the things that I learned at FEU – East Asia College. I also seek from help in the books, internet and sometimes ask some questions from my colleagues if there is something that I do not understand. Thankfully, I was able to create it and showed to our program manager afterwards.

Free lunch, anyone?

     One of the things that I find delighting is the free lunch they give to us every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Not only it will save us money but also it gave us less worries on what food are we going to eat. This is also where we can develop camaraderie among employees and interns: Share stories, tell some jokes, and many more.

    Fried chicken is my favorite among the dishes they cook for us. Even though we can classify it as pantawid-gutom, but it really is delicious especially if it is being partnered with catsup. Funny thing here is that there is a low chance that you might can get a chicken that is very meaty.

Meet My Team

    There was a time wherein the company informed us that we are going to be deployed from different team because what we did in our first week is just training. I was being assigned to the database management (DBM) team which is focused on software development and there I met my teammates.

    Our team is composed of a team leader, three interns from FEU – East Asia College and one intern from Asia Pacific College. Mr. John Dewars Agustin, who is the team leader, is the one who manages the tasks and deliberately assign it to us interns afterwards. In fact, he is an ECE graduate and do not engage much in programming. But his logical skills put him into the test and find out that the programming field is what he wants.

    Actually, I can say that I really learned from him and inspired me to pursue my career in programming because of some of the advices that he told to me. With his skills, it looks that he is an expert in this field. And by my surprise he said, “Sabay lang tayo nag-aral dito ng C++, nasa sa iyo na yan kung interesado ka at gusto mong aralin ng husto.”What I like in our team is that we are having fun even if we are encountering problems in the system. It might look like we are just fooling around, but if it is time for work; we are dedicated in our tasks.

    Few weeks later before I end my internship, I was deployed together with one of my teammates into the QA testing team. It is kind of boring since all you have to do is checking of errors and reports it afterwards. But, it is also improves my skill in analyzing because there are times that I would propose a better way in order for the project to be more user-friendly.

Conclusions

    With all the notable experience that I have stated, I therefore conclude that those things gave an impact into my life. Getting out from my comfort zone is essential because that is one way of improving myself to become a better individual.  Like what I have indicated in my experiences, I am having a hard time when it comes to programming. Enthusiasm and dedicated in the work pushed me in order to accomplish my tasks.

    Another one is the importance of money. I realized that it is not easy to earn and should not be wasted in some things that are not significant. That is why I am thankful because of my parents who are working hard for me in order for me to have a good life. Working with a team is also a key to finish a certain module. Doing a task alone is not very efficient especially if it is a project.

    Lastly, despite of the struggles that I have encountered with the company, I still learned many things like gaining experience that I can apply when I land into job after I graduate. Enjoy what you are doing. Love your work.