Liza
Entry date…Joined Rakuten Group mid-career as a partner staff in October 2022. Became a full-time employee in November 2023
Department…EC Solution Development Department (ECSD)
Position…Product Manager
Origin…Moscow, Russia
Hobby…Ballroom dancing, boxercising, roller skating
Liza, who is from Moscow, came to Japan to learn Japanese. She fell in love with Japan, and after working in another IT company for five years, she decided to join Rakuten Group mid-career in October 2022 as a partner staff, later changing to a full-time employee in November 2023.
Liza was looking for a new workplace that enabled her to grow as an engineer and provide good work-life balance when a friend introduced her to Rakuten Group. Did her hope come true? We interviewed Liza about the work environment at Rakuten Group, including her job description, skill development, and support from her team and manager.
INDEX
✔Joining Rakuten Group with the recommendation of a friend
✔Supportive workplace where I could relax from day one
✔Work environment with good work-life balance, just as I wanted!
Joining Rakuten Group with the recommendation of a friend
--Can you start by introducing yourself?
Hi, I’m Liza. I was born in Moscow and played violin and piano for seven years in junior and middle school. Although I was studying Amharic at MGIMO University, Faculty of International Relations, I had wanted to learn Japanese from childhood, so I went to Japan after graduating and learned Japanese for two years in a Japanese language school. After that, I studied 3DCG in Tokyo Gakuin. During these four years as a student in Japan, I fell in love with Japan and the Japanese people and decided to live here.
During the pandemic, I realized that I didn’t have a hobby I could be passionate about, so I tried ballroom dancing, and now I cannot imagine life without it. As a sport, I like boxercising because it increases my vitality and strength.
--Please tell us about your career before joining Rakuten Group.
Before joining Rakuten Group, I worked in another IT company for five years. The main field of this company was creating inbound tourism websites. My responsibility was to create architecture and backend for websites and quality control for the frontend part. Later, I was the main point for the communication between team members and also performed tasks as a product owner.
--Why did you change jobs to Rakuten Group?
I decided to change jobs because I wanted to work in an environment where I can openly suggest my ideas and ask questions without fear. Work-life balance was also a major factor. Knowing my hope, my friend recommended me to apply for Rakuten Group because it had the environment I was searching for.
Supportive workplace where I could relax from day one
--What are your thoughts and impressions after actually joining the company and starting work?
Usually, you feel very nervous on your first day at a new job, but that was not the case with Rakuten Group. I felt pretty relaxed – everyone was super friendly and ready to help. I thought that maybe it was because it was my first day, but after working for more than a year here, I understand now that it is the culture of the company to get together, help each other, and get things done.
Another great advantage of working at Rakuten Group is the good work-life balance. My team doesn’t have unreasonable overtime, and my manager is always ready to provide new challenges for me and help me improve my skills
--You mentioned you settled into the team smoothly from your first day. Was there any support from your manager?
Yes. In my personal opinion, in order to improve yourself at work, you need to ask questions to eliminate uncertainties, and the company must have the environment that allows you to ask questions. In many workplaces, newcomers are left to make their own decisions, expected to know everything from day one, or given only part of the information and left to guess the rest.
In this regard, my manager is the best manager I have ever worked with. He is friendly, always ready to answer my questions, and supports me to achieve even my personal goals. My manager has also helped me gain a deeper understanding of Rakuten Group’s strategies and policies.
Work environment with good work-life balance, just as I wanted!
--Please tell us about your work in Rakuten Group.
I am a Product Manager in Rakuten Group. My main task is to prepare requirements definitions for projects.
I first communicate with the business side to gather ideas and specifications they want for the system, and based on that, I create the scope of the project. Later, I add details on how each part should work.
When preparing the requirements definition, I communicate with the UI team and developer team to get all the necessary information. This is my main task, but in addition to this, I discuss with other teams to improve the workflow and provide detailed information about the features in the system as needed.
In addition, I participate in programs that enhance communication within the group and organize activities within the department, so team members can have a chance to know each other better and build good working relationships.
--Please tell us about the composition of the team you are assigned to. How is the atmosphere?
Our team has members of various nationalities: Japan, Taiwan, India, Vietnam, and Russia. Although we have different backgrounds, we have a very good atmosphere within the team, where we can trust and rely on each other. To build a stronger team, we also share fun times together, such as going go-karting, having game nights where we play video games in the office and enjoy pizza and drinks, and having year-end parties.
--Can you share with us your future career plans and what you would like to accomplish at Rakuten Group?
I am definitely happy with my life in Rakuten Group and plan to stay here long. I feel I have found here the best working environment among all the places I have worked at. Instead of waking up in the morning and thinking, "Omg, I need to go to work again...", I go to work with a positive attitude, "Today I can do this and that, and then I can also finish this task".
My current goal is to improve my skills as a Product Manager and launch the great product that we are now working on.
--Lastly, please give a message to those who are considering changing jobs to Rakuten Group.
I joined Rakuten Group because I wanted good work-life balance with opportunities to grow and improve. Firstly, even though my friend recommended me to join, I was wondering, "Can my hope be fulfilled in such a big company?" After joining, I found out that this is exactly what I wanted. So, if you are thinking of changing jobs, just come and see for yourself!
Come work with us!
EC Solution Development Department (ECSD) is looking for colleagues to join our team in developing new services, performing daily operations, and making improvements! Recruitment is open for a wide range of positions, including engineers and product managers. We look forward to your application.
