Temporary Staff Interviews（３）

Mr. Sento, Mechanical Design Engineer

I’m currently working at the R&D and marketing site of a major electronic components manufacturer, where I’m in charge of mechanical design, primarily for product housing.

I’ve worked in the design field ever since I graduated from university. At one point, I wondered whether I should pursue another line of work. However, trying my hand at studying other fields reaffirmed to me that creating things myself was where my true passion lay. In particular, the popularization of 3D printers has made it much easier for individuals to create a variety of items, and this has made designing and making things even more exciting than before.

Before working at my current company, I worked as a freelance designer, but I decided to register with PERSOL because I realized that although I like to explore things on my own, I wanted to develop my skills further, so I valued the opportunity to work with a variety of different people. During my time as a freelancer, I had done a lot of work designing prototypes for wearable products such as smartwatches and earphones, so I was looking for a company where I could put this experience to use.

One of the best things is that I have the chance to interact with engineers specializing in fields that are different from my own. My current department handles design requests for prototypes and mass-produced products from across the entire company. The department includes not only designers like myself who are responsible for designing the housing for electronic circuits and other components, but also many designers who have switched jobs from other companies and have development experience in a variety of fields such as TVs, mobile phones, printers, and automotive components. I find it very exciting to learn about new technologies and know-how as I collaborate with the other mechanism designers during the design process.

In addition, I’ve always loved design, and this job gives me the opportunity to be involved in housing design. Previously, my role was passive—I was working to give shape to the ideas of the client’s designers in the form of product housing—but in my current position, I’m increasingly entrusted with the key task of determining what type of design is required as part of the housing design process.

I also enjoy interacting with my colleagues. In addition to chatting while we work together on design projects, my coworkers and I also go out for drinks after work sometimes. I’ve also joined the company’s basketball club where I enjoy working up a sweat on the court with the friends I’ve made there. Some of my colleagues also share my love of running, and recently, we’ve been talking about running a marathon together. My current workplace doesn’t require overtime, so I would have plenty of time on weekdays as well as weekends to train and prepare!

When I received a department head award, I felt that I had helped the company, at least to some extent. At the time, I was in charge of designing a particular product for mass production and received the award for significantly reducing defects in the mass production stage through “front-loading,” a process in which quality is built into the product during the upstream phase of manufacturing using data analysis and simulation.

To be honest, I generally do not have a clear feeling that my work is helping somebody. Still, there are times, such as when I am able to help a colleague by sharing my design knowledge or experience, that I do sense that I am helping to contribute.

As an engineer, when you step outside of your field of expertise, there is so much you don’t know. For example, although I have experience in housing design, I’m not knowledgeable about mechanism design or jigs, even though they fall within the same field of mechanical design. So, we teach each other the areas we are good at and learn from each other when we require expertise from outside our realm of knowledge. In the world of engineering, everyone is helpful to others in some way.

Registering with PERSOL helped me find a job that I would not have otherwise found on my own. As I wanted to design housing for wearable products, I’d envisioned myself working for a consumer electronics manufacturer. I didn’t imagine that an electronic component manufacturer like the company I currently work at would have the opportunity to work on the kind of housing design projects I was looking for.
It was PERSOL’s career advisor who introduced me to this job, which enabled me to work on the type of housing design I had hoped for, together with a great work environment.

I’ve been very impressed with the support PERSOL has provided me after starting the job. I report to PERSOL’s career advisor regularly about how my work is going, and consult with them if I encounter any difficulties. In such cases, I appreciate the fact that they really listen, and do not just give a cookie-cutter response. I feel comfortable interacting with PERSOL’s staff because they do not have the attitude that all temporary workers must work in a certain way.

Although I plan to continue working as a designer specializing in wearable products such as smartwatches, smart shoes, and earphones, in the future, I would like to expand the scope of my work. Until now, as a housing designer, I have mostly worked on products without moving parts, so in the future, I hope to be involved in designing products that incorporate movement. I am also skilled at creating complex three-dimensional shapes, so I plan to put this to use by proactively working on design projects that focus on design quality.

With regard to my work location, I’d also like the opportunity to work overseas one day. When I worked in aircraft design at a previous company, there were opportunities to work in the U.K. or the U.S., and I felt that one day, a chance might come my way. Then, when I worked as a freelancer, some of the products I worked on were manufactured at plants in China, so I also gained experience communicating with my local counterparts. Although the cultural and language differences can sometimes present a challenge, it’s also extremely stimulating and interesting, so I’d definitely welcome the opportunity to work in a role that involves overseas business.

My ideal future work style would be to wear two different “hats” as a designer. This would involve a steady job as a temporary employee, as I am currently doing, while simultaneously pursuing external projects that interest me as an independent designer. I believe that working in this manner will not only help me grow, but also allow me to contribute more to the company I work for. Fortunately, my current employer permits second jobs, so I hope to make this vision a reality in the future!