Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

As a conference organiser in Team Japan, I'm given overall responsibility for a certain event and am in charge of almost everything, from the initial research, through to creating draft contents, recruiting speakers, creating the website and final marketing. My team's conferences are held throughout the year in Tokyo.

I normally spend early mornings calling Japan to talk to people in the relevant industry to my current conference. The rest of my day is taken up with whatever other tasks I have to do - emailing people, researching online, creating conference/website/marketing material in both Japanese and English, and helping my colleagues with their work.

I work with a great team of people who all come from really diverse backgrounds and cultures. I get to use my Japanese language ability every day, and I also get to be involved in and learn about lots of different industries - my first event was in the pharmaceutical industry, and the one I'm working on now is to do with video games.

Working in unfamiliar industries is initially very daunting and challenging, and doing so in a foreign language adds an extra layer of difficulty. It's also an extremely busy and time-consuming job!

Previous to this job I had worked on the JET Programme in Japan, and part of my duties was running small international events for the local population. I enjoyed this part of my job a lot so was interested in continuing in a similar area upon returning to the UK.

Japanese language skills, interpreting/translation skills.

Mostly casual on-the-job training from colleagues as and when needed.

2009 - 2011: JET Programme
Assistant Language Teacher in Nagasaki city, Japan

2011 - 2012: JET Programme
Coordinator for International Relations, Nagasaki Prefectural Government

2012: Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level N1

I see myself continuing in events services for now, but who knows what the future will bring! If possible, I'd like to get a post-graduate degree sometime in the future.

If you're planning on getting a job in the UK using your Japanese skills, I would recommend doing the JLPT tests. I would also recommend signing up with recruitment agencies in London who specialise in Japanese-speakers.