[Case study 7]Graduated from overseas university. Worked 7 years at KPMG in the UK and currently a MD at a Japanese accounting firm in Singapore. Ryoko Takao

シンガポールで就職起業した21人(日英表記)

<Profile>Went to the UK for university where she majored in archaeology. Worked at an accounting firm upon graduation and obtained the UK CPA qualification. Moved to Singapore where she set up the Singapore office for a Japanese company and is now doing cross-border work.

[Case 7]
I never imagined that I would be living overseas one day
Graduated from overseas university. Worked 7 years at KPMG in the UK and
currently a MD at a Japanese accounting firm in Singapore.
Ryoko Takao

Tell us about your career so far<1>

After I graduated from university in the UK I worked at Burberry for about a year. I studied Archaeology in university so it was pretty tough getting a job. I found the job through a recruitment agency. The job didn't require Japanese skills. I was hired by the headquarters in the UK to hande sales and administration. Eventually my role became that of installation and support of the Enterprise Resource Planning system (SAP).

Shortly after that, Deloitte KPMG was looking for fresh graduates that could speak Japanese in order to target the Japanese market. I applied and started work at the KPMG office in London. As a policy, KPMG mandates that new graduate employees have to qualify for the CPA within 3 years or they would be let go. The year I joined was the 2008 financial crisis. It didn't matter how long you had been with the company, many were let go en-masse. But as the Japanese market was seen as a crucial, I wasn't let go. That said there was intense pressure to get the CPA. I worked really hard at it while juggling the job and got the qualification. I worked at KPMG for a total of 7 years.

I lived in the UK for 12 years including my university days. I wanted to be more in touch with my Japanese roots so I registered on a recruiting site and they recommended to the company I'm currently working at.