Japanese speaking jobs are not that common in Portugal, but there are opportunities at Teleperformance Portugal. Hyeran Kim is from South Korea and has lived in Japan for 10 years. She’s been working with us for about one year. We went to talk to her, to find out if the Japanese would adapt to Portugal.
Tell us about your experience in Portugal and in Teleperformance?
It’s my first time in Portugal and i feel really lucky coming to this country and joining this company since there isn’t that many Japanese speaking jobs. My main task is assigned to japan market. Currently there is ten people in our team and each one is responsible for one market.
You have lived in Japan. What do you think Japanese people would like the most in Portugal?
I think they will love the culture and the weather, of course. The weather is very important for Japanese people, since they have the earthquakes at home. There are some similarities between both cultures. Portuguese are humble people. And Japanese are very humble as well. The behavior in public is similar.
And what could be the major difficulty?
The language, for sure. And there are some differences in the way people handle the jobs. In Japan they don’t show the feelings so much. They don’t say no, they say let me think about it one more time.
Considering there are just a few japanese speaking jobs, do you think it would be easy for a Japanese to adapt to Portugal?
In may be difficult in the beginning. But I think Portuguese and Japanese both care about the company. Don’t think it will be that hard.
Japanese are very focused in work. Will they do well in a company such as Teleperformance, where there are high professional standards?
Yes, but there is an important difference. In japan quality is more important than speed. The mistakes are not allowed, even if they take longer to fulfil the task. But that would only be a problem in the beginning. When they adapt everything will be fine.
At TP we care about the work life balance. Do you think Japanese would like to participate in all the events we organize?
Well, Japanese people are more reserved. The private life is very important in Japan. Work is work and private life is private life, mostly with the family. But they can try and maybe they like.
And how do you feel about working in a multicultural ambience like ours. Does that make sense for Japanese?
Yes it does. In the beginning it’s possible that there are problems with the pronunciation and the communication may be a little harder. Japanese are basically shy and humble. But Japan is quite an international country with some of the biggest cities in the world. They are used to multicultural contexts. That will be a plus Teleperformance has to offer.
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