Jija Pannarat Mekpornprasert
Nationality: Thai
Joined Nanameue August, 2018

What kind of job were you doing before working at Nanameue?

I graduated from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Beppu, Oita) majoring in International relations and Peace studies. My studies focused on Southeast Asia politics and relations.
After my graduation, I joined a real estate company in Tokyo, working in inbound sales and business development for two years. At my previous job, I worked with foreign clients and partners so I often traveled to Thailand, Philippines and Hong kong to meet them.

Why did you choose Nanameue? What made your interested in your position?

I chose Nanameue because I wanted to work in a new industry like the IT. I truly believe that the future really lies with technology. Plus, Nanameue has a close relationship with Thailand as soon we are planning to launch a new product in Thailand. So, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to try myself in a new industry while introducing new products to my home country, Thailand.

Please tell us a little bit about your work now. What are some tasks that you have to do daily, what are your current projects?

At Nanameue, I am the CTO’s Executive Assistant. My main job is to support the Web and App team.
I’m also doing customer support, answering end-customer’s inquiries online, sometimes work as a tester - testing web/app before the launch, as well as translating and proofreading from and to Thai/English/Japanese when needed.
Moreover, I also coordinate between our executives and the rest of the employees to make the work flow smoother.

That’s an impressive range of tasks! What would you say is the most fun part of your job?

The most fun part of my job is that I can learn everything about the process, from the large picture to the smallest detail. As a start-up company, Nanameue is very open for employees to learn new skills and there is always someone who can teach you all about it. Moreover, what I really like about my job is that I can communicate with all of my colleagues, not just one specific department.

You said that previously you worked at a real estate agency. Switching to an IT company must be quite a change of environment. How is your experience at Nanameue different from your previous work place?

I would say my previous work place was a very “japanese” medium size real estate company. Very strict and organised. The job was really structured, the workflow was really regimented and detailed. You had to follow the manual closely even when it’s not the most efficient thing to do, and I always felt like I wanted to work faster than I was supposed to.

Nanameue on the other hand is a very casual workplace, I never feel any hesitation to walk up and talk to someone here. If I have something to consult with someone about or any new ideas, I can just go and talk to them. In the other words, everyone is very open and is ready to listen to your ideas.

Is there anything that you think can be improved?

Because I have experience working in a company with a very regimented workflow, and Nanameue is at the other side of the spectrum, I see opportunities of how I can implement some things at Nanameue to strike that balance, so we can reach maximum efficiency without replicating overbearing organisational structures.

What are some new challenges that you would like to try undertaking in future? What are you currently trying to improve or learn?

I want to be a project manager in the future. A project manager is a Jack-of-all-trades person who has to have both soft and hard skills. I consider myself to have good organization and communication skills, however, in order to understand the team, I need to learn hard skills such as designing, programming, testing - and that’s what I am currently working on.

And the last question... What is your dream?

Right now my dream is really just to make the project I’m working on launching in Thailand soon succeed. (laughs)
In a longer term… I guess, I one day I want make my own product, application or website, from scratch. It would be amazing to bring an original idea to life, be involved in everything about the process and see it happen. But before dreaming about that I have a lot of learning to do, which I do every day at Nanameue - I want to be a person who knows everything about applications!