Why bother with a PR & marketing internship in Japan, so far away from home?
International internships are highly regarded by employers who value the cultural awareness and other hard and soft skills gained from interning abroad. On top of that, it is a unique experience to kick off your career in the highly-competitive PR & marketing industry.
Especially Tokyo is a hot spot when it comes to PR & marketing. The Japanese market is considered to be one of the biggest market in the world! As such, it is impossible to ignore and massively attracts international companies who also want a slice of the cake. However, consumers in the Land of the Rising Sun behave much differently from their Western counterparts, so you will gain a new perspective on how to handle consumers demands and create appropriate marketing materials. This experience will genuinely challenge your skills, but you will walk away from your time interning in Tokyo with a deeper understanding of the working of the society and business challenges alike.
During your internship, you will work together with and learn from experienced professionals who will ask you to give it your best shot. You will not only sharpen your skills and expand your network, but also use your comparative advantage as a foreigner to analyze cases from an external perspective on things and leave your mark on the Japanese market. You will learn how to combine modern strategies with traditional Japanese approach. The Japanese market has continuously been used as a lab by global and local companies alike to develop new marketing strategies. Stretching across all sectors, you will be ideally placed to witness trends and developments in the field.
The demand for PR & marketing experts with international exposure has been on the rise as more and more companies want to enter the Japanese market. Similarly, more and more local businesses want to venture outside of Japan and explore opportunities abroad. As a future PR & marketing professional, venturing into different cultures is of crucial importance to be able to be a bridge between various stakeholders later on. Because you will be have to engage with many actors, you will gain invaluable cultural and professional hands-on experience, which are gold worth and will help you to success in the PR & marketing sector. As far as the language is concerned, you do not have to speak fluent Japanese to land a PR & marketing internship in Tokyo. However, knowing a bit of Japanese and being aware of the differences that characterize Japan work culture will help you to enjoy the experience to its fullest.
Conducting a PR & marketing internship in the world’s largest urban center is for sure the best way to learn by doing. This will be a career-shaping experience, as well as your first step to self discovery! With numerous international and local PR & marketing agencies headquartered in Tokyo, it is needless to say that opportunities to land a great internship are exponentially expanding!