I was staying in a hotel within the sprawling Tokyo metropolis with its neon-lit skyscrapers and historic temples – I had never seen anything like it before. The scenery was as new to me as was the work within the project.

The skills I was learning involved integrating SAP with Salesforce to tailor a unique sales and work order management solution for our client. Although I had never worked with SAP before, my team supported me by providing me with plenty of resources, learning sessions and answering any questions that I had.

On the Salesforce side, I was putting my developer certification to good use by diving deep into building flows and programming with Apex and Aura components.
The platform used to integrate the two platforms is Vigience’s product Overcast. Although I primarily worked on development, I also had the opportunity to interact with multiple key stakeholders regularly, showcase the work that I had done to our client and present solutions that we had built. I was given a lot of responsibility and trust from day one and was given support whenever needed.
The project had a few technical challenges. We tackled these by developing creative, elegant solutions to the problems, which was the most rewarding aspect of the project. I had to employ my problem solving and time management skills daily, while collaborating with the rest of the team.

My favourite part of working in Japan was being able to work with a great team from a variety of different backgrounds in a foreign country. They made me feel welcome, taught me Japanese, and guided me around different parts of the country.
For people looking to go to Japan, I would highly recommend visiting the cultural capital of Kyoto and the quiet spa town of Karatsu – you won’t be disappointed!