Insights

As a Bridge System Engineer (BrSE) with nearly 5 years of dedication to NTQ Consultant Japan (NCJ), Soma Tomoyuki has always brought a delightful experience to everyone he meets with his cheerful and approachable demeanor. In this conversation with NTQ Rubik, Soma continues to share his experiences at NTQ and insights into the highly useful world of being a BrSE for those who aspire to pursue this career.

Hello, Soma! Nearly 5 years of companionship with NTQ may not be an exceedingly long journey, but it's certainly enough time for you to understand why you've been committed to the company. Could you share with everyone the reasons behind this and the time when you joined NTQ?

Before coming to NTQ, I had worked for 10 years in the field of Information Technology (IT) as a Systems Engineer (SE). I became interested in NTQ and joined the company in 2019 through a referral from an acquaintance.

When I first joined, the team worked in a relatively small office in Yokohama, but with the company's growth, we moved to a larger office in the central area of Tokyo, expanding both in scale and number. I sensed the company's development and felt that I also wanted to develop myself to not be left behind.

I think the reason I have been with NTQ for so long is because we share many common values. Those include a positive attitude, energy, and freedom. In many Japanese companies, there are strict rules, and there are places where mistakes are not tolerated, which can gradually lead to frustration due to the fear of making mistakes. However, since working with Vietnamese colleagues, who are always open-minded and forgiving, my attitude towards work has changed, and now I dare to challenge myself, make mistakes, and if I fail, I see it as an opportunity to learn. This has helped me to love my job, find motivation, and be more enthusiastic in my efforts.

With 10 years of experience as an SE, why did you decide to transition to being a BrSE at NCJ (NTQ Consulting Japan)?

In my previous job, I was involved in offshore development projects in China and Vietnam. Working at NTQ, being exposed to team members from different cultural backgrounds, I found many interesting things. Learning more about the culture of your country, working with talented people has helped me broaden my perspective with diverse viewpoints, and improve my communication skills. Therefore, I decided to switch to being a BrSE.

During the first 2 years of working at NCJ, I was not involved in projects related to offshore development, so I worked as an SE. It wasn't until the last 3 years that I received offshore projects, and that's when I officially started working as a BrSE.

What do you find challenging and enjoyable about being a BrSE at NTQ?

Being a BrSE is a bridge role, conveying information between the project team and the client, ensuring that the project runs smoothly and meets deadlines. Therefore, besides technical knowledge, this job also requires many skills: communication, people management, time management, emotional control, etc.

I must admit that one of the headaches is managing the time to fulfill client requirements. You have to be clever to find the "intersection" between two factors: the ability to respond to the work of the offshore development team and the deadline the client expects. Due to the time zone difference and cultural differences between the two countries, this is not easy. Additionally, maintaining stable quality is also a challenging issue.

However, besides the difficulties in the job, I have gained a lot of joy. The company regularly organizes bonding events for the members, such as company birthday events, welcoming parties for new members, birthday parties for members, or team sports activities in which family members of staff can also participate. Thanks to NTQ, I can enjoy working every day.

In your opinion, what factors are needed to become a good BrSE?

For the BrSE job, besides knowledge and information in the IT field, you need to have a clear understanding of the client and your team to communicate requirements and information so that the other party understands and feels comfortable working with you. The nature of the BrSE position is to collaborate with multiple parties, so incidents or misunderstandings are inevitable. My secret is not to let those things create pressure or frustration. Instead, keep a positive spirit, prioritize the project's goals to find solutions together.

As a current BrSE, do you have any plans for the future and personal goals you can share?

Laughs In the future, I will work at NTQ until retirement. As for my current goals, it is to enhance skills and knowledge to be able to carry out the entire process from proposal to product release independently. At NTQ Japan, the role of a BrSE often requires many management tasks, but my focus is mainly on proposing solutions and defining requirements for clients. Members of NTQ Japan are experienced and knowledgeable, with many technical seniors. Therefore, I always try my best to surpass them.

Thank you, Soma, for your very intimate and sincere sharing. I wish you and the company more achievements and breakthroughs in 2024.

With his efforts and contributions, last January, Soma Tomoyuki was honored to receive the "Best Employee of the Year 2023 of NTQ Japan" award and represented the company to participate in the nomination category "NTQ The Best Performer" of the NTQ Awards 2023. This is the result of years of effort; it is a recognition and appreciation for Soma's contributions to NTQ over the past 5 years and will surely provide motivation for him to continue developing.

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*This article is part of the series: "NTQ Rubik - series about NTQ people across the globe." 

As a Global IT Service Provider, NTQ Solution aims to create a working environment that brings together diverse technological talents with a shared passion, ambition, and unity to innovate and propagate numerous values. At NTQ Solution, we empower our employees to "shine" by providing a diverse, free, and flexible space to hone their skills and conquer the global market.