#32 Evan Amezcua : Challenges the working culture of Japan ~ Create open community with software
Hi, I’m Momoka Uchida, an internship student at Beatrust. Whether you are a regular reader of “Beatrust on note” or a newcomer, thank you for opening this article. With every employee coming with a unique background, passion and commitment, today let me put a spotlight on our software engineer Evan Amezcua.
About Evan Amezcua
Can you briefly introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi everyone! I’m Evan Amezcua. I joined Beatrust last January as a software engineer.
Can you tell us about your Background?
I was born in the US, moved to New Zealand during secondary school, and worked in Australia. My first career was in the hospitality industry, which was a way for me to enjoy my passion for specialty coffee. I later decided to go back to school and learn more about web development, which led to my first job as a software developer at a brand-new startup in Melbourne. It was a service for the same hospitality industry, so it was a great way for me to transition careers while still using my past experiences. From that point onwards I’ve been able to learn more and grow as an engineer, and I’ve kept the same excitement for working in the startup space. I enjoy working closely with designers and find the most enjoyment in creating great UX for customers. It’s been about a year and a half since I moved to Japan and four months since I started working at Beatrust.
Growing up in western countries and suddenly moving to Japan should have been challenging. Why did you decide to move to Japan?
I came here on a few holidays and enjoyed it. I like how people are unique and different but good at making communities with people with the same interests. I also wasn’t planning to stay too long in Merbone and was kind of just ready for something new and different. I started my career as a web developer and figured it was pretty good. So I just wanted to see if I could make it work out here. I worked for about a year and figured if I enjoyed it, I would stay. And after a year went by really fast, I just thought I should get a job in dependency.
I see, since you enjoy life in Japan, are there any favorite activities that you do in Japan? What do you like to do outside of work?
When I’m not at work, I enjoy bouldering, riding my bike, and backpacking in the mountains around Japan. I spend a lot of my time at a desk, so it’s nice to have some hobbies that keep me active. I’ve also been doing some video editing and love watching movies, as well as building and driving RC 4-wheel drive trucks.
Do you find video editing very different from software engineering?
Yes. It is similar in the way that it both has a technical aspect but video editing is more of like a creative outlet. Technology has always been something that I feel comfortable with.
About Beatrust
How did you know about Beatrust?
Kume san! I had been living in Japan for a little over a year when I decided to look for a local job, and I was lucky to have Kume-san reach out to me on LinkedIn. I immediately was drawn to Beatrust mostly due to how positive and open the team looked, as well as from how closely the problems Beatrust aims to solve align with my values when it comes to work.
After actually joining Beatrust, what do you think is the difference between Beatrust and other companies?
In my opinion, Japanese work culture is very strict and has a hierarchical system and that was my biggest worry about getting a job in Japan. However, when I first came to Beatrust, I highly felt that the workers at Beatrust work efficiently and have a decent time to spend with families or work on hobbies. I think Beatrust is a great environment to balance out my work and my private life.
What do you think are the strengths and challenges of Beatrust?
I think the Mindset is the biggest strength of Beatrust. Its ideas and views are very different from other Japanese companies. We are also good at making a diverse team with a broad range of skills. I think the biggest challenge is overcoming the different expectations from the local companies and overseas companies. We expect to see the improvement in communication, knowledge sharing and creation of innovation by implementing Beatrust. However, sometimes there are challenges and demands that are particular to foreign businesses.
Job responsibilities and challenges
What do you do in Beatrust?
I’m a software engineer, so as a part of the engineering team we implement new features that the business requires, as well as taking time to improve and maintain the existing Beatrust application. Overall, my job is to not only write code but also find ways to improve the experience for both the development team and the end users of Beatrust. I have a strong background in UI engineering, so I’ve taken on a lot of front end development tasks since I first started, however, I’m slowly expanding my knowledge to other areas of the Beatrust.
Suddenly adjusting into a new engineering team and system must be challenging. What is your challenge at Beatrust?
Learning how the product works! I joined after many features have been created and I still need to understand a lot about how Beatrust is being used in different situations and what kind of UX (user experience) it is providing. There are many features that I am still working on understanding, and I would love to keep finding opportunities to further my knowledge so that I can better support the other devs on my team.
I heard there is a new feature coming up that you have been working on. Can you tell us about the production process of the new feature?- (Team introducing slide)
When I first saw the idea, I thought it is an amazing idea that now we are going to be able to introduce the “team” adding on to the personal profiles. We took time to deeply discuss how it could be used more easily and installed by the users. I’m very excited to introduce them. I hope this tool is going to be used by many users on different occasions.
Summary of the interview
In your opinion, what kind of person would be successful at Beatrust?
Someone who is passionate about workplace culture, and willing to learn from our users in order to deliver them a product that both meets their needs and improves their experiences. I think collaboration is key, regardless of what team or department a new Beatruster is a part of, as everyone can contribute in growing the business.
Do you have any message for people who are interested in Beatrust?
If you are passionate about helping to improve the workplace culture of Japan, being involved with Beatrust as a customer or staff is a great way to be a part of that journey.
Post interview notes
Evan Amezcua is a new software engineer. Looking at the interview, we could see his open mindedness to a variety of cultures and his passion towards technology.
We are grateful for Evan Amezcua’s time and discussion. His passion towards technology and engineering is vividly shown through the interview. I’m looking forward to seeing his continuing success here at Beatrust.
Founded in 2020, Beatrust is made up of people from diverse backgrounds who collaborate and improve each other every day. Stay tuned for more interviews.
If you are interested in Beatrust, please contact us at “ pr@beatrust.com”.
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