June 4th ~ 8th, 2018
From June 4th to the 5th, nine students, five from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS), and another four from TUFS’ partner universities in Russia, participated in group-work-oriented internships at Deloitte & Touche CIS, in Moscow. The students from the partner universities plan to attend the Russo-Japanese Business Summer School to be held the following month at TUFS.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Co., Ltd. is a multinational corporation which is considered to be one of the four largest accounting firms in the world, and employs over 240,000 specialists throughout the world. The corporation is affiliated with local firms in over 150 countries. Deloitte & Touche CIS maintains offices in seven major cities in Russia, with over 2,100 specialists focused on business development.
There is an increasing diversity in the kinds of Japanese companies which are entering the Russian Market, with an increasing number of Japanese companies looking to resource-rich Russia as a stable market. Deloitte CIS provides services to Japanese companies in the form of accounting oversight, crisis management, taxes, consulting, financial management, and legal affairs.
On the first day of the internship, the students were first introduced to the day-to-day affairs of the firm, the roles played by each department, and the corporate strategy. Following that, students engaged in group activities involving simulating projects at the firm. Additionally, they learned about how to deal with clients, business risk, and career development.
On the second day, the students gained insight into the differences between Russian and Japanese business culture by practicing writing resumes in Russian, and through instruction in how to behave in a Russian-language interview. This instruction included advice on how to answer questions, what to expect one’s interviewer to pay attention to, and so forth.
On the third day, students got instruction on self-analysis. This analysis consisted of dividing human character and business qualities into four archetypes, that of the Driver, the Pioneer, the Integrator, and the Guardian. Students learned about the elements of each archetype, and looked at what archetype they themselves belonged to.
On the fourth day, students attended lectures on the development of Japanese companies in the Russian market, on the business environment, and changes in the image of Japanese companies in Russia. The Japanese students then paired up with Russian students, and shared ideas about how Japanese companies entering the Russian market can deal with problems they encountered, as well as idea about future business opportunities.
Finally, each student gave a presentation on their experiences in the internship, and capped the day off with a quiz covering the material they had learned over the past five days. Below are the impressions of the students who participated:
- I had long thought that I would like to use my Russian-language skills and find a job with a Japanese company in the Russian market, but I didn’t have a more specific idea of what industry I wanted to work in, and what I wanted to do. Through this internship over the past four days, I gained a better sense of the development of Japanese companies in Russia, prospects for each company, and much more confidence in how I will decide what industry to seek a job in.
- This was my first opportunity to participate in an internship that lasted several days; because I actually knew very little about business, and moreover the internship would be conducted in English and Russian, I was quite trepidatious. However the material in each day was presented in a way that was easy to understand; I ultimately gained a deep understanding of the basics of business and of business in Russia. Each day was really significant and meaningful. Exchanging ideas with the Russian students about Japanese and Russian businesses was a very stimulating experience.
- Every part of the orientation was new and interesting to me. I had thought of consulting as a particularly difficult field to enter, and as such I tended to steer away from it when thinking about my future. But after these five days spent learning about what Deloitte does, my interest in the consulting and auditing field has been piqued.
- This was my first time participating in an internship together with Russian students, I found the experience of interacting with the Russian students, both in Russian and in Japanese, to be quite rewarding. We had a good balance between group work and dialogue, and I felt I was able to learn a lot in a relaxed atmosphere.
Student participants holding their Certificates of Completion
Internship schedule
Date: June 4th (Mon.) ~ June 8th (Fri.), 2018 (5 days)
Internship venue: Deloite Moscow Office
(Building B, 5, Lesnaya street, Moscow, 125047, Russia)
Deloitte host – Takahashi Wataru – Japan Service Group Leader
Yulia Orlova – Tax and Legal Service Partner
Domitry Paramonov – Tax and Legal Department Manager (他)
Students:
5 TUFS students (3 students were supported, and 2 were self-financed)
4 students from other partner universities (1 from Moscow State University, 2 from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, and 1 from the National Research University Higher School of Economics)