AIC Hosts First Ever “AIC Career Lab” Event

On February 12, 2025, AIC hosted the first ever “AIC Career Lab.”

This event served as a platform for students to think about their future careers, and included talks on the latest trends in the AI business and job hunting. In addition, Keio alumni who are active in various industries were also invited to share their experiences and knowledge via a roundtable discussion.

Talk by Yuki Takenaka from BizReach Campus

The first speaker, Yuki Takenaka, who was instrumental in launching BizReach Campus, took to the stage to speak on his own career transition and how his values evolved in tandem with changes in his career trajectory.

After joining Panasonic, he was involved in the development of service robots for medical and nursing care. He came to believe in the importance of “experience” while working on a total beauty solution for beauty salons leveraging robotics technology.

Subsequently, he was in charge of recruitment at Panasonic as a hiring manager, actively endeavoring to secure exceptional and talented personnel. It was during this stint that he became keenly interested in how to make the job hunting process more engaging and exciting. After his departure from Panasonic in 2016, he went on to found a company, GLROWS, to “update” the value of experiences. Right around that time, he met Soichiro Swimmy Minami, the founder of BizReach, and helped to launch BizReach Campus while managing his own company concurrently. Today, through overseeing the overall production at BizReach Campus and experiential design at his own company, Takenaka continues to provide new forms of “experience” and “entertainment” to job-hunting students.

Toward the end of his lecture, Takenaka emphasized the importance of self-branding, or in other words, “how one presents oneself,” in career development. He pointed out that recruiters for corporations come into contact with numerous students, so it is essential to highlight one’s own individuality and unique characteristics in order to stand out from the crowd. He also urged students not to be influenced by popularity rankings of reputable companies when choosing companies to apply to. Instead, he stated that students should possess an accurate grasp on market capitalization and industrial structure when making such decisions. Finally, he also touched on trends in the mid-career job market and shared how transitioning between jobs is now becoming a means of career advancement.

Talks by Keio Alumni

Following that, Keio alumni who are working in trading companies and the consulting industry took to the stage to share their thoughts on job hunting and their career paths after entering their respective companies.

One alumnus who has 5 years of working experience at a trading company touched on the gap between expectation and reality that he felt while working there. Although he had joined the company because he was initially drawn by the large scale that typically only a trading company could boast, and the business creation opportunities that it offers, he soon felt hindered by the lack of speed in the decision-making process when it comes to actual business operations. On the other hand, an alumnus who is involved in M&A work in the consulting industry mentioned how each project entails a different working style and may offer the opportunity for early career advancement. He explained that the ease of changing jobs is one of the characteristics of the consulting industry. Another alumnus in the consulting industry who is involved in IT and AI related projects commented on the stark reality that while he is able to capitalize on his technical expertise in the sciences, he may not necessarily be assigned projects that he wishes to work on.

Panel Discussion

During the panel discussion, participants had a lively and candid exchange on career development in each respective industry and trends in the mid-career job market.

It was revealed that in the consulting industry, the workload drastically increases for managers and above, and many people choose to change jobs as a result. Conversely, in trading companies, not all employees necessarily want to be posted overseas eventually even if they are willing to work for a long period of time with the company.

In the discussion on job hunting, participants emphasized the importance of clarifying one’s forte through self-analysis and having a focal point while conducting job hunting activities. It was pointed out this is especially true for online interviews, where applicants need to exercise some ingenuity to come up with ways to leave an impact on interviewers within a limited period of time. Furthermore, some suggested that while summer internships are an effective way to build one’s knowledge of the industry, it may not be necessary for everyone to participate in such programs.

Roundtable Discussion

For the roundtable discussion, participants were free to pose questions to the Keio alumni.

Many students who have not yet officially embarked on job hunting activities voiced their concerns and anxieties. In response, the alumni recommended several professional (paid) job hunting support services that enable students to conduct self-analysis via specialized tools, arrange for mock interviews with mentors, and share useful information and tips with fellow job-hunting students. They also provided practical advice on the hiring timeline for the consulting industry, and the requisite skills that employers in trading companies are looking for in prospective employees.

Students who have already made up their minds to seek employment in the consulting industry asked specific questions about what they should prepare for before joining the company. They were advised that acquiring professional certifications in AI, cloud computing, and statistics would be effective in boosting their resumes.

After the event, participants gave glowing reviews, commenting that they were able to form a definite image of job scopes through interacting with the Keio alumni, and that it was an invaluable opportunity to deepen their understanding of the respective industry’s characteristics and their career options.

The second iteration of this event, focused on the IT industry, will be held on Friday, February 28, and the third iteration, featuring the manufacturing industry, will be held on Wednesday, March 12.