On April 17th, an agreement was signed with the Heisei Company from Japan. Attending were Heisei Director Mr. Nishihara Kantou; DTU Vice-Provost Dr. Nguyen Huu Phu; Dr Le Vinh An, Director of the DTU Vietnam-Japan Institute for Strategic Cooperation (VJISC); representatives of the partners; and DTU Architecture and Construction lecturers and students.
A DTU representative signs the agreement
Dr. An said: “The objective of our agreement is to connect DTU with business contacts and develop education programs to graduate highly trained resources into the Architecture & Construction sector. They may then become eligible for recruitment by Japanese companies to work in Japan, under the same terms and conditions as their native Japanese compatriots. We have agreed with the DTU Faculties of Architecture & Applied Arts and Civil Engineering to offer twelve-month internships in Japan as a steppingstone to full-time recruitment. The agreement will help to re-orientate the DTU training programs in Architecture & Construction towards higher level international standards, to the benefit of both domestic and foreign labor markets, specifically Japan.”
The signing ceremony
DTU and Heisei came to an agreement to:
- Organize introductory training sessions to prepare students for internships in Japan
- Send interns to Japan
- Provide a secure internship study environment to prepare students to obtain the necessary credits
- Fund internship living expenses in Japan
- Assist in job searches on graduation
A second agreement was signed the same day. The DTU faculties of Architecture & Applied Arts, and Civil Engineering and Heisei agreed to offer special programs to train students for employment in Japan. As a result, a special workshop was jointly held by DTU and Heisei the same day to provide practical information to Construction & Architecture majors who wished to intern or work in Japan.
The internship workshop
The partnership with Heisei will enable DTU interns to learn Japanese, expose them to the Japanese work ethic and corporate culture, experience the local nature and life, and provide a clearer career plan on completion. Currently, Heisei is recruiting bridge-and-road engineers, construction managers, basic designers, cost estimators, and IT managers. DTU interns in Japan will be fully compensated for visa fees, international airfares, accommodation and essential living expenses, as well as a monthly allowance of 70,000 JPY per month.
Interns will also learn about Japan’s famous and unique omotenashi culture (the art of customer service), how to behave with customers and guess their moods. This will help them overcome cultural barriers and allow them to work confidently for any Japanese company on completion.
(Media Center)