Jujhaar Singh - Sony Japan

A brief introduction about yourself

I’m Jujhaar, a to-be-fourth year BTech student in the Electrical Engineering department. I fancy computer architecture, embedded systems, and programming has been a constant in my life for almost 8 years now. I also take time out for watching movies, kicking around a football, and fooling around with my guitar when I can. I was really lucky to have the chance to intern at Sony this summer as a parallel programming researcher and that’s where this blog comes into the picture.

How did you find out about this internship and what made you pursue it?

Conveniently, Sony offers internships directly through the IITB PT cell portal. I, like most of us, have always been surrounded by Sony products since we were little kids so naturally it seemed like a really cool option when I noticed the opportunity on the intern blog. The profiles and their requirements seemed to align very well with my interests in computer architecture and programming.

Could you describe the selection/ interview process?

Some profiles had a test which was based on basic C++, but my profile did not. I was shortlisted and then had an interview. The interview was 30 minutes long and was mostly about my previous experiences with various technologies that were relevant to the profile, the projects that I had worked on, and a few interesting technical questions. This can heavily differ based on your profile/interviewer since Sony doesn’t have a very uniform pattern for their interviews.

Was learning Japanese one of the prerequisites for interning in Sony Japan?

The company understands that it isn’t reasonable to expect Japanese from foreign interns there for only a short period. They don’t require Japanese from you, and within the company many people can speak english quite well, especially managers and higher ups. That said, its always great to be able to communicate in Japanese if you already know it!

How did you prepare for the internship?

To be honest, I didn’t really prepare for Sony in particular. They come in looking for very specific qualities in applicants, almost like they want you to fill in a very particular role in their team. Since the company works on RnD, their requirements change faster than the weather does. As for what helped me get shortlisted: it was my projects in computer architecture, extensive programming experience, and some CUDA/GPU knowhow, the combination of which my manager really liked. As I said, this can change drastically as their needs evolve.

Did you take advice for interview preparation from Indian employees in Sony Japan?

Nope, I didn’t really contact any employees there at the time. I just sort of used the standard advice get from most seniors regarding interviews and some Sony specific things from a few seniors who had interned there in the past.

Could you brief us about the work allotted to you?

Everyone working at Sony has to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they begin their work. Due to this I can’t get into details. But broadly, my project involved parallelizing algorithms using multiple GPUs to speed up real time processes! It involved programming in C++ using CUDA and since we dealt with hardware-level optimizations, knowing how the architecture of GPUs worked played to my advantage. The project‘s aim was to implement state-of-the-art methods in research and surpass them.

How has the experience of working been? How different do you think corporate work culture in Japan is from that of India?

Work culture at Sony is fantastic. They hire for their RnD center, so the work is research focused and most of the time there isn’t gonna be someone telling you exactly what to do. In fact, you’ll often be making proposals and trying to find new directions to explore. Your colleagues are always helpful and encouraging. They do their best to provide insights that you might’ve overlooked and positively critique your ideas. Working hours are the standard 9AM-530PM and interns were required to come to office every day. I very rarely had to pull a few hours over time and I generally left my laptop at the office.

What was the process of shifting to a new country like?

Living in Japan is super convenient thanks to the (oh well) convenience stores, superb public transport, fancy home electronics being the norm (don’t be surprised when the water heater starts talking), and it only helps that its the safest country on the planet.

If you’re curious, you’ll quickly notice how intelligent and elegant their design for even the simplest of things are. From rice balls and cup noodle packaging to their train system.

The major barrier, as you might have guessed, is the language. While a lot of people at Sony have decent English, you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who’s gonna be able to converse with you at convenience stores, small local restaurants, or supermarkets. Brace yourself for a bunch of blank looking faces and get yourself a diploma in google translate.

While Japanese food can be really tasty they tend to put some kind of meat or fish or egg in almost everything that they cook. So for someone who usually avoids these, finding food can be a slight chore. But between convenience stores and a few vegan serving restaurants, you’ll be alright.

What is something you wish you knew before the internship?

If I knew I’d enjoy Japan so much then I would’ve maybe planned to stay back an extra week or so! Also, I wish I’d known about their incredible snacks, products, and little souvenirs earlier so I could have left a lot more empty space in my luggage to bring more things back.

What were the challenges that you had to overcome during your internship?

The experience was overall quite smooth and I didn’t really face any challenges as such. I settled into the lifestyle quite early, right after the first few week or so.

How are you treated as an Indian working in Sony Japan? How comfortable have you been there?

I think I got very lucky since I had a very good mentor who was also an IITB senior. So I felt at home straight away. My manager was also extremely encouraging and helpful. The people that I interacted with in Sony were all quite welcoming, polite, and they tried their best to make me feel as comfortable as possible. The department HR also introduced me to many of my coworkers, both Japanese and Indians! Most people there are quite interested in knowing about Indian culture and society and you’ll probably find yourself in quite a few such conversations.

Could you share some of the learnings you picked up along the way?

Overall, the internship taught me how to work in a very organized manner, how to structure large projects to bring them to fruition, the importance of getting your ideas and work reviewed by peers, and most importantly how to present my work to people in a way that they understand its impact and worth.

Is there anything you explored outside of the internship? What was that like?

Food, tourist-y places, classic Tokyo spots, Kyoto, shrines, gardens, hikes, etc. They have a very rich history and culture and I really liked that.

What are things Indian students should know before joining this internship?

Go in with an open mind and be ready to adjust to a slightly different way of life than you're used to here in India. The work environment is geared towards organization and structure and they believe in discussion over individual brilliance. This can slow down the pace of work but guarantees better ideas eventually.

How much do you think your learning experience would have been different if you were interning in Sony India?

I think it might’ve been quite similar as long as I would have been in the India RnD branch. Certain people actually work directly with the Japanese team from right here in India too. Unfortunately, the number of such roles is quite low to the best of my knowledge and there are far more people working in development.

Kindly tell about initial accommodation facilities for Indian interns in Sony Japan. Any tips for juniors for making the most out of the opportunity to do an intern?

Sony provides apartments to internship students to stay in so that is not worry at all. Travel is paid-for and the metro lines are very convenient to use except for when they’re crowded during rush hours. While it is very important to prioritize your work, if one goes to Japan then it is a must to explore the country. It really is so wildly different than almost anything else you would have seen before which makes it worth it.