Keisuke came to Midas from other industry to pursue his ideal career which would let him leverage his university education in creating something and enjoy his private life. Into his fourth year at Midas, he has grown into a dependable project manager (PM). He is due to take parental leave soon “to be present at the irreplaceable moment of my life.” Keisuke, focused on work-life balance, describes what is appealing about Midas.
The joy of being part of making something from scratch
My first job after university was with an event venue installation company, where I was an on-site administrator for setting up exhibition and other event spaces. I took modules in urban life studies at university, which included basic architecture and CAD systems, so my work partly involved preparation of drawings. However, most of the work was the execution of the plans agreed between the end-client and principal contractor. I often found myself in a frustrating situation where I could see better ways or arrangements. I then naturally developed the desire to be directly engaged with clients from the early stage of concept planning, which eventually led to my career change.
The move from the event venue installation to the office design is rather radical except that both of them are about arranging spaces. I chose a cross-industry move partly because the demand for events plummeted during the COVID pandemic. My instinct was that offices would never go obsolete despite the growing trend of remote work, and that the pandemic would transform their future purposes and functions. Office design is a B2B operation, which tends to be more exciting than home design for the B2C market. I was in two minds because of the lack of experience in the industry, but I felt the positive vibe at the job interview, giving me the push I needed.
OJT makes sure that you are good to go
PM’s job is, in a nutshell, to design the overall project. You manage a project by coordinating specialists such as the Midas sales personnel, designer, and construction manager (CM). You are also a coordinator with the client and manage schedules and budgets. The client’s satisfaction is always the top priority, but I try keeping everyone else on the project happy at the same time.
This position is unique in that there are no two identical jobs. Every design is tailored to the client’s unique requirements. In this post-covid era, for example, they might want to incentivize their employees to resume an in-office workstyle, for which some want to have a cafeteria in the office or dual monitors installed at every work station. If the client wants to encourage cross-departmental communication, we devise an office with places or traffic routing to enhance socializing opportunities. We start from zero every time, and this is what makes this job very interesting.
During my first year, I was assisting two senior colleagues, who were like my mentors. I started taking the responsibility of a main PM from my second year, but I already felt confident because they were always there to give support when I needed it. I gained sufficient skills and competence before I knew it, and this is all thanks to the on-the-job training system Midas offers to its employees.
My ideal PM figure is someone who all stakeholders want to work with
The people working at Midas have various strengths, reflecting the corporate culture of respecting individual differences. There are designers who take pleasure in working closely with clients to develop a concept or who can produce original ideas to capture clients’ imaginations. Some PMs are good at developing a detailed plan and meticulously implement it. Others strive to build a good rapport with clients. My ambition is to be a PM everyone wants to work with in the same team. I will work harder to gain more experience and expertise to make this happen. I also think it is important to nurture relationships with various players so that they find me approachable.
As for my private life, I have set myself a resolution that I spend more time with my family. I am due to take parental leave for two months. We are expecting a baby, and I want to be present at this irreplaceable moment of my life. I am grateful that, at Midas, taking paternity leave does not raise eyebrows. It is two months in my case, but there was someone who took one year. I am not worried about coming back to work after the leave. There is ample precedence of a successful career while respecting work-life balance, taking advantage of remote work. I have a good feeling about these wonderful workplace arrangements that would help me become a dependable person both in my work and family.