At Gengo, we track a wide array of metrics for all our translators. Looking at the average speed at which our translators work, for example, allows us to serve our customers who need large amounts of text translated in a short time frame. In addition, translator’s quality scores tell us what types of content translators are good at.

Shoma, our Business Operations Analyst, is responsible for translation quality and analyzing data across our 63 language pairs. His responsibilities include tracking these key data points about our 14,000 translators to ensure our platform is as efficient as possible.

Age: 26
Nationality: Japanese-American
Hometown: Washington D.C.
Languages: Japanese & English
Education: MA Economics; University of St Andrews, Scotland

When did you come to Tokyo and why?

About 2.5 years ago. After university, I secured a job in London and somehow talked HR into giving me 12 months off for a gap year.

Because of the collaborative effort of the Japanese after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which had given me a sense of Japanese identity and pride I had never felt before, I decided to spend a year in Japan to see what I could learn, as well as discover my Japanese side.

During this 12 months, I studied Japanese, spent time with my relatives, traveled all around Japan and took tea-ceremony lessons.

How long have you worked at Gengo?

After about a year in Japan, I was looking for a mental challenge and found an internship with Gengo. What was supposed to be a three-month internship turned into a full-time job where I have been for 1.5 years.

What drew you to the company?

I was impressed with Gengo’s goal of empowering a largely untapped resource—talented multilingual people around the world. I was also excited by their use of advanced technology to provide high-quality translations at lightning speed.

After completing several internships in the corporate world, this idea was refreshingly simple, highly efficient and a genuine industry disruptor.

What do you most enjoy about working for the company?

The daily challenge that comes with building a company from the ground up. Gengo is arguably the first company to power human translators with technology. Being the first isn’t easy. It involves a lot of difficult decisions and you are constantly learning and discovering. The difficulty that comes with this territory is also what I find exciting.

What has been your biggest challenge?

As soon as I arrived at Gengo’s office, I quickly realized that the internship would be different to others I had previously done—and it certainly was.

In my past internships at large companies, I had been given everything I needed to succeed: pre-internship training, advice from managers and “buddies”, as well as very clear instructions on a pre-set project.

At Gengo—typical to the start-up environment—there was no training, no handholding, no “buddy” to show me the ropes, and no “secret sauce” to get me a full-time offer after the internship.

How did you overcome this challenge?

After the Tohoku disaster, I felt useless as I watched the horrific news from thousands of miles away in Scotland. So, I decided to do something about it.

Together with a small group of students, we organized speaker events, auctions, music concerts and bake sales, and collaborated with local restaurants and shops to raise awareness for the tragedy. My eagerness to take initiative helped me to succeed, and we raised almost $11,000 for the cause.

As soon as I applied this mindset to my internship at Gengo, I stopped waiting for projects to come to me—as I used to—and went in search of a project where I could make a difference.

I highly recommend reading a blog post, 5 Reasons Why Every College Student Should Intern for a Startup, written by a former Gengo intern. I can’t agree enough with the points raised about the benefits of internships at startups compared to interning at a large corporation.

What do you think makes Gengo a great place to work?

I work with lots of cool, interesting people and my job is always different with new problems to solve every day.

What do you do in your spare time?

I enjoy the physical and mental challenges that come with sport and the concentration and return you see when you start a new physical activity.

I go to a CrossFit gym three or four times a week and take part in a range of sports whenever I can. A bunch of Gengons often get together to play futsal on one of Tokyo’s courts squeezed in between buildings or on top of skyscrapers. I also enjoy bouldering and swimming and, during winter, snowboarding just outside Tokyo—followed by a bath at a local onsen (hot spring).

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