On 14th of this month, we accepted our first intern at SOPHOLA. In addition, he is an Italian student who cannot speak Japanese at all. Actually, I talked again with my teammates today, but I would like to start with the question, “Why did we accept a foreign intern who cannot speak Japanese at this time?”

The first reason is “the difficulty of hiring human resources in Nagano”. Last year, after screening or interviewing 27 candidates, Sebastian (a Swedish resident in Ueda) was the only one who met our selection criteria. Honestly speaking, it was miraculous that we could have him join our team, as he is honest, cheerful, ambitious, and capable of communicating well with his teammates to deliver expected outcomes. Fortunately, we have to use English for most of our businesses, so we have removed racial and language barriers in our hiring process because these characteristics are more crucial for our businesses.

The second reason was “networking in Europe and the United States.” Sebastian has some network in Scandinavia, but there is still room for expansion in other European regions. Through this kind of internship, I feel that we can start expanding our network in the regions.

The last and third reason is “Paolo’s personality.” This actually leads to the main subject of this blog—“The Most Important learning from Our Intern-Paolo”. Personality formation is largely affected by parents’ and school education from childhood, and it is quite difficult for adults to change their personalities. When I had a web interview with Paolo, from every word of his, honesty, compassion, and ambition could be clearly felt.
These are the most important growth bases that could not be replaced by any skill or knowledge, and I even told Paolo, “you are extremely lucky to have received such education.” Yes, what I have again realized was “Personality does matter.”

Of course, Paolo still has a lot to learn, such as thinking and behaving as a business professional. However, his growth potential is extremely big, and I look forward to seeing his future growth as if my own. Moreover, by feeling his personality, I will take another closer look at my personality as well. At last but not least, Paolo, welcome to SOPHOLA!

Masaki “Mark” Iino
Founder & CEO
SOPHOLA, Inc