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Staff Interviews

Using my skills to
help me get my dream job.

Miho Takaku

Joined NRTAS in 2018

Professional staff
  • Disability recruiting
blue grade

Decision to try again to get a job
in the aviation industry.

In the graduation essays students wrote at my elementary school, I said that my dream was to work in the aviation industry. However, even though I looked into the aviation industry after graduating high school, jobs were not available to people with a high school diploma then, so I ended up working at a security company and a university. I gave up on my dream, but later decided that since I only have one life to live, I wanted to try again to get a job in the aviation industry and looked for job opportunities. I fortunately found information about positions open at NRTAS and I went into the interview with the mindset that this was the biggest opportunity of my life. Luckily, I was hired. I still remember my excitement when I got the unofficial news.

I worked for five years as a contract employee and afterward successfully passed the Challenge Program to become a full-time employee. I have a developmental disability, and my main job duties involve proofreading contracts for about 10 partner companies as well as managing outsourcing expenses, updating the employee roster with data on new hires and resignations, and managing supplies such as access passes and uniforms.

Becoming a specialist
in proofreading contracts.

Proofreading contracts involves checking for typos and checking the terms in new and old contracts. This includes more than careful reading to look for typos and number mistakes. The terms of some contracts don’t change for 10 years, while for others they change each month. Japanese and English notation rules also vary widely. I need to stay up to date on the latest contract terms and remember how long the different contracts are valid for. I process around 50 contracts a year.

I also proofread contracts at the university, and I have excelled in this area since that time.

I’ve found mistakes in numbers at NRTAS as well, and have been awarded the G Assertion Award, which is given out twice a year, for this. “Assertion” refers to a communication skill we use at NRTAS involving call and response to avoid making serious mistakes. Assertion isn’t about whether something is right or wrong, but about making sure to raise people’s awareness about things. I’m grateful we have this established practice, because it makes it easy to bring up things to my manager and colleagues without worrying about their reaction. I’m happy when I find a mistake and see that they appreciate it and tell me thank you.

While there are tasks that I’m very good at, there are also tasks that remain challenging for me, such as typing out meeting minutes while listening to people speak and communicating with people outside of NRTAS. But at NRTAS, I’m comfortable asking my manager or colleagues for help with those kinds of tasks and everyone is nice about giving me support.

First employee at NRTAS to participate in the Abilympics
and go to the national competition.

I continue to take on challenges not only at work but also in my private life. One of them is participating in the Abilympics. The Abilympics are a vocational skills competition for people with disabilities, with about 20 different events including CAD, café service and commercial cleaning. I had previously entered the Abilympics in the word processing event, and during the COVID-19 pandemic I decided that I wanted to enter the competition again after a long time of not participating in it, partly out of frustration that I was feeling over wanting to test my abilities more than just by performing my regular duties. The competition has a rule that you have to show the name of where you work, so I decided to talk to my manager about it. This was the first time for someone from NRTAS to participate and my boss had never heard of the Abilympics, but they graciously encouraged me to go for it.

With that encouragement, I decided to try something new and entered the Office Assistant event, where participants race to prepare documents for mailing and sort mail. I won the prefectural competition and was allowed to enter the national competition. Watching the many different participants showed me how our disabilities do not prevent us from doing things, but instead that we are able to do things even with our disabilities. I hope that in the future, not only myself but more people participate in the Abilympics and this becomes one way that NRTAS becomes more well known.

Building up what I can do for NRTAS,
where I love to work.

At all my previous workplaces, I felt walls between myself and others due to being a “disability hire.” But at NRTAS, I’m seen as a valuable company resource and as an equal coworker. Even if I’m not good at communicating, my boss and colleagues reach out to talk to me, and I am finally able to have impromptu conversations with them. I have bouts of poor health, and everyone checks in with me and asks how I’m doing or tells me to take it easy. If I can’t do something or don’t know how to do it, they quickly offer to help. When I was interviewing for the full-time position, I got so emotional thinking back on how much support I have received at NRTAS that I couldn’t stop my tears.

As employees often say themselves, NRTAS really has a warm family atmosphere. We also have events where we employees can deepen our ties to each other, like the company sports day, summer festival and Christmas party, which I look forward to every year. I attend the sports day and Christmas party together with my husband. My whole family loves NRTAS, which inspires me to work hard and makes me want to utilize my skills even more to benefit my company.

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One
Day
Schedule
A typical day’s schedule
  • 09:00

    Arrive at work
    After the morning meeting, I check my email and schedule and find out what tasks everyone in my section is doing. I get a lot of emails at the beginning of the month and after holiday breaks, and sometimes it takes more than an hour just to reply to them.

  • 10:00

    Start work assignments
    I manage and revise systems, process invoices and place orders for work at partner companies

  • 12:00

    Lunch
    I eat a big lunch at the employee cafeteria while thinking about plans for my days off and taking a mental break. I may also practice for the Abilympics if the competition is coming up.

  • 13:00

    Resume work assignments
    I proofread contract terms. I need to use a lot of concentration for this, so it’s important to also take breaks as needed.

  • 15:00

    Meeting
    I verify the status of the contract-related work in progress.

  • 17:45

    Leave work
    We have an evening sync-up meeting and then I go home.

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Favorite
Places

My favorite parts of Narita

  • ANA Narita Sky Center
    The first time I saw it I wondered if it was a bird’s nest. Everyone calls it “SkyCen” for short.

  • ITOKI Working Space, South Wing of Terminal 1
    You can look out at aircraft from the big windows. If you’re lucky, you can even see the Flying Honu.

  • Observation Deck, Terminal 1
    I like to come here when I want to take a break after work. I sometimes each lunch here, too.

World Map
世界最高のチームをつくる。