Name: Asami Matsumoto
Position: CEO/Founder
Nationality: Japanese

Brief Background: Although born in Japan, Asami had been moving around the globe and has experienced living in different parts of the world. She has lived in the United Kingdom, Canada, Ghana, and even Pakistan. She is a traveller with a passion for bridging cultural differences through respect and understanding.

Comments from Asami

Hi all! I left Japan at the age of 17 with the ambition to “change the world for the better”. I studied at the United World College in Wales and entered McGill University in Montreal, Canada. As I was approaching my graduation time at McGill, I was forced to participate in a so-called “Career Forum” by my friends and my family. Not knowing how I can pursue my dream career to realize my ambition, I reluctantly joined the Career Forum.

There, I was shocked to see many people dressed in black suits. It looked like a funeral to me. People were lining up for interviews even when they didn’t even know what the companies were… I felt myself at a complete loss. I did not know what kind of career choices I had, which would be suitable jobs for me, how to choose companies, etc… But there I was, thrown out to just apply for jobs and take interviews. I hated it.

I was invited to the final dinner session (interview) of several foreign investment banks. I did not know anything about banking, but I took the interviews because they looked like the most competitive and fulfilling. But I failed the interviews. I felt like my entire existence was denied.

That was the beginning of my career journey. I later joined UNICEF as an intern, entered Goldman Sachs, moved to Pakistan to work for an NGO, and came back to Japan to join JICA for a project in Pakistan, etc. Then, I ended up giving up everything that I had built to start my entrepreneur life (despite my family’s plea not to do it.). I can now say that I finally found my dream job here at Active Connector. But it took so much time and I went through many sufferings and pain. I am not denying all the adversities I went through, but at the same time, if possible, I want to be the guiding light to others for the paths they can take to really find their dream jobs.

Life is so precious, every moment counts. We have been taught a lot about how to understand the world at educational institutions, but we hardly learned how to understand ourselves and search for our dream career.

Active Connector is here to help you out with your passion and find the most suitable job positions for you. Forget about what people tell you about a “good company” or a “good job”. We want you to focus on what “good” really means to you and not what society says it should mean.

We hope we can be a part of your career journey in Japan and help you find the “BEST” job for YOU!