Pros
- Great products with industry leading technology. - A focus on selling solutions rather than just product numbers from a brochure. - Lots of support is provided. - Loads of continuous training. Both technical training and sales training. You don't need a technical or sales background to succeed, Just a good attitude and ability to quickly learn lots of info. - Easy to keep track of how you are doing and what you need to do to improve - Due to the high growth rate of the company there is lots of room for development and career growth. - Good salary and benefits. I've had to work really hard but my salary has nearly doubled in only 2 years! - Spend 3 days of the week on the road, getting guided tours of factories and meeting lots of people. People are always impressed with product demonstrations. - Young and enthusiastic team. Great energy. - Very collaborative, everyone works together to achieve company goals and everyone works hard. - Still a nice and friendly competitive environment. Everyone competes to see who can be the best (but in a good way. It's about succeeding rather than pulling people down like some other companies) - You reap what you sow. If you put the time and energy in you will get lots of rewards for your efforts. The whole company is structured around 'maximum effect from minimum expenditure' so there isn't much stuff that's a waste of time. If there is you should point it out and suggest a way to eliminate it! - You'll never bored! Every day is a new challenge and work never feels repetitive. - Really fun. It's a very exciting place to work and you have lots of fun doing your job. You won't mind getting up in the morning.
Cons
I love my job. These are just some heads up for those who might not be willing to put up with the harder parts of the job. I'm more than happy to do what's expected of me as I know it will help me succeed. Just a heads up to those applying that you will be expected to work hard, but know that you will be rewarded. - Long hours. It's tough to maintain a work life balance sometimes. As a Japanese company you are expected to make your time during normal business hours as productive as possible. You then have lots of other things to complete afterwards. Don't join thinking it will be a chilled out 9-5, but also don't be afraid that you will be working until 10pm every night, as you won't be. - There is a lot of admin to do. Paperwork which must be filled out at the end of every day. Essential work but if it can be streamlined it would be better. Supposedly this will be improved with a new system at some point, will update this post when it launches. - There are a lot of KPIs to hit which can sometimes be overwhelming. Every KPI helps improve your area and make your job easier but it's essential to keep focused on what you have to do all the time. Just make sure you do everything the Keyence way and you will be ok. - Sometimes the Japanese style of doing business does not translate well to a UK workforce. It would be nice to have a bit more flexibility with some things. (That being said, perhaps it's the UK workforce at fault, the company has experienced 30% growth for 20 years so they must be doing something right!) - Lots of travel time. I don't mind it so much but be warned that you could be expected to drive for several hours to get to visits or meetings.