Hioki E.E. Corporation – Empowering Employees Through Career Autonomy and Achievement

Q: Can you tell us a little about your background? How did you end up in Japan, and how long have you been working at Hioki?

Musadiq: I’m originally from Malaysia. I came to Japan in 2006 as a foreign student to pursue a degree in engineering at Shinshu University in Nagano. After my bachelor's degree, I continued studying and completed my master's degree in 2012. That’s when I joined Hioki as a fresh graduate, working as a mechanical engineer. I’ve been with the company ever since, and it’s been 12 years now.

Q: Why did you decide to come to Japan for your studies?

 Musadiq: I wanted to pursue engineering, and thinking of places not too far from Malaysia that were strong in engineering, Japan was the obvious choice. Also, since I planned to leave Malaysia, I wanted to challenge myself to learn new things, and by coming to Japan I could also learn a new language. Back in 2006 most of what I knew about Japan came from television, so I thought all of Japan was like Tokyo—extremely urban. But when I arrived in Nagano, I was surprised to find it was much more rural than expected. Despite that, I was excited to experience something different and saw it as a positive challenge. 

Q: How was it adjusting to life in Nagano, especially coming from Penang, a more urban area in Malaysia?

Musadiq: It was a bit of a shock at first, but I’ve come to appreciate the lifestyle here. Nagano is famous for its natural beauty, and it has four distinct seasons, which was completely new to me. In Malaysia, we only have one season—hot and rainy—so experiencing winter for the first time was exciting. I remember my first day seeing snow; I walked for about three kilometers just to be in the snow! The change in climate took some getting used to — I had never dealt with icy roads before, but I’ve adapted, I even started snowboarding, which I never imagined I’d do.

Living in a rural area like Nagano has also encouraged me to be more active. I walk and cycle a lot more than I did back in Malaysia, where everyone relies on motor vehicles. When I go back home, I actually miss the active lifestyle here.

Q: What has been your career path at Hioki? You mentioned starting as a mechanical engineer—what other roles have you taken on?

Musadiq: I started as a mechanical engineer and worked in that role for about five years. During that time, I felt a desire to expand my skill set beyond engineering. One of the reasons I joined Hioki was because I wanted to be a part of the company growing on a global scale. I realized that understanding marketing would be essential for that. So, I raised my hand and expressed interest in trying something new. I transitioned to the marketing department, where I worked in market research and product planning. I focused on regions like Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, traveling to countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Thailand, and Indonesia, and participating in Hioki’s global expansion.  

After about two and a half years in that role, I moved into marketing communications, where I was responsible for content creation, setting goals for the department, and developing strategies. I worked on creating video content, technical writing, and SEO to drive traffic to our website. My engineering background helped me in these roles because I used my technical understanding of the products to convey information effectively to our customers and I was able to distill what the main points of our messaging should be when we created content.  

Most recently, I transitioned to a business analyst role. As a content strategist, I worked on projects where I set the goals and KPIs for the marketing and communications department. I wanted to try doing this on a bigger scale, so I spoke to my boss. Now, I am the first person to become a business analyst for the entire company. I helped draft roadmaps integrating market and product strategies to help realize Hioki's 2030 vision. Currently, I am working on a project to implement systems to help visualize our goals across departments. This will allow everyone to better understand the bigger picture about how each department contributes to Hioki’s long-term vision.