Event confirmed based on post-offer “tweets”! New-hire cohort gathering for the Class of 2024, reported by the offer recipients themselves

Hello everyone! I am Kuwazaki, scheduled to join the company in April 2024, and currently working as an offer-recipient intern.

This time, I will report on the “Class of 2024 New Graduate Offer-Recipient Social Gathering,” held in February and planned by offer recipients for offer recipients. It was sparked by my desire to ease my anxiety about starting professional life in spring, just as my university grades were released and my graduation was confirmed.

This gathering came about when, at a lunch after the offer ceremony, Shirota and I (both offer recipients) were talking about wanting to hold a cohort get-together. Then Mr. Ueno, COO of SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP, said, “If you are going to organize something as a cohort, we will support you from our side as well!”—and that was the catalyst.

Lunch after the offer ceremony at bills Omotesando; from left: Kuwazaki, Ueno, Shirota

▼For more details about bills Omotesando, click here

I have had a few chances to talk with my cohort so far, but I still have not spoken with all 25 members. There are even a few people whose faces and names I cannot quite match yet…

At the time, I did not think we would be getting together as a cohort after the offer ceremony, so I felt it would be sad if we had no opportunity to see each other again until the entrance ceremony.

Shirota felt the same way, and with support from the HR team, we decided to hold a cohort gathering proposed by the offer recipients.

Which values cards will you keep? Learning your cohort’s values with engagement cards

Fourteen offer recipients attended that day. In a pre-event survey, we heard comments such as “I want to get closer to my cohort,” as well as concerns about starting professional life.

To help ease those concerns, the first program of the cohort gathering was a networking session among the cohort. Getting to know the people you will likely work with most after joining is the first step toward reducing anxiety. With that in mind, we played a card-based game to learn about one another.

During the game

The game we played was called “Engagement Cards.” You draw cards with different values written on them in turn, and keep only seven cards that matter most to you. Because you can keep only seven, if you want a new card, you must discard one you already have.

Looking at the cards everyone kept, we could glimpse each person’s personality—some collected words with similar meanings, while others were particular about subtle differences in wording. It was a valuable time that deepened both self-understanding and understanding of others.

Kuwazaki’s cards that remained until the end

“Share what you like whenever you can”: a roundtable with senior colleagues close in age

After the cohort networking session, we held an office tour and a roundtable with first- and second-year colleagues. Walking around the office together—including the 7th floor, which was renovated on December 1, 2023—helped ease our nervousness.

Roundtable with first- and second-year colleagues

At the roundtable, we consulted senior colleagues close in age about the concerns and questions we currently have.

From the offer recipients, we heard questions about job content such as “a typical daily work schedule” and “how busy peak periods are,” as well as questions about preparing for professional life, such as “what we should do now.”

What left the strongest impression on me was the advice, “You should keep telling people around you what you like.” I had heard it many times—from SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP’s company information sessions through to now, after receiving my offer—but seeing senior colleagues who had connected what they love to their work speak so happily made me feel its importance all over again.

Self-introductions from a distinctive leadership team

After the roundtable with first- and second-year colleagues, we moved on to a roundtable with the leadership team and executive officers.

Mr. Matsumoto, a director at SUNNY SIDE UP, said he wanted to create time for us to get to know the personalities of the leadership team and executive officers better, so we began with self-introductions that included plenty of personal stories. Hearing how they spend their days off and about their unique career paths gave us time to reflect again on our own near-future careers and personal lives.

During the roundtable with the leadership team and executive officers

Many of the topics that came up in the roundtable with first- and second-year colleagues were about first-year job duties and how to approach work. In contrast, this roundtable became lively with longer-term career perspectives, such as “how to build your career going forward” and “what prompted you to consider changing jobs.”

A refined dinner at bills Ginza

The final program of the cohort gathering was dinner at bills Ginza, operated by SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP. It had a different atmosphere from bills Omotesando, which we visited during the offer ceremony, and everyone’s spirits were high.

Group photo at bills Ginza

Over the course of the day, we grew closer and were able to spend a fulfilling time together over a delicious meal.

Shirota, who planned it with me, said the following:

I am truly delighted that, from a casual comment at lunch after the offer ceremony—“It is sad that we will not see everyone until April”—we were able to hold such a wonderful gathering!

Personally, I was able to talk with cohort members I had not spoken with much before and properly match faces with names, so I achieved my goal. In addition, I was able to hear candid words from first- and second-year colleagues, which helped ease my anxiety.

On April 1, we are scheduled to attend the entrance ceremony together with everyone in our cohort, including these members.

There is not much time left, but I plan to keep following the advice I received from senior colleagues before joining—“Have lots of fun!”—while continuing to prepare for life as a working professional.