Yahoo Japan UI/UX designer who used working holiday to join ResponsiveAds in Vancouver
Musashino Art University graduate with five years of Yahoo Japan UI/UX experience who studied English in Vancouver, found ResponsiveAds via meetups, and expanded career options including remote work after return planning.
UIデザイナー · Vancouver · ResponsiveAds
Profile
Yumi is in her 30s in Vancouver as a UI designer at ResponsiveAds. Attributes: experienced designer, working-holiday route; monthsToOffer not stated.
Current role
UI design for responsive ad banners and proposals; client collaboration via Asana. About four months part-time at interview framing. Also briefly joined a Kansas City startup accelerator stint with the company (about half a month) for UX/UI on complex product settings plus marketing/client work. Remote-first team including Finland/Slovenia collaborators.
Japan experience
Musashino Art University → new graduate at Yahoo Japan as UI/UX designer for five years (app design and project management). Around year five / entering her 30s after marriage, sought a work-style reset and broader perspective; husband suggested study abroad for roughly half a year to a year within a long career arc.
Path to Canada / North America
Chose Vancouver for safety, clearer pronunciation, and working holiday. Little prior English interest (art high school/university); pre-departure TOEIC vocab/grammar plus ~1 month online lessons; ~4 months language school in Vancouver (found youth-oriented ESL somewhat limited for business English). Prepared portfolio/resume/LinkedIn near ESL end; Frog events; meetups (inspired by another Frog designer, Elle) led to the job connection.
Outcome
UI designer role at ResponsiveAds (startup) via meetup networking. Plans to continue Canadian remote work after returning to Japan while building freelance clients—wider life/career options cited as the main gain. Months-to-offer not stated.
Based on Frog’s Japanese-language interview. English summary for scanning (partners / employers). Original interview (Japanese)
monthsToOffer=null.