Applying management experience from other industries to the web industry - Interview with Hiromitsu Homma just before "W
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2025 8:30 am
On Tuesday, August 24th, Mynavi Creator will be holding an online seminar, Web Industry Evolution Practical Course #09, "A Web Director Specializing in Information Design Talks About the Quest for New Weapons."
The ninth installment of the "Web Industry Evolution Practical Course" is aimed at web directors who are looking for their strengths . The guest speaker will be Hiromitsu Honma, who moved from the transportation industry to the web industry and is now managing a production team as a self-employed person, and he will talk about his career transition and how to utilize his experience.
In this interview just before the event, we asked Mr. Homma about his career so far and his strength in information architecture (IA).
Profile Introduction
Hiromitsu Homma,
self-employed,
project manager/director at hirohom
After starting his career as a graphic designer, he discovered the web and changed careers to become a front-end engineer. After working as a lecturer at a vocational training school, he joined a production company and was mainly responsible for creating websites for major companies as a project manager/web director. He specializes in corporate websites for B2B and IA (information architecture). After working at two production companies, he drifted with the times and started working as a sole proprietor, hirohom , in August 2018. He currently runs an owned media and has two production teams, focusing on B2B website production and system development.
The skills he acquired in the moving business saved this novice director
- First of all, please tell us about your career so far.
Homma: After graduating from university, I got a job at a moving company. I started working there part-time as a student, and joined the same company after graduating. I loved moving so much that I thought it was my calling, and I continued working there for nearly 10 years, but when I was 29, I hurt my back... I was offered an office job, but I loved being on-site, so I decided to quit.
So I took a graphic design course at a vocational school to look for a new job. Actually, I was playing in a band on the side while I was working in the moving business. I was signed to an indie label and had released a CD.
-- Oh really! Why did you go from working in the moving industry industry email list and playing in a band to graphic design?
Homma: I had many opportunities to talk with designers when making CD jackets and posters. However, sometimes my intentions were not conveyed well. That's when I thought I would try to make them myself.
However, as I studied graphic design at a vocational school, I gradually became interested in the web. As I studied on my own, I became more and more absorbed in it. By the time I graduated from the course, I was even able to create portfolio sites for my classmates (laughs).
That caught the eye of a vocational school owner, who invited me to work as a lecturer while I was job hunting. This time, I was in a web production course, but I studied more to answer questions from students. I also practiced a lot with Photoshop and Illustrator.
-- That's a whirlwind of events... Did you then get a job at a production company?
Homma: That's right. I was applying for a job as a front-end engineer, but in the interview, one company told me, "You seem like a good fit for a project manager (PM), so I'd like you to come as a PM candidate." In the end, I was hired by that company as a director and PM.
However, when I was in the interview, I had no idea what a PM was supposed to do. I had never used Excel or Word at the time, and I couldn't understand the business terms flying around the company. For the first three months, every time I was asked to do a job, I would search Google to death and save what I learned in Evernote.
When I made my debut as a PM, I learned by watching others. As a PM, I had access to various files within the company, so I read through all the proposals and documents for other projects. After that, I asked my seniors whether this project was successful or not, and extracted the "differences" between each project in my own way.
The ninth installment of the "Web Industry Evolution Practical Course" is aimed at web directors who are looking for their strengths . The guest speaker will be Hiromitsu Honma, who moved from the transportation industry to the web industry and is now managing a production team as a self-employed person, and he will talk about his career transition and how to utilize his experience.
In this interview just before the event, we asked Mr. Homma about his career so far and his strength in information architecture (IA).
Profile Introduction
Hiromitsu Homma,
self-employed,
project manager/director at hirohom
After starting his career as a graphic designer, he discovered the web and changed careers to become a front-end engineer. After working as a lecturer at a vocational training school, he joined a production company and was mainly responsible for creating websites for major companies as a project manager/web director. He specializes in corporate websites for B2B and IA (information architecture). After working at two production companies, he drifted with the times and started working as a sole proprietor, hirohom , in August 2018. He currently runs an owned media and has two production teams, focusing on B2B website production and system development.
The skills he acquired in the moving business saved this novice director
- First of all, please tell us about your career so far.
Homma: After graduating from university, I got a job at a moving company. I started working there part-time as a student, and joined the same company after graduating. I loved moving so much that I thought it was my calling, and I continued working there for nearly 10 years, but when I was 29, I hurt my back... I was offered an office job, but I loved being on-site, so I decided to quit.
So I took a graphic design course at a vocational school to look for a new job. Actually, I was playing in a band on the side while I was working in the moving business. I was signed to an indie label and had released a CD.
-- Oh really! Why did you go from working in the moving industry industry email list and playing in a band to graphic design?
Homma: I had many opportunities to talk with designers when making CD jackets and posters. However, sometimes my intentions were not conveyed well. That's when I thought I would try to make them myself.
However, as I studied graphic design at a vocational school, I gradually became interested in the web. As I studied on my own, I became more and more absorbed in it. By the time I graduated from the course, I was even able to create portfolio sites for my classmates (laughs).
That caught the eye of a vocational school owner, who invited me to work as a lecturer while I was job hunting. This time, I was in a web production course, but I studied more to answer questions from students. I also practiced a lot with Photoshop and Illustrator.
-- That's a whirlwind of events... Did you then get a job at a production company?
Homma: That's right. I was applying for a job as a front-end engineer, but in the interview, one company told me, "You seem like a good fit for a project manager (PM), so I'd like you to come as a PM candidate." In the end, I was hired by that company as a director and PM.
However, when I was in the interview, I had no idea what a PM was supposed to do. I had never used Excel or Word at the time, and I couldn't understand the business terms flying around the company. For the first three months, every time I was asked to do a job, I would search Google to death and save what I learned in Evernote.
When I made my debut as a PM, I learned by watching others. As a PM, I had access to various files within the company, so I read through all the proposals and documents for other projects. After that, I asked my seniors whether this project was successful or not, and extracted the "differences" between each project in my own way.