what's next

So, recently I've gone through and updated a good portion of what I've been up to so far this year, but I haven't really touched on what has actually been most of what I've been focusing on up until recently: job hunting.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, in December this year officially became my last year on JET, which meant that I had to think about what my next step should be, and in the end I decided to look for a new job in Japan, so once New Year's was over I decided to go ahead and start the job hunt, despite having over six months before the end of my contract. I had heard it would be fine to start looking for jobs with only a few months left on my contract (and maybe easier, since companies wouldn't have to wait), but since most companies hire for jobs starting in April I felt that it was best to keep my options open even though I didn't want to break contract.

Before coming on JET I thought that in the future I might like to be a translator, maybe even for movie subtitles or something, but having actually gotten experience, I've learned that I actually prefer interpreting to translating - it's more nerve-wracking and it's easier to make mistakes, but is more exciting and involves working with people. That said, I've also come to realize that (despite paying lots of money for interpreting classes) I don't want to be a full-time professional interpreter, because honestly I think it's a little bit too demanding. On the other hand, thanks to interpreting at various receptions and other events, I became interested in a job dealing with MICE - meetings, incentives, conventions, events/exhibitions. I've always been interested in event planning and I like being behind-the-scenes, so this was just a more specific area to narrow down my job search.

I think most people probably look for jobs by checking listings to see what's available (or at least that's my impression from fellow CIRs looking for jobs), but since I had a pretty specific set of conditions I was looking for, I decided to just focus on those and only look at listings if that didn't lead to anything. So I started by doing research into places I would want to/consider working for, which included places related to MICE, translation/interpreting (keeping options open), and travel/inbound tourism (another area I am interested in). I made a whole spreadsheet of places I found and in the end narrowed it down to 9 companies that seemed the most promising (in terms of location, job description, and whether or not they were actually hiring).

So around February I had officially begun the process, which included making typical application documents in Japanese, hand-writing them (apparently not really necessary nowadays but I decided it 1) couldn't hurt and 2) might leave a good impression/prove that I can read/write Japanese), and mailing them off (after confirming whether or not they were hiring). I also spoke to a Carleton alum who I knew from Tokyo alumni events and took a tour of his company, who was also kind enough to introduce me to some acquaintances of his.

Long story short, I ended up with three job offers after interviews with 7 companies, and now I have a new job for after JET!! The first job offer was from a company that seemed to mostly focus on audio-visual equipment but also planned events, that made me do two interviews and two written tests (part language, math, and personality test) for over 6 hours and also involved going to work every other Saturday, which was not really ideal, but I was offered a job the day after the interview and it was a huge relief to have it as a backup (also they seemed to really want me and even offered to match any better salary offers from other companies). The second was from Kansai International Airport, as a result of the introduction from my Carleton alumni acquaintance - a completely unexpected opportunity (to be an interpreter/assistant to a French executive for the half-French half-Japanese company that took over the airport starting in April) that I very seriously considered taking. The whole process was very different from the rest, in that I first met with the alum's friend in a cafe in Tokyo, then with his colleague (who would have become my boss), then was taken out for a business lunch by the Japanese HR people in Kansai.

In the end though, I chose to work for a very small event planning company with a branch in Kyoto, mainly dealing with organizing academic conferences (with occasional exhibitions/receptions). There are only 29 employees overall and only 16 in Kyoto, and they told me up front that they don't pay overtime (and I will most certainly work overtime), and it's not quite as international as I was envisioning, but they told me outright that they really wanted me because they know that international things are their weakness (I will be their first non-Japanese employee), which makes me feel like I could maybe make a real difference. They're also completely fine with me having no real experience in the field, will pay me what will end up being more than I make now if I include bonuses, and (most importantly) are located in Kyoto, which was my main goal. I also felt like maybe there was some sort of connection with the company, as I emailed to ask if they were hiring just after they had posted job openings on a job hunting website (that I didn't know about), and on a couple of other occasions also emailed them just as they were about to email me. I have only met the two people who interviewed me, but they seemed very chill and friendly so I'm hoping the rest of the company has a similar vibe. They will also not only wait for my contract to end, but let me start after my final exam for interpreting class, which really means that this is an ideal situation where I can get basically everything I had hoped for: a new job in Kyoto, in a field I am interested in, that doesn't require breaking my current contract and allows me to finish the last course I need to graduate from my interpreting school (and go to our big yosakoi festival in June).

So that will be the next stage of my Japan adventure, scheduled to start in August! I am very very excited about it and honestly kind of just want to fast-forward a few months, haha. Job hunting only lasted about three months for me, but it was very stressful and so I am very glad to be done with that, with what appears to be a happy ending/new beginning. Here's looking to the future! :)