Monday, November 22, 2010
Blizzard
Today we were hit by some nasty winter weather as I mentioned we would in the previous post. Highs of 26F and lows around 16F with windy gusts its a pretty big change from the usual rainy days. My car was looking pretty lonely out in the white so I snapped a shot to remember the moment. It will probably clear up in a few days according to the forecast.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Slump
It's kinda the drifting off-season so I guess I'm in a slump, for a few reasons. The weather is getting pretty terrible here in Seattle as it usually does for around 2 seasons. Add to the fact that this is a La Nina year and it's even worse--supposed to get some nasty cold weather this winter.
As time goes by I'm feeling more pressure to get results at work mostly due to my self-declared intended graduation date which I anticipate to be during next summer. Everything will need to go right for that to happen, stars to align themselves, etc. Next summer is right around the corner also which is making me nervous--nervous because that means I need to find a job (in Japan)--which makes me stressed out and depressed because after talking with my Japanese coworkers about the "entry level" job market it seems completely impossible for a foreigner like me to achieve.
Japan's job market within industry (companies, business, etc) has hiring seasons. Finding a job isn't quite like it is in America in which a new position opens up and is shortly / immediately filled by a potential applicant. In Japan newly graduated students and people that failed the previous year's job admissions and whomever else is job hunting are all competing for a limited number of positions that are opened up by various companies in Japan each year. For example, a company will post in the careers section of its website that they have "X" number of anticipated positions (bachelors, masters, phd, etc.) opening for the following year. During which the company gets flooded with applications, the select few that make it past this stage are invited to series of 3 interviews with the company. As you can imagine people are filtered out during this stressful process. If you manage to make past all the interviews successfully the company will typically offer you the position, however, the position isn't 100% guaranteed because unforeseen circumstances can occur during the 1.5 year waiting period before you start working. The economy could take a dump forcing layoffs, etc. Add to the fact that this process is nearly completely inaccessible to foreigners and I become more and more emo.
I also found out that workers in my field don't make nearly as much in Japan as they do in America, at least to start, which makes me really sad and disappointed as well. Apparently all the big salaries are in sales and business in Japan. This doesn't leave me with too many options so it seems like I won't be able to get into industry in Japan as easily as I had hoped. I might have to find a post-doc at a Japanese university for 1-2 years and use that as a stepping stone toward a career in industry. The whole process is overwhelming and stressing me out when I need to focus on becoming more eligible toward getting to that point right now.
As time goes by I'm feeling more pressure to get results at work mostly due to my self-declared intended graduation date which I anticipate to be during next summer. Everything will need to go right for that to happen, stars to align themselves, etc. Next summer is right around the corner also which is making me nervous--nervous because that means I need to find a job (in Japan)--which makes me stressed out and depressed because after talking with my Japanese coworkers about the "entry level" job market it seems completely impossible for a foreigner like me to achieve.
Japan's job market within industry (companies, business, etc) has hiring seasons. Finding a job isn't quite like it is in America in which a new position opens up and is shortly / immediately filled by a potential applicant. In Japan newly graduated students and people that failed the previous year's job admissions and whomever else is job hunting are all competing for a limited number of positions that are opened up by various companies in Japan each year. For example, a company will post in the careers section of its website that they have "X" number of anticipated positions (bachelors, masters, phd, etc.) opening for the following year. During which the company gets flooded with applications, the select few that make it past this stage are invited to series of 3 interviews with the company. As you can imagine people are filtered out during this stressful process. If you manage to make past all the interviews successfully the company will typically offer you the position, however, the position isn't 100% guaranteed because unforeseen circumstances can occur during the 1.5 year waiting period before you start working. The economy could take a dump forcing layoffs, etc. Add to the fact that this process is nearly completely inaccessible to foreigners and I become more and more emo.
I also found out that workers in my field don't make nearly as much in Japan as they do in America, at least to start, which makes me really sad and disappointed as well. Apparently all the big salaries are in sales and business in Japan. This doesn't leave me with too many options so it seems like I won't be able to get into industry in Japan as easily as I had hoped. I might have to find a post-doc at a Japanese university for 1-2 years and use that as a stepping stone toward a career in industry. The whole process is overwhelming and stressing me out when I need to focus on becoming more eligible toward getting to that point right now.
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