The Job Search

Whew! It's been a while since I last posted up on here. I have much to discuss, but we'll keep this post relatively short. It's already been 2 years since I started living in Tokyo. The time has flown by. In that time, I started a new job straight out of school here, moved into a new apartment twice, and traveled around to Kyoto, Nikko, and random onsen. I'll post up on here how to find an apartment if anyone is ever looking, some of the great hot spots in the area, and general life updates. For now, I am just going to provide a brief explanation of the current situation.

I had a great experience under my previous company, where I worked for two years as a marketing assistant. I had the chance to meet some wonderful people, gain some great marketing experience, and get a bit of an introduction to the sales environment here in Japan. I've decided to pursue my dreams of finding a way that I can use both my English and Japanese skills and try to work/support companies globally, so I recently decided to resign in search of something new. For those who do not know the job market here, or are wondering about my situation from this point forward, no worries. Job hunting is much the same everywhere, you search online and contact recruiters to find jobs that interest you and then you send out a number of resumes.

Japan requires you to fill out what is called a Rirekisho and a Shokumu-keirekisho.

What's a Rirekisho?

This is basically your personal information and educational history starting from high school. I found this interesting as we try to avoid mentioning our high school at all costs once you graduate college in the States. You also include a short reason for applying and any qualifications you may have. Finally, you have to attach a picture of yourself. Normally you handwrite this. As my Japanese handwriting has been called "cute" for its perfect bookish-looking nature, I elected to handwrite mine. (We both know my handwriting in English doesn't leave much to be desired either. ;))

What is a Shokumu-keirekisho?

This is what we would consider a resume in the English sense. This includes all of your work history. Though it can also include short essays about your skills and what you can contribute to the company.

Is the situation any different for non-Japanese?

The short answer is "no." You still have to take all of the character, reading, logic, and mathematical tests that any Japanese person has to. These are all written in Japanese. Without a doubt, this is the biggest hurdle for non-native speakers of the language. I took a test the other day that was 40 extremely difficult to read words that would stump even native college-level speakers of the language followed by 40 famous Japanese historical figures, and then 3 essays in 30 minutes. Needless to say, I didn't score well. Hopefully, the company will throw these out if you do well enough in the interview, though there is no guarantee.

Does this affect your visa?

Yes, and no. Officially, my visa is tied to employment. I sponsored myself last time, but as long as I find employment in 3 months, I get to keep my 3-year visa. If I don't, I have to go talk with the government and see what they say. This is a new change implemented by the June 2012 residency system. It used to be that once a permanent resident got a visa, it didn't matter what happened to your employment status during the time, but now we are required to report everything. The Immigration Office was very understanding when I went to speak with them. They just asked me to sign a paper and wished me luck.

What happens after 3 months?

It used to be that you would get told to return to your country for a period of time (e.g. 1 month), and then return on a tourist visa. However, the government is trying to increase the number of foreign workers in Japan and with the 2012 law, no one is really sure what happens yet.

In short, that's the situation. I'm looking for something new, visiting new companies and meeting new people. It's a great experience, but I certainly would like to find something soon.  I have the funds to stay here long-term. To those that may ask for me to return to the States, keep in mind that I still have friends who graduated college 2 years ago and have yet to find full-time positions. The job market is difficult everywhere, but the opportunity to work overseas directly out of college and gain experience is a great chance that I can't pass up.

The world is globalizing rapidly and we can't afford to only remain within our comfort zone. I really love living here, learning new things, and making a career for myself that I can be proud of. Everyone goes through this stage in their life at some point, some earlier than others. We all may take different paths, but the end is the same. I'm searching for happiness not just in my career but my community as well. I'm hoping to build something here. Let's explore it together.

Of NTT

This post is about NTT, which is a telecommunications company here in Japan. When I signed up for internet, I had make a contract through NTT as well as OCN, which I believe is the service provider. Oddly enough, I get three mailings every month. Bills from both NTT Finance and NTT Communications well as information from OCN. If that sounds confusing to you, don't worry. I don't really understand it either.

The reason for this post is that when I signed up, they were running a special campaign. Sign up for internet when you buy your washer, fridge, and other appliances, and we'll dock money off both our internet service and all the appliances. I already mentioned in a previous post that I had gotten my washer, fridge, rice cooker, and hair dryer all for 30,000 yen (roughly 450 dollars under the current exchange rate). My internet bill also had all kinds of free unnecessary services, free telephone, etc. that totaled to about 2,000 yen a month. For a few months, everything was peachy. I bought good appliances for cheaply and I had cheap internet that easily rivals the US speeds. Then, the campaign ended last month. I couldn't cancel the services before the campaign ended, or I would end up paying a huge fee.

Last month, my internet/phone bill skyrocketed to 5,000 yen. This month it was 6,000 yen. Fed up with paying for services I wasn't using, I tried to cancel the services. This is easier said than done though. After wading through a dozen documents with five or six different usernames and passwords along with almost a dozen different phone numbers to call, I admitted that I had no idea what I doing. I asked Tai to call OCN for me, but he was promptly turned down. They had no idea what he was talking about, and and said to go to NTT.

Tai being considerate and having promised me that he would take care of it, tried to call NTT, but they put him on hold forever and basically he was told that he wouldn't pass the "verification test." So I called myself. The conversation went something like this:

Representative: "Hello, this is NTT Financial Services. My name is X. How can I help you?"
Me: "Yes, hello. This is my account information. I want to cancel some services that I'm no longer using. Can you help me with that?"
Representative: "Of course. First, we'll have to verify your identity."

This was the part I was worried about. Verifying your identity in Japan is kind of like nailing jello to a tree. Unless you have the exact information that they want, you will never ever pass. This is because they give you like hundreds of pieces of paper with different usernames and passwords. You also have to sign everything with your personal seal. If you don't have the seal, they'll just send you away until you find it. This is a major problem for people that have many seals. So, here I am all worried, and what do they ask for? My customer ID number, my phone number, my address, and then, my personal favorite: "Are you the person who owns this account?" I answered yes, and that was it. My account verification was me saying, "Yes, I am Michelle." Only in Japan is that considered an acceptable form of verification.

We continued to the reason for my call, which was canceling the services. Before I cancelled the services, I asked her to explain each one. This took about 5 minutes. Then, I cancelled the ones I didn't want. Easy-peasy. Before I could get too confident though, she asked one final question.

Representative: "It says here that you have a couple of boxes for the internet and phone."
Me: "I have one box for the internet, yes. I do not have a box for the phone. Is there something you need?"
Representative: "No, you definitely have two boxes. We need you to return the phone box for us."

Now, that's odd. I know I only have one box. And I told her so. Over and over and over again. This took roughly 20 minutes. She said, "Maybe you have a box in your genkan (entry way)?" No, no box. "Maybe it's under your bed?" No, no box. I only have one box. "Maybe it's somewhere that you've never seen before?" My apartment is not large. I only have one box. "If you could just go and look at the boxes' numbers for me, I could look them up?" Unfortunately, I couldn't fulfill her request because 1. I only had one box. And 2. I was at work.

She thought about this for quite a while, and then, you would think this wouldn't be a problem since we were talking in Japanese and I said the same exact thing in many different ways, but it took roughly 20 minutes for her to have a "a-ha" moment.

Representative: "You only have one box."
Me: "Yes, that's what I've been saying. I only have one box."
Representative: "Then that means you must have box where both things are in one box!"

Perhaps this service is new. I'm not sure. But it was the correct conclusion. She notified me that I would have to return that box. The fact that she shut the service off for the internet wasn't enough. They needed to send me an all new modem to replace my current one. After realizing at this point that logic was pretty futile, I agreed and asked when I had to be at my apartment for the maintenance person to come by. "Oh, oh, that's not necessary," she assured me. "We can just send you the new box by mail, and you can send your current box back to us by mail."

Now, that's all well and good, and it's actually pretty convenient. However, there was one little issue. The last time I got a modem from NTT, the guy saw my Mac, and his eyes went huge. Surprise. He didn't know how to work a Mac. But that wasn't a problem, he assured me. "You have the CD?" he asked in his gruff voice. I did. "Use the CD." He said.

I know this will really surprise you, but that CD didn't work. Macs can read NTT's CDs. They show up in little Wingdings - boxes, exclamation points, hearts, clovers, etc. No words. The reason for this, is that Macs are supposed to be able to hook up automatically, but mine doesn't. I have no idea why. So, I set myself up with a PPoE server because that's the only way I could get it to connect. Whether or not this is correct, I have no idea.

This time, I didn't want to relive that moment, so I asked the representative if she could send a representative this time to set it up. In front of me. Using my Mac. "I'd love to-" she wheedled, "But you just cancelled the Remote Support Service. If you want to keep it on for another month-."

"If I don't cancel the service, someone from your company will come set it up for me?" I clarified.

"No, we don't do that."

"Then what is the Remote Support Service?" I asked again.

"Well, you can call us..." she continued.

"Can't I just call you without the Remote Support Service?"

"Yes," she agreed.

"Then cancel it." Why I would keep a service that I can get for free, when they do not even come to my apartment, I don't know. So I cancelled it. And I got my box, and it was also a bear to set up. I set it up with PPoE again. It's a mystery. But it works. In short, NTT is probably the most unhelpful company ever.

Summer Vacation

The concept of summer vacation is not a new one for the United States. It is normally associated with school children finishing their classes for the year and spending a month or two playing in the sun at the pool with friends. There is also the occasional family vacation, something that every kid looks forward to.

In Japan, summer vacation is not limited to students. Companies also engage in the mandatory practice. The time is normally set automatically. Everyone in the company takes a certain time off to go spend time with family. This leads to lots of closed restaurants at this time of year. Normally a skeleton staff will remain to answer phone calls and assist customers. In smaller companies, people will choose their dates and take off accordingly.

Companies normally try to give off during the week of the Obon Festival. This festival is for visiting the family grave. Although it varies slightly by region, it normally occurs in August.

This idea of paid time off is done for a couple reasons. First, it`s mandatory by law. This is to prevent the overworking of employees. Second, it gives everyone some spare time off to take a vacation and relax during the summer heat. Overall, it`s a pretty nice perk.

Of Being a Maigo

My maigo life continues. Only I could have gotten lost going to work the second day. I somehow ended up about a 10 minute walk down the street past the office. How, I'm not quite sure. I was walking on the same side of the road as the Company, and mysteriously I just missed the entrance by 10 minutes before I realized I was in the wrong place. I ended up a a konbini (convenience store) called Lawson and asked the staff for directions to the building. The clerk asked me, "Do you have an address, customer?" "No," I responded. "I don't unfortunately...wait, I might. One minute." And I reached in for the only thing I had on me with my company address: My business card. I gave my own business card to the clerk for him to tell me where my company is. And he knew it was mine too since it's written in the alphabet for foreign loan words. He pulled out a map and tried to help me the best he could, but admitted he wasn't exactly sure where it was. So I hiked back up the street and decided to search for the building again. After walking 10 minutes back toward the station, I found the company. Then, at lunch I went with the other new employee back to Lawson to grab a quick bento (boxed lunch) before a meeting. To add to my embarrassment, I had the same clerk ring up my lunch. I think I won't be going back to Lawson for a while...