“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Hi international friends. It’s been a while since I last posted here. How have you been?
As for me, this whole month has been like a roller coaster, and I’m still in the midst of it.
The disturbing hiring process:
As I may have mentioned previously, I quit my job at the end of March this year. Since then, I have done many things I couldn’t do before, including traveling overseas and hosting my own meetup events.
Since the end of April, I’ve started job hunting. With interview after interview, I’m exhausted from the sheer number of interviews every single day. Fast forward to today, and I’m still in the midst of these challenging experiences.
One of the challenges I’m facing right now is that I have to call someone from my previous company to get a reference sheet. I know it sounds crazy and stupid, but it’s part of the process. I may have mentioned before that one of my dreams is to become an Android app developer, and I could achieve that position at a Japanese financial company. However, there are two problems with this company.
First, the company’s hiring process is a bit complicated. As I mentioned earlier, I need to ask for a reference sheet from my previous company, which I thought I would never have to contact again. The major reason I quit was that it neither offered me a good workplace nor appreciated my skills. Not only me, but many people leave their jobs for multiple reasons. This ridiculous reference sheet includes questions like “Would you want to work with him/her again?” I repeat—there is always a reason people leave their jobs. Why do they care about the past? And do they really expect someone from the previous company to write something positive about those who left? It’s simply ridiculous.
Second, this company has a dark past. I described it as a financial company, but it’s not like a bank or other elite organizations. It is a moneylender that charges significantly high interest rates. Before the law restrictions of 2010, this company harassed those who couldn’t repay the money they borrowed and even threatened those who were financially struggling, resulting in suicides in the worst cases. Despite being heavily regulated by law now, the company’s dark past still haunts it. Another questionable aspect is that it hasn’t changed its name.
Given what I mentioned above, my interest in this company has been declining sharply. The silver lining is that this company is not the only one I’m proceeding with the interview process.
An official job offer from a European company:
During the last week, I had seven interviews. Among them was a European company headquartered in Austria. Unlike other Japanese firms, this company’s hiring process was surprisingly fast. Since I informed them about my current situation, where I’m attending multiple interviews, they kindly conducted the first and second interviews on the same day.
The process was quick and efficient, and what I loved about this company was that they didn’t require that ridiculous reference sheet. The hiring process was streamlined, and during the interview, my potential boss, who is originally from Germany, mentioned that I might have the opportunity to transfer to their overseas offices. According to him, the company’s Asia-Pacific hub is located in Melbourne, Australia. Since I have some close Australian friends and have been highly interested in working abroad, taking this offer could be a game-changer for my life.
One concerning issue is that this role doesn’t involve programming. The job title is Field Engineer, which will utilize my database, Windows, and Linux skills. While it’s a tech company, the role is quite different from my previous one.
However, the silver lining is that the German gentleman told me during the interview that after accumulating a certain amount of experience within the company, I could become an engineer if I passed the corporation’s internal certifications.
So, what I’m thinking right now is that I’m totally okay with giving this change a go. Unlike other questionable Japanese firms, working for a non-Japanese company could be a game-changer, not only for my career but also for my life in general.
Conclusion:
All in all, given the disturbing experience of having to contact my previous company’s HR, my mental instability will likely continue until the end of this month. Maybe, just maybe, this is a sign that it’s time for me to move away from the traditional Japanese corporate work style. I’ll keep updating here about my life’s proceedings. Stay tuned!