Don't settle

Apologize for being cliche by quoting Steve Jobs but it's because I've read and saw his Stanford speech in twitter, facebook, etc too many times over the past couple of days, so the title automatically popped up even before I started writing this post. I'm normally struggling with the title and usually waiting until the end to think of a good one (which normally  is not that good anyway). But the sentence "Don't settle" sounds like something I can use with my current situation now.

This post is probably going to be really boring, unless you want to know about my job-hunting process, which, have I mentioned that it's...boring?

I started this week by taking TOEIC. For free, because Exxon Mobil had given us the TOEIC coupon to take the test when I went to their career night in August. I still haven't found out about the result though usually it comes out 1 day after taking the test. It's because Exxon Mobil paid for the test fee so the result had to be sent to them directly. But again the result wasn't sent to their office, instead it was sent to the recruitment agency that Exxon is using and they have to forward it to Exxon after. After contacting the recruitment agency and going back and forth to the TOEIC center several times, the recruitment company finally forwarded my name to the TOEIC center so that I could reprint the result. Will have to get it on Monday. The reason I was trying to get it was pretty obvious; so that I can use in applying for other jobs! TOEIC is an essential part of most companies qualification in order to show a proof of English skill.

I also went to the recruitment company today. This recruitment company has a lot of branches in Thailand (all over the world actually. The headquarter is in Switzerland I think), and one branch in Bangkok focuses mostly on Japanese companies and coincidentally they have Japanese Jobs day event today and Saturday for people who are looking for jobs using Japanese skill. So I booked an appointment and had a chat with their manager today and she was asking about my resume and what kind of job I'd be interested in. I said I'm pretty sure I don't want to be an interpreter and a translator so she suggested sales/co-ordinator/customer service type of jobs. She did mention a few names of Japanese trading companies, some automobile companies, one travel/hotel reservation agency, a bank for Japanese customer service/sales position, AND...get this... a wedding-related, matchmaking company for Japanese and Thai people! For the record I quickly said no for the last one. I seriously cannot see myself working in a matchmaking company.

After that there was also an interview in Japanese and English with a Japanese person. I was really surprised to have found out that this Japanese woman could speak English really well! I mean, it's kinda rare in Japan. Afterwards I also found out that she was really surprised with my English skill too. Not so much with my Japanese though. She said it's good, but with a bit of grammatical mistakes. Sure, I know that I can't function correct Japanese grammar...But overall she said it's pretty good for a new graduate.

Then I've been asking Japanese major Sempais with questions about jobs. Also posted a question in our Japanese major student, alumni, and professor group in Facebook. Isn't it a shame that Thai public universities don't have career counseling for students!? It doesn't make me feel satisfied at all, but anyway, I know it's Thailand where getting information seems to never be easy. The thing is, I'm soooo glad I started asking people!!! What was I thinking by being constantly worried and NOT doing anything!? Now I have some information from students who graduated and they were all pretty nice explaining the jobs they did. First I thought I'd try for the sales position at big Japanese trading companies but after I talked to a few people I'm not positive anymore. They said the system is quite different from Japan and they are not doing as well as some famous automobile companies (I really don't wanna type and point out the names...). One Sempai who quitted her job as a sales in a trading company after a few months said we can meet up if I want to hear more things about the job in details, and I think it's a nice idea.

I've had some suggestions saying that there is no need to rush into job just because I feel like I should starting working as soon as possible. I should take my time, try to apply to as many companies as I can, and then carefully choose what sounds best for me. As a graduate from the top university in Thailand (that's what they said...), there will definitely be job offerings because we have potential to learn new things (again, that's what they said). Quite a nice consolation, don't you think?

I think I'm still confused about many, many things, but at least I feel better that I've started doing "something" about the thing I'm extremely worrying about. It was really nice to start talking to people about what I feel and the situation I'm facing with now, and almost all of them seemed to be really willing to answer my questions. So many people said as a new graduate I should try for everything and there's nothing to lose! Now I've had a few ideas of jobs that Liberal Arts graduates can do and felt I was so stupid for keeping quiet for too long. Being worried but not doing anything sure is not going to make the situation better!

Next week I'm going for a walk-in application at this global shipping company from Denmark and will start sending out applications to more companies when I get my TOEIC result. You know what, I think I'd probably fit more with foreign companies that are not Japanese, like maybe working in a Japanese division of that foreign company. After all I'm always more comfortable using my English than Japanese. The reasons I'm still thinking working in a Japanese-related job because the pay is better, and I don't want to lose my Japanese knowledge. I'm still undecided, and don't think I'll settle that easily. I'm extremely picky, probably too picky for a recent graduate! But as far as I'm concern I have the right to be. For me it's better to be picky now than suffer for the job I hate later.