I've decided to share the story of my past jobs as a salaried worker because some of my readers might find it interesting.
I started my career in 2008, which means I would have completed 16 years of work if I hadn't chosen to escape the rat race.
During that time, I worked for two companies before quitting in 2018. Looking back, I'm proud of my decade-long experience as a salaried employee, although I never anticipated it would last that long.
My final decision to join a traditional Japanese company came a bit late. During my time at university, I didn't have clear career goals. The only course relevant to my future career was a teacher-training program I took in college, even though I had no intention of becoming a teacher at that time.
Unfortunately, there were several obstacles along the way. I'll explain the details later, but in short, mismanagement at college made it difficult for me to earn the necessary credits for the teacher-training program. As fate would have it, I had to abandon my plan of becoming a teacher.
I had several options in front of me. I could have pursued graduate school, studied abroad, become a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), or started working. I was torn between studying and working, but in the end, I chose to work.
The reason behind my decision was that it is relatively easier for new college graduates to find a job in Japan, and I believed that leveraging my qualifications would be an efficient way to secure a decent job. Additionally, I trusted that other options would still be available to me even if I chose to quit my job in the future.
Although I had decided to work, I remained uncertain about which job to pursue. I was interested in opportunities to work abroad, write, and teach. Despite my lack of motivation to the next step, I ultimately decided to take a screening test for a newspaper company. While it was common to prepare for such tests and interviews for several months and apply to multiple companies, I only pursued this one opportunity.
Initially, I was about to give up before the test, but my close friend encouraged me, saying, "Ushi, you have a chance. Give it a go." Those words inspired me to go through with the test in the end.
The first examination was a writing test. The venue was a large space with rows of desks and chairs, accommodating a vast number of examinees. I felt overwhelmed by the scene before me. My heart sank.
One of the essay questions was about "consumption," and I vividly recall writing an essay titled
"The Reason Why Coolbiz is Not So Cool."
Although I had nearly abandoned hope for the test, my essay, written in a lighthearted manner, successfully passed the initial screening.
The second exam involved an interview with several interviewers, but I managed to navigate it without any difficulty
The third stage required writing an article after watching a mock press conference. Although I had never written an article before, I followed examples I had previously read.
During the subsequent interview, one of the interviewers remarked,"This is a cliché expression."I thought I had failed the exam, but then they added, "But overall, it was well-written."
Please make up your mind.
Finally, I received unexpected news that I had passed the exam once again.
And at long last, I had reached the finals.
