Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules.  He operates a think tank of one, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States.

On December 5, the American Lawyer (aka the AmLaw Daily) published Leichter’s most recent article, “Law School Debt Bubble, Part II: Data Show Feds Will Lend $54.3 Billion to U.S. Law Schools by 2020,” in which he uses American Bar Association data to project the exponential growth of law school debt in contrast to the small number of new lawyer jobs in the U.S.

Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules.  He operates a think tank of one, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States.

On November 22, the American Lawyer (aka the AmLaw Daily) published Leichter’s most recent article, “Law School Debt Bubble: Aggregate Law School Grad Debt Grew $475 Million Between 2008 and 2010,” in which he uses U.S. News and World Report and American Bar Association data to illustrate the ever-increasing growth in law school debt graduates have taken on even though law jobs have been disappearing for decades.

Links to Leichter’s previous AmLaw articles can be found here.

Industry Experts: Pam Kavalam, Shannan Spisak, Clara Solomon, Jillian Rodriguez and Katrina Barnas

Update:  Click below to listen to a recording of the panel discussion.

• JETAANYIndustryPanel

Monday found about 15 JET alums meeting on the 20th floor of 3 Park Avenue, current home of the New York branch of CLAIR (The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, aka the “Japan Local Government Center”). Gathered over jasmine tea and Thai finger food, JETAANY presented a chance for job-seekers to talk to JET alums (and a few non-alums) who currently work in the worlds of higher education and exchange programs. The five panelists included Pam Kavalam (Shiga-ken), a student advisor at NYU’s Wagner School, Clara Solomon (Tottori-ken), Director of Counseling and Career Development at NYU’s School of Law, Katrina Barnas (Chiba-ken), Associate Director at the Institute of International Business at Columbia Business School, Shannan Spisak (Kanagawa-ken), Program Officer at the Institute of International Education, and Jillian Rodriguez, who works for the Program of Financial Studies at Columbia Busies school.

Amber Liang (Kochi-ken), herself a Senior Programs Coordinator for the International House at Columbia, moderated the forum with a series of questions that laid bare the realities of working in the higher ed world. The panelists explained how they got into the field, the pros and cons of their job, the education requirements needed to work in a college or university, and where they thought the higher ed industry would be in five years.

While all the panelists had very different jobs and fell into the industry in different ways, there were a lot of things they agreed on. First, higher ed hiring is slow! Don’t be discouraged if you apply and don’t hear back for months. Second, having a Masters degree isn’t required to start at an entry-level position, but people will expect you to start one while you work there, especially of your institution offers free classes or tuition benefits. And even if you don’t get hired for the job that you apply for, many resumes are shared internally, so put your best foot forward and apply anyway! Third, there are good opportunities for mobility in higher ed offices. Starting in administration is a good way to start, as long as you don’t stay there too long. Learning more about the institution and the other offices will give you a chance to move to different, and possibly higher, positions. The one downside being that while you may move up, your paycheck might not.

Lastly, as for the future of higher ed jobs: they aren’t going anywhere in the near future, however free classes for employees or benefits are likely to be reduced or cut because of budget constraints. It’s important to think carefully about the benefits other than money that you can gain working in higher ed. If you want to earn a Master’s while working, it’s an excellent opportunity, but if you want to make a fortune it might not be your cup of tea!

Hearing the stories of our sempai was a truly helpful and inspiring experience. A lot of us are struggling in the job market at the moment, and it’s events like these that give us a glimpse of the struggle our successful friends have had, and the gumption to keep on trying our best!

Amber Liang and Sean Harley explain the art of getting a job without ever asking (i.e., informational interviews). (Steven Horowitz)

By Carolyn Brooks (Ishikawa-ken, 2006-11) for JQ magazine. Carolyn is co-author of the blog MadSilence–a cross-cultural blog written with her father–and a current culture/education related job-seeker in the New York area available for full-time or consulting work.

JET alumni from all walks of life gathered this weekend at the Nippon Club in New York City to talk about something important to us all: jobs and how to get them. The Career Forum is a much-anticipated event, with JETAA New York providing a varied and well-planned series of presentations for recent returnees and new career searchers alike.

“We hold this event annually to help the recent returnees get settled back in New York, provide job hunting advice and techniques for highlighting the JET experience on their resume, and give them the opportunity to meet alumni and recruiters in their possible career fields,” said JETAANY president Monica Yuki (Saitama, 2002-04). The Career Forum achieved all those objectives with flying colors, as well as giving us recent returnees a taste of home, which for many of us suffering from reverse culture shock was as welcome as the career advice.

Evan Hyman (Osaka, 1995-96) started the presentations off with a bang, sharing the 10 most important lessons he’s learned in his 14 years since JET. Over the years he’s worked in marketing and planning with some of the world’s largest companies (including Pepperidge Farm and Johnson & Johnson), but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t encountered the same road bumps that new jobseekers do. Some of his advice included practical matters like “Network, network, network!”; “Utilize as many recruiters as you can”; and “Your job search will be determined by the economy”; but it was his more personal advice that really struck me.

Lesson #9 was “It can take a really long time to realize what you want to do.”  Mr. Hyman’s had some jobs that, while lucrative and attractive, just weren’t for him. It was those jobs that helped him find his “sweet spot” and learn skills that got him the jobs he liked. No experience is ever wasted! Lesson #5, my personal favorite, was “Have a passion for what you do!” If you work at a job you’re not interested in, you’re not going to do your best work, so find your passion and see how you can use it in a career.

The other three presentations were from more recent JET alumni, covering such topics as informational interviewing, social media and networking, and resume writing. “The job market is kind of like the dating scene,” said Chau Lam (Gunma, 2005-07), beginning her resume presentation with Shannan Spisak (Kanagawa, 1996-98). “Your resume is like your profile on a dating site, and its job is to interest people enough that they want to know more about you after looking at it for 30 seconds.” Their dating analogy brought a chuckle from the audience, and their seven page handout including power verbs, self-assessments and writing examples is an excellent resource that will be available on JETAANY’s website in the near future.

Sean Harley (Ibaraki, 1995-97) and Amber Liang’s (Kochi, 2006-08) informational interviewing presentation answered some important questions about proper conduct, like what questions are appropriate and why you shouldn’t even hint at asking for a job in an interview. Their presentation will also be available on the website.

The last portion of the forum allowed attendees to unwind and talk to a variety of alumni and recruiters. We exchanged business cards and stories of Japan while asking how they ended up where they did—as a public school teacher, grant writer, TV editor, research analyst, and translator. Throughout the day, all of the presenters stressed the importance of utilizing the JET network, both socially and professionally, and it was during our free talk that the strength of that network made itself felt. All the alumni were eager to tell us how JET helped them become who they are, how JETAA helped them survive after their return, and offered to open their networks to us, their new comrades.

By participating in JET, we all expected to become a bridge between Japan and America, but I don’t think any of us expected the bridges we would create between ourselves. It’s events like these that really prove how worthwhile programs like JET are–that the outreach and sharing we did in a foreign country can continue at home, making our countries better from the inside out.

For more on JETAANY, visit http://jetaany.org.

Matt Leichter 

• “Dear Prospective Law Students, Do Not “Reasonably Rely” on Cooley’s “Report One“.  http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2011/11/dear-prospective-law-students-do-not-reasonably-rely-on-cooleys-report-one.html
• (You can also read his previous AmLaw article titled “Media Outlets Claiming ‘Law Is no Longer a Golden Ticket’ Conceal Decades of a Profession in Decline.”)

Matt’s writing is gaining recognition for not just his thorough yet accessible writing style, but also for his un-lawyerly comfort with statistics and his willingness to push past assumptions.

If any JET alums out there are still contemplating law school, please (I beg you) read some of Matt’s writing first.

Thanks to JETAA Chicago’s Elizabeth Gordon (Iwate-ken 2003-05) for sharing this info:

JETAA Chicago will host its annual Job and Networking Fair on Saturday, November 5th from 1pm to 5pm at the Japan Information Center in downtown Chicago.

This is a great opportunity for JETs that have recently returned from Japan, current JET Alumni, friends of JETs as well as professionals looking for new networking and career opportunities.

A lot of JETs return from Japan looking for ways to maintain and even build upon the experiences they made while living abroad and we hope to provide support in helping you reach those goals. This is also a wonderful opportunity for individuals that are interested in pursuing a new career and would like some guidance from current Alumni or other established professionals.

There will be an open table top session with booths from various Chicagoland companies and organizations as well as a wine and cheese reception. We are also planning on having a speaker to kick off the event so please stay tuned as there will be more specific information to follow!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email our Social Activities Officer, Daniel Martin: social@jetaachicago.com

Location: Consulate General of Japan at Chicago (JIC – Japan Information Center), 737. North Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL (map it)

In addition to having lived in Japan, Aiyana speaks 5 languages and has traveled to 23 countries.  She also does horseback riding, loves cooking and making kokeshi dolls and is proud that she learned how to snowboard in Japan.

Here’s contact info below for anyone who wants to get in touch with Aiyana:

Aiyana, Festival Concierge
Gardner-Mathews Travel Concierge
Showing you the World—One Festival at a Time.
www.gardner-mathews.com
aiyana [at] gardner-mathews.com

アイヤナ・アプリング
ガードナー・マシューズ・トラベル・コンシェルジェ

Here’s the link to join:  http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=4145299&trk=&ut=1tt3q-WQ4vCkY1

Also here’s a link to the full list of JET Alum professional and prefecture LinkedIn groups out there.  And a reminder that if you don’t see one that fits, start your own and we’ll post it here on JETwit.

• “A Recruiter’s Guide to Finding Work in Tokyo” – by JETAA Tokyo President and former recruiter Byron Nagy
• “Getting That Perfect Job” – by JET alum and former CLAIR staffer Christian Tsuji

JET alum and JETwit webmaster Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, Nakatsu-shi, 2003-2006) recently appeared in the Fast Company article “An MFA Degree For Designers Who Want To Change The World” by Michael J. Coren.

So you want to change the world? Cynics may send you off to Wall Street or a white-shoe law firm. Those with gumption will look for another way. The new Master’s of Fine Arts in Design for Social Innovation has opened its doors just for them.

“We’re adamant this not be a program where people sit in a classroom and talk about how great it’s going to be when they go out and change the world,” says program chair Cheryl Heller at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, and a board member of PopTech. “It is helping designers go beyond self-expression, which is how most designers are taught, and how to put [design] into practice to create a change.”

Read the full Fast Company article here.

Lee-Sean, a faculty member in the department, is reaching out to the JET community and encouraging returning JETs and alumni to apply to the MFA Design for Social Innovation program.  The program is for applicants from a broad range of backgrounds with an interest in design and social innovation, and not just those with college degrees or prior professional experience in design.  Email leesean@purpose.com with inquiries, and apply here.  The deadline for applications is January 15, 2015 for Fall 2012 enrollment.

Photo: Lee-Sean with fellow MFA Design for Social Innovation faculty member Alessandra Orofino.

Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules.  He operates a think tank of one, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States.

The popular lawyer periodical, the Am Law Daily, ran an article I wrote, titled, “Media Outlets Claiming ‘Law Is no Longer a Golden Ticket’ Conceal Decades of a Profession in Decline.” In it I use Bureau of Economic Analysis data, charts, and animations to demonstrate that the legal sector of the U.S. economy stagnated about 20 years ago, and along with increasing law school tuition creates a crisis for legal education in the United States.

JET Alum Okane

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=4045224&trk=anet_ug_hm

For JET alumni who have an interest in, work in or aspire to work in fields related to money – i.e., finance, fundraising, investment, accounting, tax, economics, insurance, etc.

Click here for a list of all of the other JET Alum LinkedIn groups you can join.

The panel featured Bianchi along with fellow JET alums Laurel Lukaszewski (Kagoshima-ken, 1990-92) (sculptor artist and former Executive Director of the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C. as well as former President of Pacific Northwest JETAA) and Jim Gannon (Ehime-ken, 1992-94), Executive Director of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA), and was moderated by JETwit publisher Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, Kariya-shi, 1992-94).

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

JET Alum Health Professionals Group on LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/e/ai06o5-gqax67os-a/vgh/4008893/

So if you’re a therapist, a doctor, a nurse, a researcher, a nutritionist or in any other line of work (or aspire to be) that has some connection to health, please join!

Also a reminder that there are a whole host of other JET Alum LinkedIn groups to join (e.g., law, policy & government, MEFs, media professionals, etc.) as well as the JET alum LinkedIn groups by prefecture.

Here’s the link:  http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3949084&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

And a reminder to go to JET Alum Groups on the JETwit site for a list of all professional/career oriented LinkedIn and other groups for JETs.

On Friday, June 10, 6:30-8pm, JETAA Chicago and the Japan America Society of Chicago will be hosting a panel featuring Lars Martinson and David Fernandez, two JET alumni authors.

Mr. Martinson, cartoonist and author of Tonoharu, and Mr. Fernandez, author of Rising Sunsets, will share their experiences teaching English in Japan, relive funny cultural stories, and mention how these experiences shaped the writing of their books Tonoharu and Rising Sunsets.

Please join us at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, 1 N Wacker Suite 4400, Chicago, IL 60606.

Tickets are $5 for JASC & JETAA members, $10 for general admission.

Space is limited so RSVP soon to Erika Kono at kono@jaschicago.org.

• JET Alum Academics

• JET Alum Creative Types

• JETAA Education Professionals

• JETAA Law

• JET Alum MBAs

• JET Alum Media Professionals
  

• JET Alumni Non-Profit

• JET Alumni Policy & Government LinkedIn Group

• JET Alumni Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group

• JET Alumni Travel & Tourism

• JET Alumni Writers

*Don’t see what you’re looking for?  Start your own JET alum LinkedIn group and e-mail jetwit [at] jetwit.com.  We’ll post it on JETwit.

**Also, don’t forget about the JETwit Jobs Google Group as well as the JET Alum LinkedIn groups by prefecture.

It turns out Ari, who speaks regularly at legal career events, has a new book coming out soon on the theme of “reinvention” intended not just for lawyers but for all professionals re-thinking their careers in a society where the ground increasingly seems to shift below our feet.

For more information about Ari, visit his website at www.arikaplanadvisors.com.  You can also see media coverage of him on WGN-TV Chicago, in the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog and in the Houston Chronicle

CLICK HERE to join the

JET Alum Academics LinkedIn Group.

Meat Monster: "Oishisou! (de ha nai)"

Current Mie JET Patrick St. Michel shared the below about his recent “Meat Monster” review in Esquire Magazine, which JETwit believes is very much worth your time to read.

An Unexpected Burger Benefit of Life in Japan

Posted by Patrick St. Michel (Mie-ken, 2009-present).

Having now lived in Japan for nearly two years, I’ve discovered a host of benefits—from convenient public transportation to a copious amount of vending machines—that come with residing in this island nation.  Recently, however, I encountered a completely unexpected benefit—one that involved consuming—in a single sitting—the FDA-recommended caloric intake for a herd of plus-size elephants.

Prior to joining JET, I attended—and graduated from—Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.  My pre-JET life also included working at three newspapers, an online music site, and an online magazine that I co-founded (http://www.northbynorthwestern.com).  One of the friends I made along the way now works at Esquire magazine.  Word had apparently spread stateside that Burger King Japan was launching a medically ill-advised burger aptly dubbed the “Meat Monster.”  Knowing that I live in Japan and generally don’t give much thought to my arteries’ continuing ability to function, my friend asked if I would write a review of the Meat Monster for Esquire.  Fortunately, I had inadvertently prepped for this unexpected assignment, having just reviewed McDonald’s “Mega Teriyaki” in my blog about life in Japan—http://www.japantrick.wordpress.com/.  (I’ve also previously reviewed McDonald’s line of Big America burgers)

Some 1,160 calories and 2,290 milligrams of sodium later, I filed my Esquire story—http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/burger-king-meat-monster-042611

As a postscript, my plan is to pursue a post-JET writing career in Japan.  Toward that end, if anyone has suggestions—or knows of openings at traditional or online publications or public relations/marketing positions—I would love to hear from you!  Reach me at mailto:patrickstmichel@gmail.com.  If you’re still not sure about me, learn more at http://www.patrickstmichel.com, and if you’re interested in the Japanese music scene, follow my blog—http://www.makebelievemelodies.wordpress.com/.