Job: English Language Fellow – U.S. Department of State (Worldwide)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow, curriculum and content developer for a real estate school based in Virginia. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: English Language Fellow
Posted by: U.S. Department of State
Location: Worldwide
Contract: Full-Time; 10-month period
The English Language Fellow Program promotes English language learning around the world and fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries. The Program places highly qualified teachers in paid professional positions at projects initiated by U.S. embassies in all regions of the world. It is an opportunity for ESL teachers to enhance their professional career as they contribute to cross-cultural awareness throughout the world. Assignments are for a 10-month period typically beginning in September 2016.
The English Language Fellow Program is funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. As a program administrator, Georgetown University’s Center for International Education and Development is recruiting applicants for approximately 100 positions for the 2016-2017 academic year.
The priority deadline is November 30. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all projects have been filled. Applications are only accepted through the online application at https://application.elprograms.org/. For more information and to apply, please visit our website at www.ELPrograms.org/fellow. Please review the eligibility requirements before applying. More detailed information regarding eligibility is available on the website. Read More
WIT Life #291: Waku Waku +NYC event and Sebastian Masuda
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Sebastian Masuda with protege Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
This weekend I had the chance to visit “Waku Waku +NYC,” a new Japanese pop culture festival which took place over two days across multiple venues in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. According to the event’s homepage, it brings together the worlds of anime, manga, music, food, film, and fashion via exhibits, panels, screenings, and interactive events. This blend of pop culture from Japan and Brooklyn was envisioned as “Cool Japan meets New York’s Coolest Borough.” The name Waku Waku (わくわく) Read More
6 Jobs in International Education
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Via Carleen Ben (Oita). Posted by Sophia Chan (Sapporo-shi, 2009-2014). If interested in more job listings, join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
(1) Manager of Education Abroad, Portland Community College
>
> For best consideration, apply by September 8, 2015; for full details and to apply, please see jobs.pcc.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=54903
>
>
> POSITION DESCRIPTION:
> Under the direction of the Dean of Academic Affairs, the Education Abroad Manager is responsible for the design and development of District-wide student study abroad opportunities and faculty-led study abroad programs. Responds to inquiries from College faculty and departments, students, and/or external agencies. Supervises administrative services professionals, paraprofessionals, and technical/support staff.
> DUTIES:
> 1. Develops, plans, and implements goals, objectives, strategies, policies, and procedures for the education abroad program; manages the daily operations of the education abroad program.
> 2. Analyzes, develops and implements faculty-led education abroad programs to ensure effectiveness and compliance requirements related to identified priorities, credit requirements, financial parameters and risk and crisis management and communication; analyzes data and assesses needs and opportunities.
> 3. Supervises academic professionals, technical/support staff, and student workers. Hires, evaluates, trains, disciplines and recommends the dismissal of staff as necessary.
> 4. Develops, recommends, and administers policies, procedures, and processes in support of departmental operations; implements and monitors compliance with approved policies, procedures, and process.
> 5. Advises students, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues related to education abroad; collaborates with managers, deans, and other stakeholders across the district to address policy issues related to faculty-led programs.
> 6. Develops, implements, and monitors education abroad budget, ensuring compliance with applicable fiscal restraints; implements and allocates resources; approves expenditures.
> 7. Establishes and maintains professional networks with related local, state, national, and international organizations and agencies; participates on committees and serves as liaison with other departments to provide information on available resources, programs, and/or services; attends professional conferences and training sessions.
> 8. Conducts research, policy development, evaluation and documentation with regards to risk and crisis management for education abroad, in coordination with PCC’s risk management office.
> 9. Oversees education abroad program and scholarship advising, pre-departure orientation, and program evaluation; prepares and delivers presentations; facilitates meetings on program services.
> 10. Manages relationships and negotiates agreements with partner institutions and external education abroad vendors; develops and administers a variety of administrative documents which may include: requests for proposals, requests for quotes, service provider contracts, procedural guidelines, proposal applications, grants, and/or other related documents.
>
> MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
> – Master’s Degree in education, public administration, intercultural program management or related area is required (relevant experience may substitute for the degree requirement on a year-for-year basis).
> – Three years progressively responsible experience related to area of assignment, including two years of supervisory experience.
>
> PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
> 1. Preference will be given to applicants with additional experience in education abroad with demonstrated success in education abroad program development and management.
> 2. Demonstrated leadership and experience in working with faculty from a wide range of disciplines to develop and implement effective and innovative faculty-led programs appropriate for students in a variety of subject areas.
> 3. Demonstrated ability to initiate, develop and sustain strong positive relations with faculty and staff across the organization
> 4. Knowledge of/familiarity with the curriculum and student population of a comprehensive community college.
> 5. Demonstrated experience and/or interest in developing strategies to increase access for students who have traditionally been underserved in education abroad.
> 6. Active in the Forum on Education Abroad and/or NAFSA: Association for International Educators.
> 7. Experience with TerraDotta or other similar student information systems, and with demonstrated effective use of digital media.
> 8. Demonstrated ability to work effectively with people from other cultures.
> 9. Demonstrated knowledge of and commitment to cultural competence and cross cultural communication.
>
> Starting Salary Range: $57,688 to $83,647 per year
> PCC offers a comprehensive benefit package designed to provide employees and their families, including domestic partners, with a access to a broad range of benefit options. Includes Health, Dental, and Vision options, Group Life, Auto and Home Insurance. Retirement and tax deferred 403B plans.
> Paid Leave:
> 14.67 hours of Vacation leave per month
> 1 day of Sick Leave per month
> 11 Holidays
> 3 additional Personal Leave days per year
> Additionally, PCC provides a tuition waiver for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children under 24 years of age, as well as tuition reimbursement for full-time employees at other accredited institutions.
>
> For full details and to apply for the position, see jobs.pcc.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=54903
Internship: Research Assistant (Economic Diplomacy) – British Embassy (Tokyo)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow, curriculum and content developer for a real estate school based in Virginia. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Research Assistant (Economic Diplomacy)
Posted by: British Embassy
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Status: Maximum of 28 hours per week
Overview: The Economic Diplomacy Team at the British Embassy in Tokyo works on a wide range of issues to help create the conditions for global growth by promoting a rules-based international economic system to underpin economic stability and by securing global energy supplies in a sustainable low carbon economy. Under the department, there are three different teams:
- The Science & Innovation section in Japan represents the whole of the UK science base in Japan. The team promotes and strengthens science, technology and innovation collaboration between the UK and Japan. It works closely with experts from both countries dealing with exciting themes including stem cell research, brain science, cybersecurity, space, energy technology including nuclear.
- The Climate Change & Energy section promotes UK climate change and energy policy in Japan, working with a wide range of governmental and non-governmental decision-makers, opinion-formers and influencers to encourage the political conditions which support Japanese climate ambition. The section has a major focus on energy as the main tool for achieving our climate objectives, as a crucial engine of the economy, and a source of trade and investment opportunities for the UK.
- The Economic & Trade Policy section works to promote UK economic interests in an open and expanding global economy by reporting on and seeking to influence developments in the Japanese economy and regulatory environment. It deals with structural financial and regulatory reform in Japan; the EU-Japan Economic Partnership and negotiations and discussions in the WTO, G7, EU and other bi/multi-lateral forums. It also promotes close links on economic, trade and financial issues between the UK and Japanese governments and central banks.
Job: Program Coordinator for JET & Educational Affairs — Japanese Consulate (SF)
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A great JET-relevant opportunity shared by JET alum Eileen Lin who works for the organization. Posted by Mia Nakaji Monnier, freelance writer and Online Editor of The Rafu Shimpo, a Japanese American daily newspaper based in Los Angeles. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Program Coordinator for JET & Educational Affairs
Posted by: Japanese Consulate
Location: San Francisco, CA
Status: Full-Time
The Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco is seeking a highly motivated, team-oriented individual for the position of Program Coordinator for JET & Educational Affairs.
This position requires a strong familiarity with the JET Program and the Japanese educational system; the ideal candidate should also have excellent communications, outreach, and public presentation skills. Successful candidates should also be prepared to work as part of a larger Consulate team on other public outreach projects as needed.
To ensure consideration, all applications must be received no later than Friday, July 10th.
Please refrain from contacting the Consulate with inquiries regarding this job listing.
For more information about this position, as well as how to apply, please see the job listing on the Consulate website:
http://www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.
#Cheer4Fukushima organised by Tottori JETs and International Community
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This Sunday Tottori JETs will host a fundraising event, Cheer for Fukushima.
Cheer for Fukushima will raise money towards the reconstruction of Iwaki Ikueisha, an orphanage in Iwaki city which has suffered tremendous hardship since the Great East Japan Earthquake.
For the past few weeks people around the world have been taking selfies with the mascot fan Mirai-chan to promote the event which can be found on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter using #cheer4fukushima
Yesterday online donations went live and will be open until a month after the event.
It would be great if some of you could “get involved” by taking a selfie and sharing your pic and the event online. Tell your friends and family too. We want to encourage as many online donations as possible.
For more info on the event please see the website: cheer4fukushima.wix.com/c4f15
Online donation page: youcaring.com/iwakiikueisha
They are also getting the event out there!
Today’s Japan Today press release: http://www.japantoday.com/…/tottori-intl-community-to-host-…
AJET: http://ajet.net/announcement/cheer-for-fukushima/
If you have any questions or want more information about the event. Please contact me at ashlie.oneill@ajet.net
Job: Research Fellow — Reischauer Policy Institute (DC)
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Thanks to current Research Fellow and JET alum Michael Kotler for passing this great JET-relevant opportunity on. According to Michael: “The position is a great post-JET transition and in the past 2 years has already featured 2 JET alumni (including myself, who first found out about the position via JETwit).” Posted by Mia Nakaji Monnier, freelance writer and Online Editor of The Rafu Shimpo, a Japanese American daily newspaper based in Los Angeles. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Research Fellow
Posted by: Reischauer Policy Institute
Location: Washington, DC
See PDF for full description: Reischauer Policy Fellow Job Description
Reischauer Policy Research Fellows Program Program Overview:
Inaugurated in May, 2013, the Reischauer Policy Research Fellows Program is a key program of the Reischauer Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
It is designed to support the Center’s research program, while also providing recent university graduates with broad practical experience regarding the public and private-sector policy analysis process in Washington, D.C. Fellows, who receive an annual stipend of over $21,000, are selected annually through a nationwide-search process. Fellowships are tenable for one full calendar year, and potentially renewable for an additional year.
Please see our website for general information about the Center and our Facebook page which features photos and summaries of recent events and recent mentions in Japanese and American press.
Job Description:
Reischauer Policy Research Fellows assist the Director of the Reischauer Center personally on research projects of the Center, including, but not limited to: the functioning of Washington’s “idea industry”; US-Japan relations; the role of cities in global governance; comparative Eurasian political economy; East Asian regionalism; energy policy; and comparative public-health issues. Fellows also assist in organizing a rigorous and substantive seminar series for the Reischauer Center, focusing on finding best-practice solutions through comparative public-policy analysis for emerging energy and health-care issues.
They also assist in developing a web-based system for diffusing ideas generated by the Reischauer Center on a global basis, and perform other research and policy analysis as appropriate.
Jobs: Research Associate (DC) & Head of Communications (Tokyo)
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Posted via Idealist.org. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Title: Research Associate, Japan Studies
Location: Washington, D.C. Office
CFR’s David Rockefeller Studies Program is one of the country’s largest foreign policy think tanks with a widely respected and influential research staff. The Studies Program aims to advance the discussion of American foreign policy and international affairs through its writing, publications, public outreach, and discussions.
The Research Associate will work under the direction of the Senior Fellow on projects related to Japanese studies.
The major responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
Providing administrative support to the Senior Fellow, including scheduling appointments, handling phone calls, travel arrangements, and drafting correspondence
Researching specific areas for articles, book chapters, and other publications, as requested by the Senior Fellow
Coordinating events logistics, including preparing invitations, corresponding with speakers and presiders, helping to prepare background papers and materials for distribution, and providing other logistical support
Assisting with the drafting, proofreading and editing of written material
Managing social media and other digital tools
Managing budgets, including tracking monthly statements, monitoring grant information, writing reports and requests, creating and updating Excel spreadsheets, and preparing vouchers for reimbursement
For more information, please visit: http://www.idealist.org/view/job/p4XCNxddXdbD
. . .
Title: Head of Communications for United Nations University (UNU)
Location: Tokyo
The United Nations University (UNU) is an international community of scholars engaged in research, postgraduate training and dissemination of knowledge in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States. It serves as a think tank for the United Nations system, contributes to capacity building particularly in developing countries, and serves as a platform for new and creative ideas and dialogue. In addition to the UNU Headquarters located in Tokyo, UNU has already established fifteen institutes and programmes worldwide. For more information please visit http://unu.edu.
UNU is searching for a new Head of Communications to be located at its Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The Head of Communications, reporting to the Executive Officer, Office of the Rector, will have responsibility for the development and implementation of the University’s worldwide communication and dissemination strategy and for implementing a focused set of activities aimed at enhancing the UNU’s media and communications outreach in the University’s main host country of Japan.
For more information, please visit: http://www.idealist.org/view/job/bzdGmmdt9fXd
JALT Shinshu-AJET Conference-18th of April 2015
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JALT and AJET have teamed up bring you the JALT Shinshu-AJET Conference in Matsumoto City, Japan.
Featuring lectures from Morten Hunke and Yumiko Miyamoto the conference will focus on Can-do Statements & Assessment in a Japanese Context.
Many teachers are under immense pressure to prepare Can-Do statements that specify what aspects of communicative competence their courses are designed to develop, and clarify how students are assessed in relation to these statements. To explore this issue, Morten Hunke will discuss how the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) can be applied at the university level in Japan, and Yumiko Miyamoto will discuss assessment at the Senior High School level.
When:Sat 18th of April, 2015.14:00-17:00
Venue: Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture
Price:JALT members: Free; Non-members 1000 yen
For latest details, see JALT.org event page.
For any inquiries please contact:
Chris Low(AJET Director of Professional and educational Development)
or Gregory Birch (JALT)
(China) High School English Program Teacher & Developer
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Posted via Idealist.org. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
VIA (Volunteers in Asia), a non-profit organization focused on US-Asia public service and educational exchange, is currently seeking an adventurous teacher/curriculum developer for a rigorous and rewarding teaching fellowship at an English training program for high-schoolers on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau. This position will be part of our incoming cohort of 5- 6 new China fellows and will work with another fellow who shares the teaching responsibilities.
Fellow will receive a month-long training in Asia in August 2015. The fellow should then expect to travel to the post in late August and begin work in early September.
Learn more about VIA’s history and programs at www.viaprograms.org.
The application deadline is March 15, 2015.
For more information, please visit: http://www.idealist.org/view/job/s2P5czwwnhSP
WIT Life #282: あけおめことよろ！
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
Happy New Year! The greeting in the title is an abbreviation of 「明けましておめでとうございます！今年もよろしくお願いします。」 (“Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.”). We all know how much the Japanese love their abbreviations! I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing 年末年始 (nenmatsu nenshi, or year-end and new year), and are ready and refreshed for 2015. We are now in the year of the sheep, so for all of you with this animal sign this is your year.
The Abe administration is also hoping it is the year for women, coming off of his disastrous efforts in this arena last year with the resigning of two female ministers and general skepticism in regard to his Womenomics agenda. There was an interesting Read More
JETAA Chapter Beat 14th of November 2014
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Welcome to JETAA Chapter Beat. Ashlie O’Neill (Hyogo 2013-present) puts a spotlight on JET alumni associations across the globe. O’Neill is a current JET as well as the current the Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching (AJET) Director of Alumni Relations and Block 6 Representative (Hyogo, Kyoto and Shiga)for the AJET National Council. She can be contacted at her email or on LinkedIn.
This month in the JETAA Chapter Beat networking and career advancement take the spotlight.
Heartland JETAA and Rocky Mountains JETAA
Career Advancement Seminar
14th November 2014
Plaza Library, near 4763 Main St, Kansas City, Missouri 64112
“During the JETAA USA National Conference RMJETAA expressed an interest in a joint event with HJETAA and this seminar, connected via internet, is our first foray into event sharing. Come join us for this historic occasion.
Whether you’re recently returned or looking for a better job, our speaker will give you information you can use.”
Pacific Northwest JETAA
Welcome Back Nomikai
November 14th 2014 (7-9pm)
Kushibar, 2319 2nd Ave, Seattle
“The November Nomikai is welcoming back new returnees from Japan, new people in the Pacific Northwest area, and of course, all the ‘old’ alumni who are seriously awesome.
Come out and join us for food, drinks, and everything cool! We’ve got a bigger crop of returnees this year, and hopefully, we’ll see some of them out and about with us on Friday!”
Southern California(and Arizona) JETAA
JLPT Study Session
4-5:30pm, 16th November 2014
85C Bakery Café, 1735 W Carson St, Torrance, California 90501
“JETAASC wanted to invite everyone to our second and final JLPT study session. Why don’t we make it a Nihongo Dake Day?
Please RSVP through the following link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZpnghsYTQeiX6gMss8IythvI1F7TwhN53JI13RKxOnI/edit?usp=sharing”
JETAA Toronto
JETAA Toronto Career Roundtable and Networking Event
6:30pm 20th November 2014
Wattpad HQ 36 Wellington Street East, Toronto, Ontario M5E
“The JETAA Career Roundtable is the central professional networking event of the fall calendar for JET Programme alumni. The goal of the event is to give newly-minted JET alumni the opportunity to meet with Toronto professionals from a number of fields, including other alumni who have gone on to great success in their fields.
We will be sharing more information about the industries that will be represented at the event on the JETAA Facebook group and website. This year’s roundtable will be hosted in the wonderful Wattpad Innovation Space on the 3rd floor of 36 Wellington Street East in downtown Toronto. Join us on Thursday November 20th at 6:30pm.
Please RSVP at http://guestli.st/295734
Event is free! Check out our website (http://www.jetaatoronto.ca/) for other information and to keep posted as we begin to post bios of some of our professionals”.
JETAA Tokyo
Drinks with JETAA Tokyo
8pm 19th November 2014
HUB Shibuya / 東京都渋谷区宇田川町3-10 ぽあんしぶや安保ビル Ｂ１Ｆ
“JETAA Tokyo would like to invite all members to join us for drinks at the HUB Shibuya on November 19th. This will be a very informal gathering starting from 8pm to promote networking with former and current JETs in the Tokyo area.”
Let’s Talk Japan, Episode 26 – DISCO International Bilingual Recruiting
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Let’s Talk Japan is a monthly, interview format podcast covering a wide range of Japan-related topics. Host Nick Harling (Mie-ken, 2001-03) lived in Japan from 2001 until 2005, including two great years as a JET Program participant in Mie-Ken. He practices law in Washington, D.C., and lives with his wife who patiently listens to him talk about Japan . . . a lot.
In this episode, Nick speaks with JET Program alumni Catherine Rackley (Chiba-ken 2005-06) of DISCO International, a human resources firm specializing in Japanese-English bilingual recruitment. Whether you’re currently job searching or just curious about bilingual employment possibilities, this episode is full of useful information.
If you have not already done so, be sure to follow the podcast on Twitter @letstalkjapan and leave a positive rating/review in iTunes.
Life After JET: Of Legal Discourse and Family Ties
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Re-published after its first appearance from the JETAA NSW site: Our next Life After JET alumni is Shino Hamada (CIR Fukuoka-shi 2006-2011), a legal practitioner for a Sydney-based subsidiary for a major Japanese trading firm, whose life experiences show that you should always grab opportunities as they come by.
There is a tiny coastal town in the Southern part of Nagasaki Prefecture called Kazusa-machi. Besides a few holiday makers who visit its somewhat white sandy beaches in the summer, Kazusa-machi is usually a town which people merely drive through on their way from Nagasaki City to Shimabara City or vice versa. I was born there and spent the first eight years of my life running around on the beach behind our house with my three older siblings and speaking in the thickest Nagasaki dialect, until my hippie parents decided to uproot the whole family to live in New Zealand.
We continued to speak Japanese at home in West Auckland for four years, until my parents divorced and mum left us and returned to Japan. In order for us to overcome this incident, my dad forbade us to speak Japanese to each other and ordered us to discard everything that was Japanese, including our beloved Doraemon comic books and anything that reminded us of mum. My dad often spoke of his negative feelings towards Japan which rubbed off on me to the extent that I refused to speak Japanese at all for the next six years.
Still, Japan was always in the back of my mind and I was always a tiny bit curious about it. I also had not seen mum since she left us, so when I finished high school, I decided that I might as well go live with her in Nagasaki for a year. I arrived in Japan with a very low expectation and an extremely rusty tongue for the language, but what I found there was something beautiful, what I can only describe as ‘comfortable’ and I quickly fell in love with the culture and the people. I worked at a local supermarket fulltime and also taught English to primary school children in the evenings and weekends and loved every minute of it. At the supermarket, there would be regular customers who would always come and happily chat with me about their grandchildren or their pet dog and give me pumpkins from their garden. At the English school, the kids were always happy to see me and eager to learn.
Once the year was over, I returned to New Zealand to start university and decided to study Linguistics and Language Teaching. In my second year, a friend suggested that a Bachelor Arts would merely make me employable at McDonalds, which I gullibly believed and decided that I would study law to complement my Bachelor of Arts. In my last year, I decided to apply for the JET Programme as a CIR so that I could spend a couple of years living near mum and gain some experience working in a Japanese office. I did not really intend on becoming a lawyer after I graduated, but since I had eight months between the end of university and my departure for Japan on the JET Programme, I thought I might as well complete my professional legal studies course and I became admitted as a lawyer in New Zealand a couple of month before I left for Fukuoka.
In Fukuoka, I worked for the International Affairs Department in the city hall along with two CIR’s from non-English speaking countries. At first, people were curious about my background but they soon accepted that I was just a New Zealander who happens to look Japanese and speaks Japanese with an odd mix of a Nagasaki – New Zealand accent. My duties included translating and proofreading documents, interpreting for visitors from abroad, acting as a liaison between Fukuoka and a few of our sister cities, conducting monthly lectures for volunteer interpreters, judging speech contests, and conducting job interviews in English. I loved my job and I loved Fukuoka even more, to the extent that my initial intention to stay a maximum of two years was quickly disregarded and I ended up staying the JET maximum of five years.
At the returners’ conference in Tokyo in my fifth year, I still had not yet decided what I wanted to do or where I wanted to be after Fukuoka. I had vaguely toyed with the idea of combining my Japanese language skills with law in Japan previously, but when I spoke with a recruiter in my fourth year on JET, he advised that there are no opportunities for an inexperienced lawyer in Tokyo and that I should return to New Zealand and practice law for at least a couple of years before exploring the legal market in Tokyo. Nevertheless, by chance, I met a legal recruiter at the returners’ conference career fair, who heard of my law qualifications and my experience in a Japanese office and arranged an interview for the next day with the Tokyo office of a British law firm who was looking for a bilingual paralegal. I thought it would be a good practice job interview and thought I might as well try it. I went to an internet café that night and abruptly typed up my CV both in English and Japanese and I was lucky enough to be hired as a paralegal with a possibility of being promoted to a lawyer down the line.
I moved to Tokyo a couple of weeks after I bid farewell to my sweet home for five years and to my coworkers at the city hall who had become my beloved extended family. Once in Tokyo, I worked the hardest I had ever worked in my life, logged in long hours and hardly refused any work that came my way. The five year gap between my law degree and this job was somewhat filled by my experience working in a Japanese office and my understanding of the Japanese business culture which I shared with the foreign lawyers in the office. An Australian partner at my firm liked my work, took me under his wing and I had the privilege to be one of the core team members for a major acquisition of a multinational coal joint venture. It was a laborious few months and at times it felt as though I hardly slept, but the sense of satisfaction I felt once it was over was well worth it. I decided then that I quite liked law, continued to work hard and I was made an associate lawyer a year after I joined the firm.
However, after a year as an associate lawyer, I started to become restless in Tokyo. I had been in Japan for seven years at that point and was ready for something new. I also felt that I had been immersed in the Japanese culture for a bit too long and even starting to forget some English words. Luckily, the Australian partner who pushed me to become a lawyer had returned to Sydney and was keen for me to join him in Sydney and had an interesting secondment opportunity at the Australian subsidiary of a major Japanese trading house.
I joined the Sydney office a year ago, and have ever since been seconded to the infrastructure team of the Japanese trading house where I like to think I am maximising my Japanese language skills, understanding of Japanese business culture and my legal knowledge. I assist the company on its investments in infrastructure public-private partnerships in Australia from the pre-bid consortium discussion stage through to the actual bid or financial close, as well as identifying and analysing new opportunities for our counterparts in the Tokyo head office.
I do not think anyone is ever sure if the path they have taken is the right one, but if I had not had an open, ‘might as well’ attitude towards learning more about Japan after high school, studying law, obtaining my legal qualifications, staying five years in Fukuoka immersing myself in the Japanese office culture, taking the opportunity to interview at the Tokyo office of my law firm and taking the secondment opportunity in Sydney, I would never have experienced all the things I was able to experience, been able to come to terms with my bicultural upbringing or found a way to combine all my skills.
If you are a returning JET and you do not yet know what you want to do or where you want to be and an opportunity which slightly piques your interest pops up your way, why not shrug your shoulders and think ‘might as well’? It might take you down a route you had never dreamt of, but which may end up being one of the right paths for you.
Getting Unstuck: How to Take Control of Your Schedule and Stop Hijacking Your Own Agenda
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Jonathan Bissell (Chiba-ken, 1995-2000) is the author of Dream in Color, Think in Black & White: How to Get Unstuck and Fulfill Your Dreams and CEO of High Performance Impact, LLC, an executive coaching firm helping proven and emerging leaders to identify and consistently leverage patterns of high performance. He blogs at www.jonathanbissell.com.
Staying in control of your schedule isn’t easy – especially when you’re stressed out, pressed for time, or dealing with multiple deadlines and the demands of others.
But let’s face it: Sometimes the saboteur is you.
If you’ve ever created a great agenda for your day but found yourself doing something completely unrelated when you actually sat down to work, then you know exactly what I mean.
Having your agenda hijacked by someone else is bad enough, but when you’re the main culprit, the loss of control is even more demoralizing. But rather than play the blame game (haven’t you had enough of that?), let’s focus on solutions to the problem.
Here are 3 quick tips you can immediately put into practice to regain control of your schedule and stop hijacking your own agenda.
- Schedule Your Shadow Priorities. Shadow priorities are the things that you actually do even when you plan to do something else. These priorities are not listed on your agenda, but they exert a powerful influence on how you spend your time. So give them the attention they seek by including them on your agenda, but set clear boundaries around how much time you allot to them. For example, if your plan is to rethink your strategic objectives but you find yourself checking email instead, then incorporate email as a priority on your agenda and schedule specific time blocks to attend to it. You’ll find that scheduling your shadow priorities gives them the attention they crave – and the boundaries they lack.
