Job Hunting (就職活動): Being Prayed (祈られた)

When I was hunting a job in Japan, I frequently came across this peculiar term called 祈られた (inorareta) or literally, "being prayed" on job hunting BBS such as みんなの就職活動日記 (minna no shuukatsu nikki). As also explained on hatena (Japanese), the meaning of this term differs so much from what English speakers may think at the first time, as it means that you had received a rejection notice from a company that you had had applied to.

Explaining it a little bit, 祈られた (inorareta) is derived from the basic form 祈る (inoru), which means "to pray". In Japan, if you derive the basic form into a passive one, like "being prayed" here, then usually it comes together with a slightly negative connotation. And, as you may also have noticed in English rejection letters, the letters are usually ended with sentences like "we wish you the best in your future endeavors", which becomes 今後のご活躍を心よりお祈り申し上げます (kongo no gokatsuyaku wo kokoro yori oinori mousiagemasu) in Japanese letters, replacing "wish" with "pray" with almost the same meaning.

Hence "being prayed" means that a company has prayed for your future endeavors, which means that you were rejected ! I doubt any foreigner without job hunting experience in Japan know this term. Heh.

One sad news about our Ph.D colleague in Tohoku University

I usually don't write a post about society news, but this time I could not resist my moral obligation to share this sad news: "２年連続論文戻され、東北大院生自殺「指導に重大過失」", which literally means "PhD thesis rejected for two consecutive years, a graduate student from Tohoku University committed suicide (Advisor's blunder)", as I bet that this kind of news will rarely be heard by foreigners.

Basically, the article said that a student, who had been 29 years old, had committed suicide in August 2008, after his Ph.D thesis manuscript had been returned by his advisor. In December 2007, he also submitted his thesis manuscript, but his advisor did not accept it without adequate discussions. Further, in 2006, his advisor instructed him to delay submitting his Ph.D thesis submission.

Now, you may wonder why he committed suicide for such "trivial" matters ? I agree that failing to obtain a degree should not make us want commit suicide. And in fact, being enrolled in a field which we are interested in, is already enough to create motivations for us to pursue our study. After all, we are interested in it, aren't we ? Sadly, having been studying in Japan and having experienced the pit myself as I wrote in my self-development blog, I wouldn't say that I don't understand at all why he committed suicide, although perhaps I can't put it into words well.

An obvious reason is that he was bound to the seemingly unacceptable instructions by his advisor. I am interested in finding out more how many papers this student and his advisor have published in recent years, and to find out if there is any connection, but it's unfortunate that the names are not written in the news article.

Rumors said that many other foreign students also faced this kind of strange demands from their advisors. If you happen to be one of these, here are my two cents. First, don't let your advisor control your life completely, however obvious this may sound. I had a strange discussion with my friends, with us mentioning our lives as "babes". Would you like your advisor to decide which "babe" you'd like to take as your wife ?

The second one is, you can always find alternatives, like looking for a job, going back to your country, succeeding your parents' company, etc, although the prospect of Ph.D students getting a job in Japan is rather low. In my opinion, in Japan, companies generally don't consider accepting Ph.D students, who are fresh graduates, as new employees, let alone giving higher salaries as what they do in United States. I am fortunate myself to have been given several job offers, but in one company, I was rejected simply because my age was already over 27 years old. This is also perhaps one of the reasons why he did such a horrible thing if he thought of entering a company.

And the last one, of course, don't do that ! You don't deserve it, and I believe there are still many opportunities for you lying ahead. After all, you have succeeded in coming this far.

Job Hunting and Dream

Back in June 2007, I was having a hard time choosing between two places where I was accepted as part timers. This last week, I was having an even harder time contemplating which job offer I should reject. Foreigners, unlike Japanese people, may say "Just pick one, you can change your job later", but still the question "Which ?" remains.

It is coincidental that the initial letters of these companies are 'S' and 'P', which are also the initial letters of my name and my wife's name, and more ironically maybe, the initial letters of my best man's name when we got married in 2006 (you can see the photo of our wedding ice below). By the way, I don't want to reveal the company names yet publicly because I still have a year before I actually enter the company.



I looked at their annual reports, which I barely understand except for their mission statements, calculated some financial ratios, read newspaper articles such as "働きやすい会社" (best place to work) by Nikkei, referred to the provided training in both companies, talked to friends, seniors and families, and even after doing all those things, I was still confused. In Japan, you can't really compare the initial salaries nor benefits for fresh graduates because they are basically the same everywhere, even for Ph.D students, unless you are comparing those of a big company to those of a small company.

The strange thing is that, if you had asked me this very same question about 10 years ago, I would have answered 'S' directly without thinking. This was my dream and one of the reasons why I came to Japan in the first place. The problem is that, in the industry of 'S', there will be relatively more overtime than that in the industry of 'P', and being a married man, I can't just blindly put my dream first before my family, although indeed the job in 'S' will be more enjoyable and fun for me. I guess people do change, and I am one of those people.

Two ways of thinking led me to my final decision. The first one is thinking about regret. How much regret would I feel if I entered 'S' and its business was not doing so well, and how much regret would I feel if I entered 'P' and its prospects were not so bright. You can always change your job but you can't always work in the company where you want to work.

The second way of thinking is inspired by the last lecture of beloved Professor Randy Pausch below, which I also put on my blog a year ago. This is one of the good things of writing blogs ! You had written the answer before you had the problem. More precisely, the thinking goes like this: "Which will inspire my children more than the other when they have grown up ?".

I chose 'S'.

Job Hunting Nearing The End

I am really relieved to say that my job hunting period in Japan is nearing its end. I had some really good time, like when I got a notice that I passed a certain examination which I thought I had failed, but there was also some very depressing time, like when I was given a call that I failed, even though I was offered a job indirectly by one of the supervisors in that company before. I would like to share some of the things that I did and if I think they were correct, and what I think I should have done in my next posts. But for now, I think I just want to rest, and think which one of the two offers in my hands that I should pick. Meanwhile, check out this resume, called 履歴書(ri-reki-sho) in Japanese.



I just found it out by chance the other day when I was trying to write one, and isn't it hilarious ? I couldn't even think about the phrase "今ココ" (I am here now) no matter how bad I want to write a resume. Of course, I am sure that you know that it is a sample of an extremely awful resume (don't you ?), so you may want to NOT write anything like that resume.