(Although I gave up becoming a teacher and had no idea what I could do, God had already prepared a career plan that suited me.)
I originally entered a four-year university after vocational school because I wanted to become an English teacher someday. However, after going through teaching practice, I began to feel that teaching might not be right for me. I have always preferred learning to teaching. Unless one has real confidence, it is difficult to guide others.
Although I graduated from an English department, I had no idea what I could actually do, nor did I know what I truly wanted to do. I had never experienced job hunting like everyone else, dressing in “recruit fashion” and attending company seminars. At a loss, I decided to look at the job listings in The Japan Times, thinking that I might find a job where I could use English.
Looking back now, it was a very simple and careless approach. I applied to only two companies—simply because their job advertisements took up a large space. Since one company moved faster in the hiring process, I naturally ended up going in that direction.
It felt as if I had simply entrusted myself to the flow. At church, people prayed especially for my job search at the throne of grace, and there must have been many prayers offered quietly without my knowing. I am truly grateful.
Here is how I was hired. The job listings were for “President’s Secretary,” “Assistant Translator,” and “Clerk.” I applied as an assistant translator. I was asked to take a written exam in the company’s conference room. It included general knowledge questions and an English translation test. I think around twenty or thirty people were there. During the exam, we were called one by one for interviews.
The English test was extremely difficult, and I felt I had done only about half of it well. Still, for some reason, I immediately liked the company. Perhaps it was simply because the office was in a beautiful high-rise building, but for someone as inexperienced as I was, that was reason enough. While taking the test, I prayed silently in my heart:
“Jesus, this exam is very difficult. But I like this place. Please, somehow, let me be hired.”
When it was my turn for the interview, I was asked how the test had gone. I answered honestly that it had been difficult and that I had not done very well. Then, without knowing why, I suddenly said, “Um… I can type in English as well.” In the job listing for clerk, it did say, “Some typing ability required.” When I added, “I don’t mind working as a clerk,” the interviewer said to the deputy manager sitting nearby, “Mr. N, this person too.” Perhaps there were many applicants like me.
The deputy manager came over, glanced at my résumé while standing, and said, “Your age is just right. You have a good educational background as well.”
A few days later, while I was praying because I had not yet heard the result, the phone rang. It was the company, calling to tell me that I had passed. Hallelujah! I had been hired.
At that time, I did not even understand my own abilities, and I was a rather reserved person who did not know how to promote myself. Yet, because of that one sentence—“I can type”—I would later spend many long years working in the field of trade at other companies as well. Is this how encounters shape our lives?
When I called my pastor to tell him that I had been hired, he said, “That’s wonderful.” I explained the whole story in detail, even adding something silly like, “Pastor, it’s a very tall building. I like high places.” He replied warmly, “Oh, sister, I’m glad it’s a high place for you.”
Remembering how immature I was back then always makes me smile fondly, along with the warmth of my pastor.
にほんブログ村
にほんブログ村
多言語学習ランキング
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