(After much struggle and prayer, I decided to change jobs once again. A company introduced by a recruiting agency was Japanese-owned, but it offered exactly the kind of work I had always wanted to do.)
The second company was not what you would call a fun workplace, like the first one. I realized how different foreign companies were from Japanese companies. However, they entrusted work to employees regardless of gender, and I felt that it was a rewarding environment for women. Under a strict boss, I learned export operations from the ground up. Eventually, I became fully capable of handling the work, but the constant overtime left me exhausted to the point of collapsing from overwork.
At the end of the year, when I looked back over my life, there were several years in which I could hardly remember doing anything except work. Before my desk had been used by executive secretaries, so I often observed the work of the secretaries who came before me. They all had excellent English skills and made full use of them. Although I handled all aspects of export administration in that company, I had never even written a simple shipping advice. Writing English letters and correspondence was entirely the secretaries’ responsibility.
Whenever I saw the English they wrote, I began to wish that someday I could do that kind of work too. I wanted a job where I could write in English. There is a Bible verse that says:
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13 NIV)
God not only gives us desires, but also prepares the path that leads to their fulfillment. If we continue to hold on to a vision, I believe it will eventually take shape. I struggled greatly over the decision, but in the end, I chose to leave the company at the end of May, giving up my June bonus. Money was not the issue. I remained unemployed for two months, but it was necessary time for me to recover both physically and emotionally.
When I began looking for another job, I used a recruiting agency for the first time. They told me that, based on my experience in export administration, there was only one company they could introduce to me at the moment. The company was Japanese, but the job description was extremely attractive. It was an assistant position for the sales department where I could make use of my export experience, do translations, and write English documents. It was a perfect opportunity for career advancement.
However, I was very reluctant to return to a Japanese company. After all, it was because I disliked the corporate culture of Japanese companies that I had moved to a foreign company in the first place. Still, encouraged rather forcefully by the recruiting agent, I decided to go to the interview anyway. The problem was that the salary would be lower, but thankfully the recruiter negotiated the salary on my behalf. Then I was told that I would have a second interview with a foreign employee in order to determine whether my salary could be increased.
I had no idea that an American worked there. Nervously, I attended the interview, but afterward I was terribly disappointed with my poor performance. I felt miserable and wondered what I had been studying all those years. Perhaps I had underestimated the company simply because it was Japanese. I deeply repented of my own arrogance.
On the way home from the interview, I happened to stop by the Life Center bookstore, where I found an English hymnbook called Praise!. I was so happy because it felt as though God had heard my desire to sing praises in English. At exactly the moment when I was discouraged, this book was placed before me. Because of that joy, the result of the interview no longer mattered to me. I thought, “If I fail, praise the Lord. If I pass, even more praise!” That weekend, I spent my time happily singing English hymns.
The following Monday, I received a call from the recruiting agency. Unbelievably, the company had decided to raise my monthly salary by 20,000 yen. In terms of annual income, it became even higher than my previous company. The other two people hired at the same time had applied through a magazine called Torabayu, so their salaries had already been fixed and could not be negotiated.
Later, I learned that in Japanese companies, it is normally unheard of to negotiate salary during an interview. My coworkers told me that my case was unprecedented. (Hallelujah!)
That year, employees who joined the company by August 1 were eligible for the winter bonus. I still do not know why the deadline was not July 31, but it was almost as if it had been arranged specifically for my start date. The two women who joined the company only a few days later were not eligible for the winter bonus and received only a small cash gift instead of a full winter bonus.
When I left my previous company, I chose to obey God rather than focus on money. Later, God blessed me in this remarkable way. Hallelujah!
------ to be continued -----
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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