MORE FKIN INTERVIEWS and no job offers yet. ;(
sigh. it's becoming hard for me to remain optimistic having had all these interviews without any job offer yet.... it doesn't help that i'm suffering from PMS induced depression right now, which has made getting out of bed a difficult task.
SIGH.
anyway... Monday i had the interview with the previously mentioned eikaiwa in Wakayama-ken, Japan. i thought it went very well, but what do i know. this was the first interview that was conducted with more than one person, one being the director of the school who is actually an American, the other a Japanese woman whose position i can't remember. apparently if i pass that interview, there will be a second... which i'm worried about because this is the first time a second interview has been mentioned to me by anyone, so i had come to assume that such things were uncommon with these types of positions. i'm worried that the second interview might require some sort of teaching demo or impromptu hypothetical lesson plans/scenarios, but whatever. i shouldn't worry about it since i may not even make it to the second interview...
Tuesday i had an interview with another eikaiwa, this time in Kyoto-fu, Japan. this school is offering the best benefits of ANY of the jobs i've applied for thus far, so i REALLY REALLY want to land this job. this interview was also conducted with two people; a teacher from New Zealand and the HR person/secretary(?) who is Japanese. again, i think this interview went very well, but what do i know?! there is a catch with this job, though....... the school needs the position filled ASAP, so preference is being given to people who are already in Japan. IF i am offered the job, i would have to arrive by mid-September...... not only would that be short notice in terms of getting my ass there, but it would also cause some visa issues as visas cannot generally be granted so quickly.... so yeah.... but god, i want this job... ;-;
on Thursday i got a surprising email... a few weeks ago i halfassedly applied for a local job because i'm hurting financially and i wanted some kind of financial backup should my current job hunting fail and i end up going to Korea through Korvia, which wouldn't be until February 2014. the job i applied for isn't even a job i want; i applied for it purely because it's seasonal/temporary, start's immediately, had few required qualifications and they had 40 job openings...! stupid, i know, but like i said, i don't really want the job. the goal is to get out of the country anyway, making the job irrelevant. but anyway, the job is a friggin' call center job... for Williams-Sonoma/Pottery Barn, a company that i don't really care either way about, honestly.
...ANYWAY, i had completely forgotten about the job because i applied for it weeks ago and didn't want it anyway, but Thursday i got an email saying that they'd like me to come in for a data entry & customer service assessment test. i was torn as to whether i should reply or not because i don't want the job...! but in the end, i scheduled the test for Friday. financially, i am not in a position to turn down a job offer, regardless of if i hate it or will end up quitting in a week.
so yesterday i went in to do the assessment test. i was nervous because i've been typing on Japanese keyboards for the past 6 years and US keyboards aren't exactly the same... plus, i've been using laptop keyboards which don't have a number pad, so i'm not exactly quick at typing out numbers which is important for data entry... the entire test took place on a computer where i had to listen to simulated calls and enter the data into a form as quickly and accurately as possible. after the data entry part, there was another set of calls that i had to listen to and select from multiple choice answers in order to advance the call and serve the customer. the actual assessment took around a half hour, after which we had to wait for our results... and i passed. now i'm scheduled for an interview on Tuesday. >_>;;
changing topics, i've run into roadblocks with my Korvia/EPIK application... :( EPIK has strict requirements regarding reference letters and proof of teaching experience and apparently ALL of the five letters that i have from Japan and Australia fall short in some way or another.... FRUSTRATING. i had been afraid that this would happen with my Japanese reference letters as they are 3 years old now, so i tried to preempt this problem back in July by emailing the Board of Education in Kochi and requesting updated letters..... but i never got a reply. :/ now it seems that i have no choice but to actually call the BOE, which is kind of nerve wrecking for me... for one, my Japanese isn't as good as it used to be. secondly, no one in the office will know me because the staff changes every year or two and it's been three years... will i be able to get references when no one knows me???
sigh.
...going to try to muster up my courage and Japanese skills to call tomorrow. also, i should probably call two other people in Japan as well... what will i say to them after three years of no contact?? (-Д-＼)=３
SIGH.
anyway... Monday i had the interview with the previously mentioned eikaiwa in Wakayama-ken, Japan. i thought it went very well, but what do i know. this was the first interview that was conducted with more than one person, one being the director of the school who is actually an American, the other a Japanese woman whose position i can't remember. apparently if i pass that interview, there will be a second... which i'm worried about because this is the first time a second interview has been mentioned to me by anyone, so i had come to assume that such things were uncommon with these types of positions. i'm worried that the second interview might require some sort of teaching demo or impromptu hypothetical lesson plans/scenarios, but whatever. i shouldn't worry about it since i may not even make it to the second interview...
Tuesday i had an interview with another eikaiwa, this time in Kyoto-fu, Japan. this school is offering the best benefits of ANY of the jobs i've applied for thus far, so i REALLY REALLY want to land this job. this interview was also conducted with two people; a teacher from New Zealand and the HR person/secretary(?) who is Japanese. again, i think this interview went very well, but what do i know?! there is a catch with this job, though....... the school needs the position filled ASAP, so preference is being given to people who are already in Japan. IF i am offered the job, i would have to arrive by mid-September...... not only would that be short notice in terms of getting my ass there, but it would also cause some visa issues as visas cannot generally be granted so quickly.... so yeah.... but god, i want this job... ;-;
on Thursday i got a surprising email... a few weeks ago i halfassedly applied for a local job because i'm hurting financially and i wanted some kind of financial backup should my current job hunting fail and i end up going to Korea through Korvia, which wouldn't be until February 2014. the job i applied for isn't even a job i want; i applied for it purely because it's seasonal/temporary, start's immediately, had few required qualifications and they had 40 job openings...! stupid, i know, but like i said, i don't really want the job. the goal is to get out of the country anyway, making the job irrelevant. but anyway, the job is a friggin' call center job... for Williams-Sonoma/Pottery Barn, a company that i don't really care either way about, honestly.
...ANYWAY, i had completely forgotten about the job because i applied for it weeks ago and didn't want it anyway, but Thursday i got an email saying that they'd like me to come in for a data entry & customer service assessment test. i was torn as to whether i should reply or not because i don't want the job...! but in the end, i scheduled the test for Friday. financially, i am not in a position to turn down a job offer, regardless of if i hate it or will end up quitting in a week.
so yesterday i went in to do the assessment test. i was nervous because i've been typing on Japanese keyboards for the past 6 years and US keyboards aren't exactly the same... plus, i've been using laptop keyboards which don't have a number pad, so i'm not exactly quick at typing out numbers which is important for data entry... the entire test took place on a computer where i had to listen to simulated calls and enter the data into a form as quickly and accurately as possible. after the data entry part, there was another set of calls that i had to listen to and select from multiple choice answers in order to advance the call and serve the customer. the actual assessment took around a half hour, after which we had to wait for our results... and i passed. now i'm scheduled for an interview on Tuesday. >_>;;
changing topics, i've run into roadblocks with my Korvia/EPIK application... :( EPIK has strict requirements regarding reference letters and proof of teaching experience and apparently ALL of the five letters that i have from Japan and Australia fall short in some way or another.... FRUSTRATING. i had been afraid that this would happen with my Japanese reference letters as they are 3 years old now, so i tried to preempt this problem back in July by emailing the Board of Education in Kochi and requesting updated letters..... but i never got a reply. :/ now it seems that i have no choice but to actually call the BOE, which is kind of nerve wrecking for me... for one, my Japanese isn't as good as it used to be. secondly, no one in the office will know me because the staff changes every year or two and it's been three years... will i be able to get references when no one knows me???
sigh.
...going to try to muster up my courage and Japanese skills to call tomorrow. also, i should probably call two other people in Japan as well... what will i say to them after three years of no contact?? (-Д-＼)=３