Retrospective
Many of you have heard the story of my job search last year. For those of you who haven't, here's a short synopsis of one of that story's chief components: I spent my entire academic career in engineering because I wanted to work in the automotive industry. I got hints when talking to Ford and GM that it might not be the industry for me. I soldiered on with interviews and big hopes, though, until I talked to Toyota. The hour and a half or so I spent interviewing with them was a defining moment. After that interview, I walked out knowing that I would never go into the automotive industry, and that despite the fact that I'd invested five and a half years of my life, four of them as something of a living hell, working toward this single goal that in a moment was shattered forever, I really didn't feel too bad about it. That should give you some indication of just how terrible an impression I came away with.
One of the things I objected to was that Toyota promised me a seventy-hour workweek. I want to get married and have a family someday. You can't do that on a fourteen-hour workday. You can't even have personal time, really, on a fourteen-hour workday. And because that's what they were telling me upfront in the first interview, you can be pretty sure that the reality was going to be even harsher than that. How harsh? This harsh, apparently. My sincerest condolences to you, Mrs. Uchino. May your husband's life be a lesson to us all.
One of the things I objected to was that Toyota promised me a seventy-hour workweek. I want to get married and have a family someday. You can't do that on a fourteen-hour workday. You can't even have personal time, really, on a fourteen-hour workday. And because that's what they were telling me upfront in the first interview, you can be pretty sure that the reality was going to be even harsher than that. How harsh? This harsh, apparently. My sincerest condolences to you, Mrs. Uchino. May your husband's life be a lesson to us all.