Jobs.CoolerThanThou.net - Working In Japan or China

Ski Resort Jobs in Japan

You might be surprised to hear that there are quite a few ski-resort jobs available in Japan. Of course these are limited to the winter season, but it's not uncommon to see resorts advertising for staff or ski/snowboarding instructors.

Now, many would see this kind of thing as a dream job, and indeed in many ways it is. But if you plan to pursue something like this in Japan, be sure to do your research first. Here is one first hand account from a guy who worked at a ski resort. This interview looks to be a low budget promotional information video for a company, but nevertheless, there is some quality information in it (even if the room does look like it was built for interrogation).

Anyway, check out the video if a ski job in Japan strikes your fancy. SnowJapan is an excellent resource as well, and you would be wise to start some discussion in their chat forums.

If you're not sold on the idea, maybe you will be after you watch these Japanese schoolgirls on snowboards!

More Japan Skiing Resources:
We Love Snow
Snowave
Ski Japan
Japan Specialists

Niseko Ski Tours

On Working Overtime in Japan: Is Virtualization the Solution?

Michael Downey of the aptly named MichaelDowney.com blog has a deep and thoughtful post about how he, as a foreigner, struggles with the Japanese expectation of working long overtime hours. It's an interesting dilemma to be sure. There appears to be no easy way to find a balance between your personal life and work if companies just don't allow you to do so. Here's and excerpt of what Michael has to say:

[I]t can certainly be seen above that the majority of Japanese people seem to also want rid of the heavy amounts of overtime, but see it as a ‘necessary evil’, in some sense. It’s also true that there have been governmental efforts made into bringing a more stable Work-Life Balance to Japan. But is it really changing anything, and if so, will it change enough in my lifetime? It is really, in reality, possible for a newly graduated foreigner to go to Japan and work a respectable 9-5 job at a decent company? Or am I doomed to submit to the system if I wish to work in Japan?

For me, this discussion brings to mind France's experiment with a four-day work week and how it cuts down on energy and transportation costs. Usually a leader in innovative ideas, is a four-day work week just too far out there for Japan to consider? I mean boob-grabbing machines and helicopter bottle openers are no problem, but a four-hour work week? No, that's just crazy talk!

Even if a four-hour work week is out of the question, can't technology help us solve this problem. I mean, remote access computer has advanced far enough so that we can easily use programs like Go to my PC to access your work computer from home.

A more realistic solution would be virtualization. Employees would be given their own laptop upon entering a company, which they could bring home and use as their personal computer as well. Their work operating system could be a virtual machine, and thus kept separate from the main OS. It would make sense if employees were given more freedom to bring their work home with them.

While many actually prefer the to work in the office, anyone who has kids at home would certainly appreciate such an option. Lots of companies already allow this kind of thing, but enforce numerous restrictions as to what exactly you can do on this company computer. For example, no World of Warcraft or Counterstrike allowed. Bummer...

But 2009 might be the year where we see more companies taking advantage of virtualization to this end. In fact, some departments at Microsoft has put this into practice. Give your employee a free personal computer, and let them install whatever they want on it. But the virtual machine is reserved for exclusively for work. A free computer would certainly be a attractive incentive to potential employees. And in these trying times, it would certainly give companies a leg up in the talent wars.

In China, Even Dogs are Put to Work

You know we're in tough economic times when even animals are being put to work. Check out this story from China about a dog who has found employment as a cell phone thief:

A man surnamed Huang who lives in Guangzhou’s Panyu District found a white dog in his home on Monday morning. Huang wasn’t concerned about how the dog had entered at first, and his daughter also wanted to play with it. But when the dog saw the cellphone that Huang had put on his tea table, it immediately took it into its mouth and ran off. Local police later told Huang the dog had been trained by thieves and was actually a “hardened criminal”.

I expect that this sort of thing will become more and more common as China is forced to gradually move away from child labor.  It's a big opportunity for the animal population in China, as there's a real vacuum being created in the Chinese job market as a result of these new child labor laws, not to mention when children are lost to adolescence.

When the dog was asked whether he felt bad about putting a child out of a job, he did not volunteer any comments.

Source: Weird Asia News

Jobs in Japan - March 27, 2009

It's been an interesting week in Japan, with the nation taking top spot in the World Baseball Classic and the spring basho winding down in sumo. But make sure you keep your eyes on the prize, and don't lose focus in your job hunting. Here are a few of the more interesting positions from around the net to get you started:

• Business English Instructor, Corporate Classes
• Christian Early Childhood ESL Teacher
• Credit Analyst
• 3G Wireless Engineers Wanted
• Cat Cafe Staff Wanted
• TV Travel Shows Needed (Osaka)
• Corporate Planner
• Hakata Company Class

Job Hunting Tip of the Day

Start networking with people in the industry that you'd like to break into. Even if you don't see any immediate opportunities, if you get to know people in the industry you'll find that things will gradually start popping up as your network expands. Speak to as many like-minded people as you can find, and be sure to read up on new internet tools like twitter and linkedin that will help you do that.

Taking Care of Workers: Not Just in Japan

In a recent post I mention how in Asia it's been traditionally important for companies to support their workers for the long haul, particularly in Japan. According to this recent video about the auto industry, it seems that this idea has expanded to include Japanese companies in America as well.

Most of us are aware of the unfortunate layoffs and hardships faced by American automakers in the last few months. While Japanese car makers are by no means immune to that, I was interested to see how they are taking a slightly different approach. For them, a main priority is taking care of their workers -- even if it means sending them out to do community service (on salary!) while production is stopped.  Check out the following new report:

I don't know about you guys, but I find stories like this are a breath of fresh air. I hope American car companies manage to stick it through, but I can help but think that having innovative Japanese companies driving the industry forward is not such a bad thing for America.

Getting a Foot in the Door

Here's an amazing video whipped up by a job site in China. It shows this poor guy doing his living best to get his resume viewed by an employer. Sadly things are tough, and he end up coming out on the wrong end of most encounters. Check it out:

While I don't recommend being this extreme in your jobs hunting, I do recommend being persistent. If you believe that you are really the right person for a certain job, don't be afraid to try new ways of showing employers what you can do. My general rule of thumb is that demos are often better than explaining that you can do something. Highlight your most relevant major accomplishment in your opening correspondences, rather than relying on the employer to find it in your resume. Be sure to use bullet points for clarity where needed.

One Downside to being on the Outside

If you're working in China, Japan, Korea, or almost any Asian nation, you as a foreigner will be viewed as an outsider. And while there are many advantages to this distinction, there is certainly a downside as well.

Your input might not be as welcome as you might think. This is especially true if you are working in a country like China, where a hierarchical company structure discourages (often it's an unspoken rule) you from speaking out of line. If you come from a Western culture, you might feel it's your place to say something in a situation where your Asian coworkers would remain silent.  Be careful, and more importantly be subtle and tactful at such times. It's tricky.

Companies in Asia have been known to take care of their employees for life. But of course, unless your job in Asia is permanent, you may not enjoy the same long term benefits as your Asian coworkers. And even if you were there long term, there's never any guarantee that you'll ge the same benefits as locals.

It's always wise to reseach cultural differences, so I encourage you to read up culture shock for starters. It's critical that you go into things with an open mind, and all yourself to roll with the punches.

Be like bamboo. You don't break in the wind. You bend.

Volunteering in Asia

While most people who come to Asia to work do so on paid positions, there are quite a number of people who target unpaid volunteering jobs. Such work can often be quite rewarding, especially if the work that you're doing benefits someone else's daily life. Various NGOs around Asia often offer this kind of work, and you would do well to look into such opportunities if you're not opposed to working for free.

The important thing to remember when choosing this kind of work is to make sure you do very thorough research. Make sure that the organization is reputable, because many organizations who proclaim themselves ot be charities often turn out to be something far different.

I've assembled a few resources that you can refer to for information about volunteering in Asia. If you plan to do this, make sure you explore a few of these:

• Cross Cultural Solutions - Volunteer Asia
• Cosmic Volunteers
• Transitions Abroad - Volunteer in Asia
• i-to-i
• Serve your World (Asia)
• Hopenhome.org
• VIA China

If you know of any other resources, please let us know in the comments.

Resources for Teaching in Korea

Many people who hope to work in Asia see English teaching as an easy way to finance their travels. It is indeed much easier than finding other types of work, but in recent years it has become more difficult in Korea and authorities in the industry are much stricter about visa regulations.

Nonetheless I hope that if you do plan to come to Korea to work, that you'll have no problem finding work. And to that end, I've assembled a few Teaching in Korea resources that I've accumulated over the past few years. Let me know if I've missed any that you think are essential:

• Learn4Good.com
• Teaching English in Korea
• ESL Communications
• Teach in Korea, footprintsrecruiting.com
• worknplay.co.kr
• Cost of Living in Korea
• Gone2Korea.com
• TeachKoreanz.com
• HiTeacher.com
• ParkEnglish.com
• Transitions Abroad (many good links)

Jobs in Japan - March 19, 2009

Here are a few of the latest jobs in Japan. It's a tough time to be looking for work these days, but hopefully some of these might be of use to you. Check it out:

• English Teacher Full Time
• Pre-Sales Position
• Technical Writer
• Helpdesk Engineer
• English Instructor
• Sales Representative
• PHP Developer
• Data Entry Typists
• Global Project Manager

Job Hunting Tip of the Day: Find what you love

I know it's a recession and all, and there might not be much to choose from -- but it's still important to keep your passions ahead of you. Check out this speech on doing just that, by Steve Jobs, the man behind Apple computers.