Please tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live? What are you currently doing?
I have lived in Tokyo for the past 14 years, with one year in Hong Kong. I have worked in multiple capacities in recruitment, but for the last 8 years I have done Franchise Development for MRINetwork, the World’s largest franchised recruitment agency.
How did you start working abroad?
I was bored with college and the sterility of Vancouver, I dropped-out in my first year and came to Japan on the Working / Holiday visa program when I was 19 and stayed for 3 years before returning to school. This experience helped me to better determine what I wanted to study and I got a lot more out of UBC as a result.
Any Advice for other alumni that are hoping to go abroad?
I think first and foremost, all grads fresh out of school need to be as flexible as possible whether that be location, salary or functional role. When speaking to interns, I always hear them repeat absolutes like, “I want to work in a marketing role for a pharmaceutical company in Tokyo and need to make minimum $60k / year.” I think it is great to have goals, but the people I have seen with the most successful careers have tended to follow a general bearing but don’t fight the current. They recognize opportunities as they arise rather than stubbornly sticking to a finite path.
Unless you are doing a technical job, I would recommend for everyone to start out in sales. Sales gives everyone a grounding in the lifeblood of a company, excellent exposure to multiple people in the organization, an education in the product / service, and gives someone an opportunity to quantify their individual achievements. It is also a much easier route to get in to a company that you are interested in, and then apply for other functional roles internally.
And can you recommend your favorite location in your region?
I would have to say Tokyo is my favorite. I have traveled around most of Asia, and honestly there is nowhere else I would rather live. Tokyo has four seasons with a mild winter, clean air and water, the best restaurants in the world, low crime, lots of parks and an excellent infrastructure. Having said that, I would say Hong Kong comes a close second, vibrant city with great people.
What is one of your funniest or awkward mistakes as a foreigner?
When I first came to Japan, I lived in the Northern prefecture of Yamagata where there were few English speakers. A common phenomenon among many people new to a language is to learn the most obscure, witty or profane words possible in the hopes of getting a guffaw. I was no different, I arrived in Yamagata speaking very little Japanese but immediately made friends at local pubs where I learned the words, “ZARU” ザル = strong drinker (alcohol), and “GEKO” 下戸 meaning weak drinker. On one foray out by myself, I bumped in to a girl I knew and noticed that she was drinking only orange juice at the pub. I thought I would impress her, but instead of asking, ANATA HA GEKO DESU KA? あなたは下戸ですか?I asked ANATA HA GEKE DESU KA あなたは下血ですか?which means, “Are you menstruating?” She looked perplexed, so I asked her again louder and slower to which the bartender told me not to ask such questions. It wasn’t until later that I found out the reason for her mortification.
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