Job Hunting

I quit my previous part-time job at the end of April. Since then I haven’t worked for four months. I enjoyed joining free English classes, chatting with my friends, and shopping. On the other hand I kept applying for a job. I started sending my CV by email. It wasn’t difficult to do, so it wasn’t also difficult for companies to ignore my CV. I sent around 10 CVs and I got only one reply. It said, “Thank you for your application for the above post. I am sorry to inform you that you have not been selected for an interview on this occasion but thank you for your interest in working for the Society.” Even though I didn’t succeed, receiving a reply was much better than nothing.

As a second step, I brought my CV to the shop where I found a job recruitment sign in the window. One day I brought my CV to a shop where Asian people work. I thought if Asian people worked at the shop the owner was willing to hire them, so I may have a chance to get a job. I handed my CV to the British owner and he told me, “I’ll definitely contact you.” I was waiting and waiting, but there was no call from the shop.

Two weeks later, I went out shopping with my friend and I met an Asian girl who worked at the shop where I dropped my CV. My friend encouraged me to ask her about my job stuff. So I asked her. Then she told me, “We need staff. You could come to the shop tomorrow and ask the owner again.”
The day after I went to the shop again and talked with the owner. This time he gave me a really bad impression. He told me, “Do Japanese eat whale? It’s cruel.” I went to ask him about my job position, and why did he speak to me like this? He said the same phrase again, “I’ll contact you.” So I said, “You told me that last time, but you didn’t contact me.” Then he said, “One of our staffs was supposed to quit, but she hasn’t. I don’t intend to hire new staff at the moment. One Chinese guy told me he might quit, but I don’t know when. So I can’t tell you when the job will be available.” Well, I just felt the owner would never hire me. I knew some people dislike Japanese, but since I had this kind of experience, I became really depressed. I almost gave up job hunting.

At the moment my friend informed me about a job at a sandwich shop. It’s a new and beautiful shop. I didn’t want to finish my job hunting in bad taste. So I thought this would be the last trial for me. And I brought my CV there. The lady at the shop told me, “If there is a job opportunity, we will contact you.” I said, “Thank you” and I left the shop. It was quite usual and I didn’t expect any call. Surprisingly I got a call. She said, “Did you come to the shop and drop your CV?” I said “Yes I did.” She said, “Would you like to come for a job interview?” I couldn’t believe it. I’ve looked for a job for four months and no reply, but now I just dropped my CV an hour before and got an appointment for my job interview. I said “Of course, yes.”

When I went to the interview, the manager explained about the procedures. At first, I would have a four-hour job trial. If I could pass it, I would have three days training. After that, I might get a job. The manager wasn’t sure whether my English was satisfactory for the job. Actually I also wasn’t sure about it. It was quite difficult to evaluate. A job trial was a good opportunity for me to know my ability. Until then, I didn’t have any other job opportunities. So I accepted the offer.

People at the shop were very kind. All of them sounded like native-English speakers to me, but some of them told me they were from East European countries. They were hard workers, spoke fluent English and worked for minimum wage. I understand why British companies don’t need Japanese workers.

I just finished my job trial and I’m waiting to hear the result. Even if the result wasn’t OK it was a wonderful opportunity for me to know the real life.