Recording summary · June 2017
Why I hated working in Japan
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Overview
In 2011, Daniel lived in Japan on a working holiday visa, working 26 hours per week at a convenience store and two hours weekly in an izakaya kitchen.
Daniel secured the convenience store job two weeks after arrival through a brief conversational interview, but left without notice following workplace errors, disputes, and a verbal confrontation with the owner's sister.
Daniel subsequently interviewed unsuccessfully for another kitchen and waiter position at a restaurant, where the interviewer criticized his Japanese proficiency and CV formatting.
Daniel criticized Japanese conventions requiring handwritten CVs without corrections on designated forms, contrasting it with computer-printed CVs in England and having a Japanese friend write his CV after failed attempts.
Themes
Convenience store employment and challenges with tasks such as cigarette brands and customer mumbles.
Interactions with coworkers including Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese staff members.
Personal routine, fatigue, and disputes surrounding taking coffee from the office stockroom.
Workplace training practices, customer interactions, and incidents at the convenience store.
Part-time kitchen duties at an izakaya and a subsequent interview for another kitchen role.
Dispute over job advertisement requirements and rejection for kitchen and waiter positions.
Norms and difficulties of handwriting CVs on designated forms in Japanese.
Interviewer feedback regarding CV formatting and level 2 Japanese proficiency test results.
Daniel's reaction to the interviewer's criticism and thoughts about future employers seeing the recording.
Developments
Daniel secured convenience store work two weeks after arriving in Japan following a brief conversational interview.
Daniel microwaved a packaged dinner with a sauce sachet inside, causing the sachet to burst.
Daniel refused a customer's points card after completing the transaction, telling the customer it was too late.
Daniel went home and ceased showing up for convenience store shifts following a verbal confrontation with the store owner's sister.
Daniel had a Japanese friend write out his CV after multiple unsuccessful attempts to write the kanji without mistakes.
An interviewer rejected Daniel's application to work in the kitchen and as a waiter.
Uncertainties & gaps
The reasoning behind the izakaya's hiring decision and early departure scheduling was based on Daniel's personal assumption rather than confirmed employer reasoning.